drawing noses from the front

So let's get into the steps for how to draw a nose from the front!

Step 1: Draw the general 3D shape

Forget about all the intricate details for now – just focus on the general 3D form. This is easy to visualize and to draw, and will make your life 10 times easier drawing it first.

Here you can see it's just a box-like shape that narrows at the top and front.

Step 2: The tip of the nose

Now you can draw a rough "U" shape for the tip/ball of the nose.

Try to curve the lines slightly to get the right shape of the nostril in the coming steps.

Step 3: The outer nostril-wings

Draw the outer "wings" of the nostrils at the edges of the base of the 3D shape.

Step 4: Fill in the gaps

From the U-shape drawn earlier, extend each side around and back into the septum to draw each nostril. Extend the bottom of each wing.

Step 5: Tear-drop shading guideline

Now, for the general shading, draw a tall tear shape. This will serve as a general guide for where to start shading.

The parts outside the tear will be the darker tones and inside will the the mid-tones and highlights.

Step 6: Light shading

Roughly shade outside the tear shape a similar medium-light tone. Remember, it doesn't have to look good just yet, this is just to give you something to work with.

Step 7: Blend and darken areas

Use you finger, a blending stump, a Q-tip, tissue, or any way you like to blend most of your marks in small circular motions to smoothen out the marks.

Darken the nostrils. The nostrils (especially the inner parts) receive little to no light, so they will be almost pure black. Darken them as dark as you can without damaging the page.

The very outer lines of the wings are also very dark as it's a crease where the nose joins the face.

Step 8: Tidy-up

Blend any new marks, darken up the nostils, the bottom of the tip of the nose, and the side wing-creases.

The highlights are usually at the tip of the nose, and along most of the center line of the base.

Lastly, use a kneaded eraser or regular eraser to lift up some pencil for the highlights, and the clean up any messy parts.

And you're done! Remember – the nose is a complicated thing to draw! People assume it should be easy because we see them every day, but it takes the right practice to draw it well. Practice drawing noses of all shapes and sizes, from all different angles, and you'll have it mastered in no time!

Check out the related blogs for more art tips!