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The nose is a feature that is often overlooked by portrait artists. But it shouldn't be! If you don't get the nose quite right, the whole portrait suffers.
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Above are three nose illustrations. The drawing on the left shows the simple outline of the nose. Two lines for the length of the nose, the round "ball" at the tip of the nose, and the nostrils. The nose is made of these simple shapes.
The middle illustration shows the basic outline of the nose, with some shadow and rendering starting to show.
The illustration on the right shows a completely rendered nose. Notice how the strong "outline" on the light side of the nose is almost gone. Notice how the outlines for the nose are now indicated more with shadow, rather than harsh lines.
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This illustration above shows the shape of the nose through the red "contour" lines. Notice how the nose dips in rather dramatically at the tip. There's usually a shadow right underneath the tip of the nose. (As illustrated below, with the blue color.) Sometimes this shadow will be strong, sometimes it will be softer and lighter, but in most lighting situations, it is there
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Also notice that there is not a lot of shadow to the lighter side of the nose, or on the bridge of the nose. It is a common newbie mistake to outline the entire contour of the nose, on both sides. This is not necessary, and usually flattens the nose, and makes the portrait look unrealistic.
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In the illustration above, I have highlighted three areas around the nose that require a delicate and sensitive hand when it comes to shading and rendering. They don't have to be drawn with a heavy hand, unless the subject you are drawing has REALLY heavy and deep lines on their face. Usually just a light suggestion is all that is needed.
For instance, in the illustration above: the blue area, showing the side of the nose has hardly any shading. Just a slight indication of the "ball" of the nose, and a bit of shadow up near the edge of the eye. Some portraits will have a little more shading on the highlighted side of the nose, but usually not too much. Take great care when shading the ridge of the nose. Usually the shadowed side of the nose (on the left side of this illustration) will have enough detail and shadow on it to provide the needed illusion of depth and dimension.
The "smile line" (the green line in the illustration) is also another area that should be dealt with a gentle hand. I have put just a little suggestion of the smile line in the drawing, which then tapers off and disappears. That was all that was needed in this particular picture.
Some people will have a longer and darker "smile line". But even then, you might be surprised to see how light and soft you ought to draw this line. Just take it easy. Too often I have seen artists give all their portraits "Howdy Doody" lines, when they were not needed. It ruins the look of the portrait.
Same goes for the thingie (can't remember the name) under the nose (illustrated in red). Don't overdo this. A light suggestion can go a long way. When overdone, you can make a person look like they have a runny and red nose!
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The white areas around the nose (as indicated in the illustration above) also require special attention.
The areas around the bottom of the nostrils (as seen in the highlighted illustration) usually does not need to be delineated. If you outline the whole bottom of the nose (under the nostril) it will not look very flattering, and usually isn't necessary anyway.
There is a distinct area on the side of the nose (between the nostril and the beginning of the "smile line"). You don't always have to put the "smile line" right smack up against the nostril. On some people, there is this little space between the smile line and the nostril. Look for it when you are drawing around the nose. The above illustration has this little space exaggerated a bit, but not much. If you look at many people, you'll see that little space
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In this illustration, I am attempting to show the angle of the nose from 3/4 view.
Notice the purple line that goes down the center of the face. Since this is a three-quarters view portrait (instead of full-on) the nose is also at a three-quarters view, and therefore, at an angle.
The red lined areas (yeah, real flattering, I know) show how much of the nose is on the left side of this line. The nose "sticks out", is not straight up and down. The blue-lined areas to show the nostril area on the other side of the this straight line. This is to show you that when the face is at an angle (three-quarters view, or whatever) you have to have the nose at an angle too.
The green line shows that the edge of the nostril is approx. aligned straight down from the edge of the inside of the eye. (The eye lines up with the nostril this way from the front view too.) The orange line shows how the edge of the nostril lines up in the middle of the mouth. Some people have narrower noses (or mouths) but for the most part, they will line up similarly.
As you will notice, the girl in the drawing does not have an extremely wide or large nose - and yet it does have some definite width to it. A common newbie mistake is to make the nostrils and width of the nose way too narrow. Take special care to get the width of the nose correct.
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A quick overview of the nose in profile: The original drawing is on the left (click to see larger view). I had a lot of fun messing up the illustration on the right!
Notice the purple nose. (Yes, yes, exceedingly flattering, once again!) This shows how far the nose sticks out from the plane of the face. Don't be afraid to make the nose stick out. It doesn't have to be huge, but if you make it too flat, it will not look believable. There will always be variations in nose size, but I have seen too many "newbies" be timid with the nose, so this is another area to pay special attention to.
Another important thing to remember: be sure to observe the length of the nose. (As illustrated with the two purple lines above.) Compare the length of the nose with the width of the nose from the side (as illustrated by the red lines). The length isn't that much more than the width!
Not all faces will have the same proportions, of course. But I've noticed that some portrait artists make the nose waaaay too long. Or, they'll make it too short. Take great care when drawing the length of the nose.
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First, sketch out the outline of the nose. You don't have to draw a dark line down both sides of the nose. Usually one side is more shadowed than the other.
Start to add a little shading to the side of the nose that is in shadow, and the bottom of the nose. Define the nostrils. Shade the nostril that is in shadow a little bit, but not as much as the rest of that side of the nose. The nostril sticks out a little bit, and gets more light on it.
Finish shading the nose. Suggest, through gentle shading, the "roundness" of the center (bulb) of the nose, and the roundness of the
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