{S} Step-by-step: How to draw a whimsical face

Back in 2014, when I first started art journaling, if someone had told me that I would be drawn to portraits, I would have laughed until my stomach hurt! Drawing and me just didn’t go hand-in-hand. And faces? Out of the question! I remember trying my hand at drawing funky flowers – which didn’t even have to look realistic! – and melting into a puddle of tears because I couldn’t even draw simple shapes like teardrops and leaves.

I don’t remember just how I got hooked onto faces, but I do know that it took a whole lot of practice and understanding a few basic measurements and rules to draw a face. If I can draw faces, I believe anyone can!

Here’s a simple step-by-step to draw a whimsical face. This is no way a realistic portrait, I don’t think I could manage that still! But it is a really simple way to get started.

1. Use a lid of some sort and draw a circle.
2. Find the mid-point of the circle and draw a vertical line down the centre.
3. Now, find the mid-point on the vertical line and draw a horizontal line across the circle. This is the eye line.
4. Find the mid-point between this horizontal line and the bottom of the circle – draw a line across. This is the nose line. The mid-point between the nose and the bottom of the circle is the lip line.
5. Now that you have your points marked, you can shape the chin if you like.

This is your basic whimsical face template. Now, let’s draw the features.

Eyes:

To get the eyes as symmetrical as possible, work on them simultaneously. Start by drawing a flat oval {think: an egg lying on its side} on the extreme left and extreme right. Make sure it’s on the eye line – refer to the image above. This is your basic eye shape.

To give the eye some more shape, draw a small beaky triangle-ish shape at the corner – this is the tear-duct.

Draw a U-shape in the middle of the eye – this is your eyeball.

A chunky C-shape in the middle of the U-shape makes the iris.

Nose:

Let’s keep the nose simple – this is a whimsical face after all! Draw a flattish U-shape with 2 little lines at each end to represent nostrils. Easy-peasy!

Lips:

For the lips, start with a V – extend it down and out. Upturn the lines slightly for a smiling face. Then draw in the upper-lip like so.

Just a small little C-shape below that indicates the bottom lip.

Hair:

The hairline starts slightly above the head. Pick a slightly off-center point and draw an upside-down J shape on either side of the face.

Two curved lines make the parting.

Pencil in eyebrows – this can simply be a straight line if you wish, or shape it following the contour of the eye.

Put in a little neck, and there you have it – a super simple whimsical face!

Put this to practice: Try drawing a face in your art journal. Practice until you’re happy with it. Then play with the placement and size of the features to make this “yours”.