Blank Face Drawing: Proportion Guides for Feature Placement

Object Drawing Lessons

A blank face drawing is a proportion scaffold, not a portrait. You draw a plain oval and add horizontal guide lines for the eyes, nose, and mouth so you can practice where features belong before adding detail. This lesson defines a clear convention: the oval's top and bottom are the crown and chin, the vertical midline runs through the center, and the eye line sits halfway between crown and chin. You will measure your own oval, mark guides with light pencil, and check placement with simple arithmetic. Letter styles and feature shapes vary, so the rubric rewards consistent proportions and clear guide placement rather than one universal face.

Practice materials: Printable downloads are not available for this lesson yet. Use the instructions and four exercises below.

Set up the oval and midline

Draw a smooth oval that is taller than it is wide. A common starting proportion is width-to-height of about 2:3, but treat that as a hypothetical example and measure your actual oval. Mark the crown at the top and the chin at the bottom. Draw a light vertical midline from crown to chin; this is the symmetry axis for later feature placement.

Keep all guide lines light so they can be adjusted. Label the crown, chin, and midline on your practice sheet. The oval is the boundary: no ears, hair, or expression yet.

1. Draw the oval and mark crown and chin.
2. Measure the oval height with a ruler and record it in millimeters.
3. Draw the vertical midline from crown to chin.
4. Check that the midline divides the oval into two similar halves.

Place the eye line at half height

The eye line is the horizontal guide halfway between crown and chin. If your oval height is 90 mm, half height is 45 mm, so the eye line sits 45 mm below the crown and 45 mm above the chin. Measure from the crown downward and mark the line lightly across the oval.

This convention places eyes at mid-height, which is a useful scaffold for practice. Real faces vary, so the goal is a consistent, checkable guide rather than a claim about all faces.

1. Divide the recorded oval height by 2.
2. Measure that distance from the crown and mark a point on the midline.
3. Draw a horizontal eye line through that point, stopping at the oval edges.
4. Verify the distance from crown to eye line equals the distance from eye line to chin.

Add nose and mouth guides

Place the nose line between the eye line and the chin. A simple convention is to divide the lower half into thirds: the nose line sits one-third of the way down from the eye line to the chin. For a 90 mm oval, the lower half is 45 mm; one-third is 15 mm, so the nose line is 15 mm below the eye line. The mouth line sits two-thirds down, or 30 mm below the eye line, leaving 15 mm to the chin.

Mark both lines horizontally and lightly. Check that eye-to-nose, nose-to-mouth, and mouth-to-chin distances are equal when using this thirds convention. If your measurements differ, adjust the lines rather than forcing the numbers.

1. Measure the distance from eye line to chin.
2. Divide that distance by 3 to get one segment.
3. Mark the nose line one segment below the eye line.
4. Mark the mouth line two segments below the eye line.
5. Check that the three segments are equal within your measurement precision.

Practice with repeated blank ovals

Use repeated blank ovals to practice the same guide sequence without adding features. For each oval, record height, compute half height, and mark eye, nose, and mouth lines. Vary oval size to practice measuring rather than copying a fixed template.

A valid alternative convention is to place the eye line slightly above or below half height, provided you state the convention and check it consistently. The rubric accepts alternatives when the guide logic is explicit and the arithmetic matches the drawn lines.

1. Draw three ovals of different heights.
2. For each, record height and compute half height.
3. Mark eye, nose, and mouth lines using the thirds convention.
4. Check each oval's segment equality and note any adjustment.

Worked example

An oval is 120 mm tall. Using the lesson convention, find the eye line, nose line, and mouth line distances from the crown.

Four practice exercises

Common mistakes

• Drawing the eye line by eye without measuring half height. Measure the oval height, divide by 2, and mark the eye line from the crown.
• Placing the nose line at the midpoint between eye line and chin. Use the thirds convention: nose at one-third down, mouth at two-thirds down.
• Making guide lines too dark to adjust. Use light pencil pressure so lines can be erased or moved after checking.
• Adding features or expression before guides are verified. Complete and check all guide lines first; keep the face blank as specified.

Self-check rubric

• Oval is smooth, taller than wide, with crown and chin marked.
• Vertical midline divides the oval into two similar halves.
• Eye line is at half the measured oval height within 2 mm.
• Nose and mouth lines divide the lower half into three equal segments within 2 mm each.
• Guide lines are light and clearly labeled.
• No finished features, expression, or identity details are added.
• Any alternative convention is stated and arithmetically consistent.

Questions and answers