Preamble

The general shape of the human head is determined by its structural and anatomical basis. Studying the external plastic forms of the human head and its details it´s important to know they are due to the internal anatomical structure of bones and muscles inherent only to them. However, regardless of the frequency of occurrence, the general shape of the head has the same structural density for all. The construction of the human head, the entire structure of the upper shapes of the bones of the skull and muscles on it.
It´s necessary to consider twoness of elements (their symmetry). The analysis of the form should be carried out simultaneously with the study of its details on a constructive-anatomical basis. To effectively solve this problem, you must first familiarize yourself with the anatomical structure of the skull as the basis for the design of the human head.

The shape of the skull, and therefore the head, like all objects, has three-dimensional characteristics: length, width and height. The point is that by analysing, one can understand how these surfaces, combined with each other, express volume, forming the shape of the skull. Any living form is basically understood or considered as a geometric entity. It´s good to learn your own head structure just touching it. This live experiment is not only useful, but strongly needed. Touch contributes to a strong memorization of the forms of all available bone formations and protrusions, depressions, which is extremely important for the artist.

1

Always measure the width of one or another part of the skull and correlate with the overall height. So you will find more accurate ratios of volumes.

2

It is divided into three more or less equal segments. The zygomatic bones are in line with the base of the nose and ear. Follow the earlobe and the line of the nose to correctly convey the tilt of the head.

3

Geometricize volumes that are incomprehensible to you for easier depiction of them on paper. Only then proceed to detailing and anatomical features.

4

Lead the construction and tonal drawing sequentially. From the general to the particular, from large volumes and spots to smaller ones.

5

In the tonal drawing, subordinate the shape of the lower and upper jaws, as well as the skull to the ball. So it will be easier for you to depict a competent volume.

6

Pay special attention to the anatomical structure of the supraorbital and zygomatic bones. They are important nodes in the skull.

Toning

Let's look at another option for maintaining a tonal pattern. Lighting is normal, falls on the left from above. Here I shade the entire skull with a light tone. As I said earlier, this is necessary so that there are no white spots left on the subject, since if you remember the laws of chiaroscuro, the lightest spot on the subject is a highlight. It can be left unhatched. There may be several highlights, they may differ slightly from each other in tone, depending on the location. If the light falls from above, then the brightest highlight will be on the glabella of frontal bone, since it is the first to meet the light.
Then I define shadow spots and shade them. It is important to learn to identify and see shadow spots. Good way is to squint your eyes and look at the reference, in a blurry generalized state, the darkest and lightest spots are visible. So far without contrasting shadows and reflexes. Everything is just in the form of spots, without clarifications and details. The shadow spots in the foreground (red) will be darker than the large distant spot (blue). This is necessary to create volume in the overall picture, and not specifically on a certain part. I work from big to small. Even at this stage, the drawing already looks solid, and the main masses are defined.

Then I create a tone and a semitone to create smoother transition between light and shadow. In order not to get confused, I advise you to always draw from dark to light, so after the shadow we move smoothly to the tone, after the tone to the halftone. Now I divided the entire skull into 4 stages: shadow, tone, midtone and highlight. It looks like a gradient from dark to light or from light to dark. Of course, there can be more steps in the gradient. Now I want you to follow at least these three steps to create a good drawing.

In fact, I made a smooth gradient from shadow to highlight. At this stage, it is important not to make the tone darker or similar to the shadow. In the next step, I will introduce more contrast shadows so that a reflex appears.

The last stage in the tone drawing remains - adding details, accents and contrasting shadows. I bring the work to the final result. Do not overdo it with details so that the work does not look fractional. A few of contrasting shadows in the foreground will be enough. In the second photo, you can see that I added a contrasting shadow at the junction of the tone and the shadow spot, due to which a reflex appeared in the shadow spot. It is also now clearly visible why contrasting shadows and maximum elaboration were needed in the foreground.
The effect of aerial perspective and rounding of the form was created. The back shadow side is almost not worked out with details and contrasting shadows. Use this technique in your work as well. Intentionally show contrasting shadows in the foreground and do not work out the background, generalize.

But this is not the end. In addition to this, I also want to analyse the hatching in shape, to show the hatching direction. To make it easier to understand, divide the skull into many small volumes. Each volume is a conditional ball, and you already know how to hatch a ball. If you don’t understand something, geometrize the shape, this is the easiest way to solve the problem. The shape itself sets the stroke direction. A semicircular stroke will easily convey any volume, although it is easier for me to hatch with straight strokes. I mostly work with small patches of hatching. Many are interested in what is the secret of my work and technique. So that's exactly what it is - I convey the volume through small strokes.

1) Draw a skull using the reference from the lesson.

2) Print any portrait and try to draw a skull on top of it. To make it easier to determine the location of a particular bone, first feel them on your own face.