Preamble

Each person's nose has its own characteristic individual features. But, despite the variety of forms of noses, their structure is almost the same, due to the anatomical structure of bones and muscles, as well as cartilaginous formations.

Analysing the shape of the nose, we see that it can be represented in the form of the main surfaces: the anterior (back of the nose), two lateral planes, the base of the nostril surface of the nose. Its proportional structure has different values. Despite this, the human nose has an average proportional value that is approximately common to all noses, which should be guided by when drawing it. The importance of observing proportional relations is obvious, since similarity is the result of the correct construction of a general form with precisely adjusted proportional relations. When drawing the head, in addition to the rest of its details, as a modular size, you can take the size of the nose, which fits four times in height in a medium proportional head.

Before building the shape of the nose, you should start with the basic proportional values, and then determine the slope and position of the nose in space, taking into account the perspective.

When starting tonal modelling, also do not rush into detailed work, first you need to start sculpting the general shape of the nose. When working with tone, you need to come from a light source. Under normal lighting, i.e., from above and in front, the anterior plane of the nose will be the most illuminated, and the darkest will be the nostril plane of the base of the nose with shadows falling from it. The side planes of the nose are under the gliding rays, so the strength of the tone on them will be intermediate.

1

Constructing and maintaining a drawing, first of all, pay attention to the general shape and planes of the nose. Find its more accurate height and width measurements. So, you will convey the similarity at the level of the mass of spots.

The Form

2

To convey individual characteristics, pay more attention to cartilaginous structures. Most of the time they are visible.

Cartilaginous structures

3

The nostrils will not always be the darkest point on the nose. Remember that cast shadows are often darker than their own.

The darkest point

Schemes

The nose can be divided into spherical shapes. So it will be easier to understand how this or that line is formed. The spherical representation makes it clear how the holes in the nostrils are formed and how the shadows on the nose are formed. It is more convenient for someone to see the shape with rectangular planes, for someone through a ball. I prefer to combine both options.

This time we start building not with circles or rectangles, but with a shadow shape. The shadow conveys all the curves of the nose that we draw very accurately, that is, if we draw the most accurate contours of the shadow, we will draw the most similar nose. First of all, I outline a simple general shadow spot. I determine it by squinting my eyes and looking at the reference. I see the shape of the shadow and try to convey it in the picture. I fill the entire area with a light stroke. Then, on top of the existing spot, I begin to look for more accurate shadow contours. I try to convey all the curves, every slightest shadow or semitone to the sword with a stroke. In order not to get porridge from the lines, draw the foreground and shadows in bold, and the midtones and light in thin. So you will immediately understand where the shadow is and where the light is.

Toning

The general shadow (pic. 1) is divided into two tones. On the red line, the plane will change its direction inward. There is almost no light getting there, so the bottom of the nose after the red line will be the darkest spot. And the side is 1-2 tones lighter. But pay attention to the fact that this is one common shadow. After the shadow, I add a midtone (red arrow) and light (blue). Highlight, as always, I leave untouched by the tone. I do the hatching according to the shape, but in the end, I will still smear with my finger to make a substrate with a smooth gradation of tone.

Let's move on to the forms. In the first diagram, you can see that the shadow takes a clear shape of a ball. To give more volume, I paint the core shadow brighter than the overall shadow spot, so that from a flat shadow spot I get a reflex (blue) and a core shadow (red). In the second scheme, the left nostril goes completely into the shadow, only a small dark spot remains below, and the right nostril already has light and shadow. The main thing here is not to get confused in the following observations. The left nostril is darker than the right nostril, in general they are both slightly lighter than the spherical shape from the first picture. Also, you probably already noticed that the light on the right nostril (blue arrow) is darker than the light on the tip of the nose. The nostril openings appear to be the darkest in the reference, but we shouldn't draw them the darkest. The darkest spot is the core shadow at the tip of the nose. This is necessary to show the foreground. All these complex tonal steps are necessary to convey more volume. Your task is to define a shadow spot, make a bright core shadow (due to which a reflex will appear) and draw a soft stretch from the shadow to the light. I understand that now it is difficult to put all this information in your head, but once again you will return to the beginning, re-read and try to draw it.

The sides of the nose also need to be divided tonally. I draw a shadow spot and at the junction of the side plane with the front one I draw a clear core shadow (pic. 1) to bring the corner to the fore. But make sure that this shadow is not darker than the shadow on the tip of the nose. The tip of the nose is still the centre of the composition and is the foreground, so it has the most contrasting shadows and highlights. The frontal side of the nose also has several planes with different tonality (pic. 2). Again, the light plane at the tip of the nose will be whiter than the light plane above. The same applies to highlight.

In the end, I return to the details, finalizing the shadows. All transitions are tonal, stretch marks should be soft and smooth. If we were to draw a male nose, the hardness of the hatching and the sharp transition in tone would only emphasize masculinity.

1. Draw a nose according to the reference from the lesson.

2. Draw your nose in an interesting angle with good lighting and shadows