Beginner's advice for faces/ expressions

Hello, Longer time user, first time poster.



I have been using this site on and off for years, mostly to use the models for speed practice and nailling details for human anotomy. And while I found the site has a good beginner's guide for breaking down poses and figures, I find that it lacks for understanding who to breakdown faces. What or how would you suggest for someone who is trying to get better at putting faces to thier figures?

Admittedly drawing faces is a thing that can be learned very intuitively, as we've seen the faces of many people throughout our lives and it is easy to tell when something is wrong. The first thing I suggest is that you should try to break the face into simpler forms, you can try to simplify the facial features with simple forms (like the nose as a simple box), and you can try to break it down into planes. Avoid drawing flat shapes and do your best to always use 3D forms.

All of this should be done from imagination, this may sound daunting at first but you will learn a lot by trial and error.

And if you want to complement it with an actual method to draw the face/head you can search for the Loomis method on the internet, I personally have never used it, but I've seen plenty of people recommend it

In addition to the Loomis method, try faster practices. Choose a picture and try to find the main features of the face. Then draw only them. You don't always have to draw the whole head or the structure of the face.