Here you’ll find an easy step-by-step tutorial for how to draw a side profile. Learn how to avoid the mistake of making it look too straight.
Most young artists make the mistake of thinking that a profile of a face is drawn on a straight line. Everyone’s face is a bit different of course, but there does need to be a gentle round curve that the forehead, nose and chin follow. Not as round as a circle, but a slight one that the features all kind of follow.
Students can draw a guide like the one shown in the tutorial, or teachers can print out the one shared on page 3 of the PDF tutorial. It will help them get everyone off to a good start, so they can just focus on placing all those features in all the right place. Sometimes some extra guidance, especially when drawing something for the first time, can help students gain confidence in their skills.
Profile portrait drawings can remind one of antique cameos, the profiles of emperors stamped on Roman coins, and 18th-century silhouettes. Learning how to draw a face in profile though comes with its share of possible missteps, so this tutorial shapes a tip to keep in mind when drawing one.
Use the button below to grab this PDF tutorial
How to Draw Side Profile Materials
Watch a fun short video of a profile drawing of a face
Step by Step Directions for a Side Profile
Time needed: 35 minutes
How to Draw a Side Profile
- LIGHTLY draw this shape to help you
make the shapes, it will get erased later.
- Start with the forehead and nose.
- Continue down with the lips and
the chin and jaw line. - Add the ear and details inside.
- Draw the neck and shoulders.
- Add the hair line around the scalp.
- Draw the eye and eyebrow.
- Add the nose and lip lines.
- Trace with a marker and color.
