We’ve been focused for the past six weeks on drawing a face as you see it facing straight forward. Now we’re going to turn the head to the side and learn to see and draw the face in profile.

To begin, look at the image below. What do you see?

What did you see first? A vase? Or two faces in profile looking at each other?

Now it’s your turn to draw this optical illusion. Either print the image, or try to draw it the best you can. Then try to flip it in your mind and draw it the other side. Aim for symmetry — both sides would be the same if you folded the paper in half. But don’t be too tough on yourself — I made the above image using a computer, so I was able to use digital tools to flip it and make a perfect copy. It’s a good mental exercise to something difficult and challenging to your brain!

Facial Features

When you’re ready to try to add in the eyes and mouth, notice that they look very different when seen from the side than from the front! That’s because you can only see half of everything.

The mouth and eye both look more like rounded triangles. 

500 Year Old Art

This image is from Albrecht Durer’s book printed in 1527 about the proportions of faces and bodies. I found it fascinating to see noses and faces squished and stretched out. Renaissance artists were very interested in measuring all sorts of things! What are the measurements of your face?

2800 Year Old Art

This image is from the tomb of Queen Nefertari of ancient Egypt. Notice that you can see her whole eye, as if it was seen from the front. This is on purpose because the images you see in the tombs are all part of a different way of communicating, using hieroglyphics, or pictures, instead of letters to convey ideas. 

You can take a virtual tour of her tomb on the BBC website.