How to draw skull
How to draw skull
How to Draw a Skull
How to Draw a Skull
Welcome to the first studydrawing.com anatomy tutorial. This page will show you how to draw a realistic human skull. Unlike other basic skull drawing tutorials, this page will show you a repeatable method of drawing a proportionally accurate skull. Drawing the skull is a great way to begin studying human anatomy. Drawing the skull is the foundation for learning to draw the shapes of the head and learning the forms and masses of the face. This will help you can draw realistic human faces and portraits.
This how-to may seem like it has a lot of steps. However, it is structured in a way that you can repeat this process. Each time you do it, you’ll be able to skip steps. The more you repeat this process of drawing the skull, the more you begin remembering and memorizing the shapes and form of the skull. This will help your drawings of faces and heads become more realistic and use correct proportions.
Tools
The tools I used for the drawing pictured below are:
This tutorial is structured in a way that you can use any materials. In fact, I encourage you to experiment with different materials. I also recommend that the first time you try this tutorial, you use the materials I recommend, or similar ones. I’ll describe the ones I prefer and tell you why.
Ruler: A decent and durable ruler is essential for setting up the drawing grid that I’ll describe later.
Eraser: I really love pen-style eraser sticks like these. They are inexpensive and great for precision erasing.
Mechanical Pencil: I prefer a mechanical pencil. I like mechanical pencils for the consistency of line width and no need to sharpen. The drawing process I describe will not have a very broad range of values, so the range that a HB or 2B pencil lead can create will suffice.
Paper or Sketchbook: For a drawing that you many spend some time on, it’s good to have durable and thicker paper. Thicker paper can handle erasing much better than thinner paper. I prefer Bristol Board or watercolor paper with a smooth surface and not much texture. In this case, I used a sheet of paper from a pad of Strathmore Vision Watercolor paper, the 6″x9″ size.
The first task will be to set up a 4×6 grid for your drawing. The grid should be 4 equal squares wide and 6 equal squares long, with diagonal lines connecting the corners of each square. In this case, I made each square 1 inch by 1 inch, which meant my grid was a total of 4 inches wide and 6 inches long. You don’t have to use a 1 inch by 1 inch unit square.
This procedure for drawing the skull can be enlarged by using larger unit squares, or made smaller. Just make sure your grid, however big you decide to make it, is divided up into 4 equal squares wide and 6 squares long.
The purpose of the grid is to allow you to place the skull’s features and proportions accurately. It will also help you keep your drawing symmetrical. Take your time to set your grid up cleanly and accurately, as it will lead to a correctly proportioned drawing.
How to Draw a Skull in Profile, Step by Step
In this tutorial I will show you how to draw a human skull from scratch, step by step. I will explain every little detail of the drawing, and the perspective will be really basic, so you don’t need any previous drawing experience to try this.
To make it even easier, try to make the drawing small—this will let you use the same movements you use for writing, so you will be more precise.
1. How to Draw the Brain Case
Step 1
Draw a line. Its length is up to you—the longer it is, the bigger the drawing will be. Feel free to use a ruler if necessary.
Step 2
Find the center of the line and mark it.
Step 3
Draw a line perpendicular to the previous line. Make it slightly longer than a half of that first line.
Step 4
Draw a mirrored copy of the line to create a rotated cross.
Step 5
We’re going to create an ellipse out of it. If you have problems with it, here’s how you can do it: lightly draw some curves between the ends of the two lines, as if you wanted to draw in the air and on the paper at the same time.
Then draw over these light lines to create a final curve.
Use the same trick to finish the ellipse.
Step 6
Find the center of this quarter.
. and use it to create six sections.
Step 7
Connect two section markers with a curve.
Step 8
Cross this curve with a loop.
2. How to Draw the Jaw
Step 1
Elongate the shorter line of the ellipse down.
Step 2
Mark the length of half of that shorter line.
Step 3
Draw a horizontal line across this point.
Step 4
Divide the other quarter of the ellipse into four sections.
Step 5
Draw a line from the first of these sections, creating a parallel line.
Step 6
Draw another parallel line, this time starting below the eye socket.
Step 7
Divide this line into four sections.
Step 8
Cross it with a perpendicular line. Make it as long as a half of the line it’s crossing, and parallel to the longer line of the ellipse.
Step 9
Draw a circle around this symmetrical cross. Use that trick from drawing the ellipse to keep it round.
Step 10
Close the shape of the front of the jaw with two more lines.
3. How to Draw the Nose and Teeth
Step 1
Draw a little circle in the back of the skull.
Step 2
Divide the lower half of the jaw circle into three sections.
Step 3
Draw a curve through these points.
Step 4
Draw a circle above the eye socket to create the brow.
Step 5
Draw a guide line between the brow and the jaw.
Step 6
Draw a gentle curve between the brow and the eye socket.
Step 7
Draw a line under the ellipse, parallel to the longer line of it.
Step 8
Draw a curve under the brow. This will be the nasal bridge.
Step 9
Draw a line between the tip of the nasal bridge and the center of the jaw circle.
Step 10
Divide a quarter of that circle into three sections.
Step 11
Draw a short line coming from the last point towards the lower jaw.
Step 12
Draw the curvy line for the rows of teeth.
4. How to Draw the Details of the Skull
Step 1
Divide a quarter of the jaw circle into halves this time.
Step 2
Draw an oval through it, under the eye socket.
Step 3
Mark a half of it.
Step 4
Draw a line between the point and the end of the lower jaw.
Step 5
Draw another line between these two areas, this time going below the oval.
Step 6
Draw a small oval stuck to the jaw joint.
Step 7
Draw a circle beside the big oval on the cheek.
Step 8
Draw two curves from this point. This will create the shape of the lower jaw.
Step 9
Add more curves to close the ridges of the eye socket.
Step 10
Mark the side of the brain case.
Step 11
Draw an oval under the brain case, right behind the lower jaw.
Step 12
Draw a big circle on the lower jaw to make its shape more realistic. It should be slightly above that horizontal guide line.
Step 13
Finish the shape of the nose with a few more guide lines.
Step 14
Draw the guide lines for the teeth.
5. How to Finish the Drawing of a Skull
Step 1
The sketch is finished! To create the final lines now, you can use a darker tool, or put a new sheet of paper over the sketch to see the subtle guide lines under it.
First, outline the shape of the skull.
Step 2
Outline the eye socket.
Step 3
Outline the ridges around the eye socket and the cheekbone.
Step 4
Outline the teeth. Give them slightly rounded tops.
Step 5
Outline the jaw.
Step 6
Press more lightly now and sketch some details on the surface of the skull. Nothing fancy, just some seams here and there.
Step 7
Let’s shade it with cross-hatching to give it the fancy look of an old book figure.
Good Job!
You’ve learned how to draw a skull step by step! If you want to keep learning, check out more of my tutorials:
How to Draw a Skull in 8 Simple Steps for Beginner Artists
In this video on how to draw a skull, artist Laurie B will show you how to sketch the basic shapes of the skull for cartoon characters or realistic portraits.
The skull is the perfect place to start if you want to draw faces, because understanding how it is constructed makes drawing all the other details such as the eyes, nose, and lips so much easier!
Begin drawing the skull with an oval shape
Begin drawing the skull with an oval shape
Begin drawing the skull by sketching an oval shape. In this lesson, you’ll notice how this oval shape is slightly squished.
There are several different methods you can use to draw the skull, but this is one of the easiest and quickest ways to learn. It’ll also give you a pretty accurate base to start from in your drawing.
Divide the skull up with horizontal and vertical lines to fine the eye line
Divide the skull up with horizontal and vertical lines to fine the eye line
Next, you’ll need to divide the oval shape you drew in the previous step with a horizontal and vertical line. The vertical line passes through the middle of the oval shape, and the horizontal line is slightly lower. This is where the eye line of your character will be.
Add a line across the jaw for the teeth
Add a line across the jaw for the teeth
The next step in learning how to draw a skull is to add the line across the jaw for the teeth. The line of the teeth follows the line of the lower part of the jaw and then curves up to join the major form of the skull.
Finish off the teeth by sketching in some light lines. Don’t worry about making the teeth perfect at this stage. Most of the time, you won’t need to draw the teeth individually, because they will be hidden by the lips.
The spine originates from the back of the skull, not the center
The spine originates from the back of the skull, not the center
Now it’s time to add the spine to your skull drawing. A lot of beginner artists draw the spine coming down from the center of the skull, but this isn’t really correct. The spine actually comes down from towards the back part of the skull.To see for yourself, reach your hand to the back of your neck, and then feel the bump of your spine. Follow the spine up to where it connects to your head. Do you notice how it’s not actually in the center of your skull?Art Tip: If you’d like to learn more about drawing the human body, your own body is a great reference point.
It doesn’t matter if you are learning how to draw a skull, how to draw a face, or any other part of the body – just grab a mirror, a pencil, and some paper, and get drawing. Everything you need to learn is right before your eyes.
Draw horizontal lines to give you the right proportions for the front view of your skull
Draw horizontal lines to give you the right proportions for the front view of your skull
Now that you’ve learned how to draw a skull from the side, why not do another drawing of the skull from the front?
To get started, draw some horizontal guidelines extending from the right side of your side view skull drawing like in the image above.
When you are drawing the front view of the skull, you can use these lines to make sure the major parts match up in both drawings.
Extend the horizontal lines across the page to draw the front view
Extend the horizontal lines across the page to draw the front view
The horizontal guidelines for drawing the skull are:
To draw the skull from the front, start off by drawing a circle. In the video, you’ll notice how this circle isn’t squished like the oval shape you drew for the side view.
After drawing the circle, draw some lines going down to indicate where the jaw will be.
Your horizontal guidelines will help you place the eye sockets
Your horizontal guidelines will help you place the eye sockets
In this step, you’ll learn how to draw the eye sockets and add some other details to your skull drawing, such as the cheekbones and brows.
Remember to keep drawing more horizontal guidelines if you need to. These are really useful for keeping the front and side views of the skull in proportion with each other.
Continue refining your drawing of the human skull, and begin making the lines darker once you’ve drawn them correctly.
Buying one of these will really help you understand the anatomy of the skull. For example, you’ll be able to see exactly what the cheekbone looks like, or how the lower jaw attaches to the rest of the skull.
Finish off your skull drawing by adding some shading
Finish off your skull drawing by adding some shading
Finish off learning how to draw a skull by shading in the jaw and the eye sockets. Then, add some teeth to your front view drawing of the skull.
That’s it – you’re all done!
Your horizontal guidelines will help you place the eye sockets
Learning how to draw a skull is really important if you want to draw realistic-looking faces. So, just keep practising until you get it right
Because if you’re serious about drawing characters or portraits, this is one of the best ways to develop as an artist!
And, once you’ve learned how to draw a skull, why not take your art skills further and learn how to draw facial features?
This blog post on how to draw a nose is a great place to start!This Lesson is Part 1 of a 3 Part Series on Skull Drawing
How to Draw a Skull
Life Drawing Academy Lesson
Proportions of a Skull
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How to Draw a Skull
Constructive drawing by Vladimir London
In this video lesson, you will discover How to Draw a Skull. This lesson is special, because some of the methods of drawing a skull were invented by me and are unique to this course.
Sketching a skull is very easy. Without rushing, I can do it under 30 seconds in few laconic outlines and contours. Speed is not the aim here, and drawing fast is a product of practice. As you know, art is not an Olympic sport; they don’t give medals for speed. This sketch is almost complete; I will add some shading as well.
Although this sketch is very rough, it is well proportioned:
Don’t worry, this was just a demonstration, not an explanation.
I will now do a proper step-by-step drawing, explaining every important proportion of a skull. Let’s begin with the front view. The central line of the head is the axis of symmetry. I mark the top and bottom edges of the skull. Its height is divided in half. Each half is divided into three equal parts; six parts in total. We will use those six parts to build the skull drawing. The level at the second mark is the widest part of the skull.
Using a two-part measurement as the radius, I draw a big circle, marking few points with the radius. This circle represents the cranium, the part of the skull that encircles the brain. There is another way to draw a perfect circle freehand, but this is just a gimmick.
The lower three parts are divided in half. This is the center of a smaller circle. The two circles are connected with lines. The intersection of the circles is divided into three equal parts. This division helps to locate the points of the chin. One-third is also the width of the pear-shaped opening to the nasal cavity, which sits within the circles’ borders. The third part of the skull is divided into three equal parts. This helps to locate the nose root, or nasion. I will mark the levels of the fourth part of the skull.
The top of the nasal cavity opening is the center of the skull in the front view. The widest points of the small circle are projected to the level of the fourth part. The skull’s fourth part is divided into three parts. The widest points of the big circle are projected as well. These points mark the height of the cheekbone arch. The division of the fourth part will be used later. The distance from the chin to the base of the nose is divided into three equal parts. The one-third mark is the lower edge of the mastoid process. This oval is the place where the skull connects to the first vertebra of the spine. The small semicircle is divided into three parts at the sixth level of the skull. The two-thirds marks are boundaries of the dental structure’s width. The one-third of the big circle is used to locate the points of the lower jaw.
As you may notice, one-third measurements are used for placing so many key points of the skull. This is what I invented in addition to methods developed by other anatomy teachers. Once again, one-third is used to locate the angle of the lower jaw. One-third is also the level for the line between the teeth. One-third of the skull’s width marks the locations of the two canines. The characteristic contour of the jaws spans through three key points. The two canines are marked here. The height of the upper incisors divides the distance from the base of the nose to the line between the teeth in half. I will add the remaining teeth. Outlines of the upper jaw are added.
Now, we will plot the points of the eye sockets. The widest points of the smaller circle are projected to the nasion’s level. The canines’ marks are projected to the top of the cheekbone arch level. You may remember that this is one-third of the skull’s width. Two more cross-points are added. One-third of the skull’s third part is used to plot two more key points. Two more cross-points are located. And another pair of points is added. All these points help us to outline the eye sockets. I will mark additional contours of the facial part of the skull. These are the boundaries of planes. All that remains to complete this drawing is to depict the outlines of the cranium and the temple. Once again, one-third is used to place two bumps on the forehead. This concludes the drawing of a skull in the front view.
The following method of drawing the skull’s side-view is invented by me and is unique to this course. The vertical line spans five parts. The horizontal line goes at the level of the first part. Another horizontal line is at the base of the nose. The five-sixths measurement, which is the height of the face, is used to mark the ends of the horizontal lines. The top corner and the end of the second line are connected.
I will show you the logic behind this method on this anatomy figure, which is, by the way, available from 3dtotal.com. You may see that the diagonal line in drawing is parallel to the red line that goes though the top of the forehead. Now, check how another line, which goes through the chin, is perpendicular to the first one. You may also notice that the second line divides the first one in half. So, we divide in half the diagonal line in drawing. I mark the top and bottom levels of the skull. The second diagonal line is perpendicular to the first one, just like in life. This line ends one-third from the top. The vertical line goes from the other end to the middle of the skull. The horizontal level goes through the cross-point of the diagonal lines. The skull ends at the end of this line. The top of the skull is vertically aligned with the cross-point. You may see on the model that the height of the face is the same as the distance from the forehead to the base of the skull. This is also the distance from the forehead to the back of the skull. Here’s the forehead point. And this how the cross-point projects to the top of the skull. Here’s another key point. And the back of the skull at the cross-point level.
I can now draw the cranium’s outline through these five points. The distance to the cross-point is divided into three equal parts. This is the level of the ear channel, which is one-third from the base point. This distance is divided into three parts as well. One-third from the base is the mastoid process. The pointy styloid process sits just beneath the ear channel. Behind it is the place where the skull connects to the backbone. At the level of the ear channel is the head of the condylar process of the lower jaw. One-third locates the coronoid process of the lower jaw. Once again, one-third measurements are used to point out the angle of the lower jaw.
At one-third to the cross-point, there is the level of the line between the teeth. I will now add the outline of the jaws. Three points can be used to measure the facial angles. Please note, all proportions and measurements here are not some beauty standard, and in real life, they will vary from person to person without any discrimination or conclusions. Yet again, I’m using one-third to locate the nasal cavity border. Here’s another point of the forehead.
One-third of the skull’s third part gives the nasion’s level. The eyebrow ridge is also located with the one-third measurement. The cheekbone has its key-point at one-third of the distance from the nasal bone to the cross-point. One-third measurements help to locate another key-point of the cheekbone. This point of the cheekbone is aligned with this bone edge. Here’s another point of the same bone.
I will now plot an array of points that will help to draw the temporal line. One-third measurements are used for this purpose. These seven points can be connected to mark the cheekbone’s edge, the temporal line and the border between the side and back surfaces of the skull. This point helps to locate the eye socket’s edge.
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How to Draw the Skull
Why Learn How to Draw the Skull
Drawing fundamentals are literally the structures that you build your drawings on. To draw heads and faces, the skull is the most important thing to understand. In this post, we will be showing you how to sketch out the skull from the front and side view.
In this article, you’ll learn:
How to Draw the Skull: The Oval
There are several different methods you can use to draw the skull, but this is one of the easiest and quickest ways to learn. It’ll also give you a pretty accurate base to start from in your drawing.
Begin drawing the skull by sketching an oval shape for the head. This will represent the cranium. The oval shape will help us draw a more accurate skull, because it is not perfectly round, it is a little squished.
The Jaw
Next, you’ll need to divide the oval shape you drew in the previous step with a horizontal and vertical line. The vertical line passes through the middle of the oval shape, and the horizontal line is slightly lower. This is where the eye line of your character will be.
Using this as a guide you will draw in the blocky shape of the nose, mouth, and jaw. It sits at the bottom of the skull and attaches at the center or at the horizontal dividing like we established in our last step.
The Teeth
The next step in learning how to draw a skull is to add the line across the jaw for the teeth. The line of the teeth follows the line of the lower part of the jaw and then curves up to join the major form of the skull.
Finish off the teeth by sketching in some light lines. Don’t worry about making the teeth perfect at this stage. Most of the time, you won’t need to draw the teeth individually, because they will be hidden by the lips.
The Spine
Now it’s time to add the spine to your skull drawing. A lot of beginner artists draw the spine coming down from the center of the skull, but this isn’t correct. The spine actually comes down from towards the back part of the skull.
To see for yourself, reach your hand to the back of your neck, and then feel the bump of your spine. Follow the spine up to where it connects to your head. Do you notice how it’s not actually in the center of your skull?
Tip: If you’d like to learn more about drawing the human body, your own body is a great reference point to start with. It doesn’t matter if you are learning how to draw a skull, how to draw a face or any other part of the body – just grab a mirror, a pencil, and some paper, and get drawing. Everything you need to learn is right before your eyes.
The Front of the Face
Draw horizontal lines to give you the right proportions for the front view of your skull.
Now that you’ve learned how to draw a skull from the side, why not do another drawing of the skull from the front?
To get started, draw some horizontal guidelines extending from the right side of your side view skull drawing like in the image above.
When you are drawing the front view of the skull, you can use these lines to make sure the major parts match up in both drawings.
Drawing the Front View
The horizontal guidelines for drawing the skull are:
To draw the skull from the front, start off by drawing a circle. In the video, you’ll notice how this circle isn’t squished like the oval shape you drew for the side view.
After drawing the circle, draw some lines going down to indicate where the jaw will be.
Placing Eye Sockets
Notice how we draw additional horizontal guidelines to place the features in the same spot in both the side and front views. These are really useful for keeping the front and side views of the skull in proportion.
Continue refining your drawing of the human skull, and begin making the lines darker once you’ve drawn them correctly.
By this stage, you should have most of the facial features added to your drawing, which means you’re almost done with learning how to draw a skull!
Buying one of these will really help you understand the anatomy of the skull. For example, you’ll be able to see exactly what the cheekbone looks like, or how the lower jaw attaches to the rest of the skull.
Defining the Jaw and Teeth
Next, we are going to add more definition to the jaw. There are a few things to remember,
Now as you may notice in the image above, the jaw has a cavity. That cavity is the area behind the teeth. Beyond this, the jaw turns upward once again, this is where the jaw attaches to the top of the skull allowing for the movement we have in our jaw.
Continuing keeping both the heads proportionally similar, we need to bring over a new line that will indicate where the bottom of the teeth is sitting on our skull. In this view, the shape of the jaw is a bit different.
Our last step is to indicate the position of the teeth. Using our guidelines we can see where we put the teeth on the side view of our skull, and place them similarly on the front view.
Because if you’re serious about drawing characters or portraits, this is one of the best ways to develop as an artist!
And, once you’ve learned how to draw a skull, why not take your art skills further and learn how to draw facial features?
TIP: to expand your knowledge on drawing the face, it’s important to study the individual features one at a time before jumping into drawing the whole face.
ASSIGNMENT
Finding skull references should be pretty easy, the entire world has a fascination with them, probably because we can’t see them with our own eyes, while we are alive. But for artists this is exactly why we must study them, because it’s the only way to truly understand the proportions of the face. So, looking at reference, sketch out fifty different skills in as many views as you can find.