index >drawing tutorials >nose drawing tutorial

Drawing Tutorial- How to Draw a Nose

I made this tutorial to show the different steps that I take in drawing a realistic nose. There are many different methods though, so don't rely purely on this one. :)

Step 1 I begin by drawing a light outline. This outline will disappear when we start shading.


Step 2 Next, I take a 3B pencil and scribble some graphite onto a dark area on the side of the nose. You can cross hatch or just scribble. It doesn't really matter what it looks like at this point because it will be blended later.


Step 3 I blend the graphite in circular motions with a blending stump setting it into the fibres of the paper.


Step 4 Repeating the last 2 steps, I work on another dark area of the nose. Since my light source is coming from the right, everything on the left side of the nose will be darker.


Step 5 I move on to the area next to the nostril. This is one of the darkest places on the nose because it is recieving a cast shadow from the nostril. It is blended with a blending stump just as before. When working on a drawing, always try to remind yourself which direction the light source is coming from.


Step 6 Next, I move upwards and work on the top of the nose starting with darks and working into lights.


Step 7 The left side of the nose gets shaded. With my blending stump, I pulling in graphite from the darks I've already made. If the darks start to fade, they can be replaced by just adding more graphite.


Step 8 The nostril is going to be the single darkest part on this drawing. I take a 3B pencil and scribble it in. Next, I blend it with my blending stump. When doing darks I usually do not blend them because it can wash them out slightly. But in this case, I am going to add some nose hairs and blended graphite is easier when pulling out tone.


Step 9 I take a retractable eraser and pull out a few hairs in the nostril. After I pull the hairs out, I go back with a 3B pencil and darken in my darks in the nostril.


Step 10 Moving back up the nose, I carefully pull in some more tone from the darker areas with a blending stump.


Step 11 I pull in more tone but leave a lighter highlight on the right side of the nose. Also, on the right side of the nose I add some tone. This tone just defines where the light part of the nose starts or stops.


Step 12 I work some more on the right side of the nose moving into the eye area.


Step 13 The nose is basically done now. All that is left is to add subtle details or to adjust tones. You can add pores to the nose, hairs, imperfections, whatever you'd like. Younger people are more likely to have smoother skin so keep that in mind also.


Step 14 I decided that I wanted my nose to be a little older looking. So I added pores, freckles, and some wrinkles to it. I began to add some facial hair underneath the nose also.


I hope this tutorial has helped you in some way or another. I can explain how I do things all day but the basic idea of drawing is to just understand how tones flow and to train your eye to see what others don't see. Just take it slow and practice whenever you can.


pencil drawings pastel drawings bio art and drawing forum contact drawing tools drawing tips how to draw a face still life tutorial order a drawing how to draw realistic hair faq drawing tutorials links