How to Draw the Ear

Ears, like so many human features, are easy after you know the trick, but confusing and difficult until you know how to draw them. Some artists just cover the subject's ears with long hair, but a short haired model will need ears drawn well. Drawing a human ear accurately is important in most portraits, even if it's not the focal point.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Conte crayon or charcoal
• Kneaded eraser
• Tortillon or stump
• Sketchbook or drawing paper
• Workable matte fixative

1. 
   Profile sketch showing ear placement

   In a profile, sketch the head with these proportions. The top of the ear is about at eye level, the bottom of the ear is going to fall above or at the line of the mouth depending on the size of the person's ears. This profile sketch of a short haired model shows accurate ear placement top to bottom, and front to back.

2. 
   Ear Diagram

   Hand copy this line drawing of the ear seen directly from the side. The parts of the ear are labeled with their medical names, just for amusement and so that we can discuss them later on when shading in charcoal or Conte.
   
   One thing that is difficult to remember in drawing the ear is that the shapes within the ear are always going to follow this pattern. The y-shaped bulge of the antihelix may be higher or lower, but it will be there. The little bulge of the antitragus will be there. These details are the same on all ears, but the exact placement and shape varies a lot from individual to individual.

3. 
   Ear in sanguine Conte crayon, shaded with bold outlines

   Sketch the ear diagram in lightly, and using your finger or a cardboard blender like a tortillon or stump, shade the ear. I used sanguine Conte crayon because even the darkest shadows will not go to black, the shadows in and around the ear are going to be soft shadowed skin tone. Keep the shading simple.
   
   This is an ear seen from the side on a short haired person with squared off sideburns, but how it looks from in front is different. Not all of these detailed features are evident, and in some ways it's simplified. In a 3/4 view portrait it will be angled but still closer to this side view ear than to the forward view.
   
   In a realistic drawing instead of the outer line outline, there would be hair behind the ear to contrast texture and value. The shading at the edge of the ears and its internal shading is as soft as the shading on the nose, with some dark areas depending on lighting -- but it will be gradual and tonal, not a hard outline. Because the ear casts a shadow on the hair, though, it is a place where outlines are less jarring than they are around a nose.

4. 
   Two different ears seen from directly in front

   Seen from in front, here are two very different shapes of ears. The ear on the left is the author's, with a very long dangling lobe but it's flat against his head, defined and shadowed by his cheekbone and hair. The ear on the right is more delicate and has a shorter earlobe, it's angled out a bit and the structures are more visible.
   
   The ear on the right would take very little adaptation to turn it into a pointed, elflike ear.
   
   Small children's ears are sometimes out of proportion, large because they can grow faster than the child's head. Often small children's ears stick straight out to the sides too, although some adults' ears do this as well. How flat ears are to the side of the head will vary with the individual, but older people's ears are usually flatter to the head than children's.
   
   When looking at the detailed diagram and drawing the detailed ear, bear in mind that the lines represent very soft lines of different values, shaded areas that move forward into highlight. Less can be more. Even in a profile ear, just hinting at the larger structures like the Y shaped Antihelix is enough to establish it as a human ear. Making ears more detailed than the expressive features of the face, mouth and eyes, will draw too much attention away from them and make the subject look funny. On the other hand, in a caricature, enlarging ears and exaggerating their shape and structures is a good way to give a laugh.
   
   One of the best ways to deemphasize ears in any portrait is to pay attention to the value differences of the shading. If the darkest shadows in the ear are only one or two steps darker than the light parts of the ear, that is closer to accurate than if those shadows are exaggerated. Hair sets off the shape of the ear as a whole, so one value of highlighting and one value of shadowing are all that's needed to make ears look good in a portrait.

Tips & Warnings

• Sketch the ears of many different people, from magazines, from life, from classical realistic drawings like Leonardo da Vinci's until you're aware of the range of variations in ear shape and comfortable enough with ear details to simplify them in some drawings.
• Don't overemphasize ears by putting too much contrast between shadows and highlights. Look close at the subject and sketch or paint the value changes softly to keep from drawing attention away from the rest of the face.

Resources

• Ear anatomy photo with labels
• Unrestricted-Stock at DeviantART for photo references without strings or royalties

[lifeengineer]

on 3/8/2009 Ears are tough. Thanks for the tips.

[jennhollowell]

on 10/26/2007 I'm learning SO much from you! Thank you! :)