How to Draw Human Noses

They come in all shapes and sizes, and they are the bane of your drawing existence: that's right, it's the nose. The nose is a notoriously difficult feature to draw well and can often come out too big, too small, or too awkward on faces you sketch. With a pencil and pad, you can create noses fit for a King.

Things You'll Need

• 5B drawing pencil
• sketch pad

Instructions

1. Draw a light line in the center of your page that angles downward from the top right corner of the page. The line should be angling at about 30 degree from the top right corner. This is the sketch of the top of the nose, your nose will be drawn as if the person is facing slightly toward the left side of the page.

2. Draw a small downward semi-circle at the bottom end of the line and stop it equal to where the line for the top of the nose started. This is the bottom of the nose, the area that faces your upper lip.

3. Draw another semi-circle, this time an upwards facing one with the center of the arc over the end point from the previous circle. This is the nostril. At this point, what you've go so far should begin to be recognizable as a nose.

4. Make one more semi-circle, this time in the shape of a closed parenthesis ")" with the bottom base next to (but not touching) the right hand end point of the bottom of the nose. This should have the effect of creating the right endof the nostril.

5. Shade the area a under the upwards facing semi-circle lightly to suggest space. Be careful not cover over any of your other lines in doing this.

6. Draw over the light line you created in step one for the top of the nose with a more defined, darker line based on the shape of the nose you want. You may keep the original shape, or add a bump in the middle or make the tip bulbous or long or drooping. You can be creative here to give your nose character.

7. Draw a very small semi-circle starting where the point of the tip is and going leftwards. This is the suggestion of another nostril on the other side of the nose which the audience isn't supposed to see totally due to the angle, but should know exists.

8. Add in nose rings, nose hairs, or anything else you like to your basic nose.