How to draw a long face: raise the features, keep the jaw

This guide is about the shape of the face, not a glum expression. A long face is easy to draw as a stretched head: make everything taller and narrower and hope it reads. On the drawn heads measured here it works differently. The long faces are no taller than the short ones. Their eyes and noses sit higher, so more of the face lies between the eyes and the chin, and their jaws are no narrower.

All ten heads come from the free head rotation reference. On each front plate we divided the distance from the eyes to the chin by the jaw's width a sixth of the head's height above the chin. The longest faces are the gaunt-planes head and the minimal head, both with the eye-to-chin distance almost equal to the jaw's width, and the hard-plane head, with the two equal, though its front is drawn from slightly below. The shortest are the heavy-brow head at about seven eighths as long as wide, the soft-planes head at about the same and the high-cheekbones head at nine tenths. The figures compare the gaunt and heavy-brow heads from opposite ends. The numbers describe these drawings, not people: distances are compared as shares of each head's own height or width, and we leave very close ratios unordered because the outlines and features can be read slightly differently.

From the front

From the crown to the chin the gaunt and heavy-brow heads are within 2 percent of each other in height, so the two can be compared directly. As fractions of that height, measured down from the crown:

• The eye line sits a twentieth of the head's height above halfway on the gaunt head and a little below halfway on the heavy-brow head.
• The nose base sits a third of the head's height above the chin on the gaunt head and about a quarter on the heavy-brow head.
• The mouth sits a little over a fifth of the head's height above the chin on the gaunt head and just under a fifth on the heavy-brow head.

Across all ten heads the pattern holds. The three longest faces put the eyes a little above halfway down the head and the nose base about a third to three eighths of the head's height above the chin; the three shortest put the eyes a little below halfway and the nose base a little over a quarter of the height above the chin. The common rule puts the eyes halfway. The four Volume 1 heads in face proportions for drawing sit at or just above it, and the six Volume 2 heads sit just below it, by less than a twentieth of the head's height.

Keep the jaw full width

Measured up from the chin, the two jaws are the same width, a sixth of the head's height above the chin and again a fifth up. On both heads the jaw line leaves the neck line about a seventh of the head's height above the chin. Across the ten heads the jaw a sixth of the head's height above the chin is a little over half the head's height on both the three longest faces and the three shortest, so it doesn't separate them. A long face drawn with a pinched jaw turns into a different face, closer to a heart shape.

The cranium does narrow. The gaunt skull is the narrowest of the ten, about two thirds of the head's height across at its widest, against nearly three quarters for the heavy-brow head. The three longest skulls are about two thirds to seven tenths of the head's height wide and the three shortest about seven tenths to three quarters, so it's a tendency rather than the cause.

The difference shows above the jaw. On the gaunt head the side of the face rises nearly upright, leaning in only a tenth to a fifth as far as it drops, from the jaw corner to the ear lobe, which ends about a third of the head's height above the chin. On the heavy-brow head the lobe already reaches down to about a fifth of the head's height above the chin. Part of that is the ear: it is longer on the heavy-brow head, about a third of the head's height against about a quarter.

At three-quarter

At 45 degrees the heights barely change. The near eye sits about a tenth of the head's height higher on the gaunt plate, and the two chins are within about 2 percent of the same height. If the long face starts to look ordinary as the head turns, check those heights first.

In profile

The profile is a check on the front. A front plate drawn from slightly above or below could move the eye line without the face being any longer. In profile the gaunt eye sits a little above halfway down the head and the heavy-brow eye a little below halfway. From the nose base to the underside of the chin it's about a third of the head's height against about a quarter. The split matches the front, so on this pair the length belongs to the face, not to the view.

Drawing it

1. Set the head's height and the cranium first, as in drawing different face shapes from one construction. Keep the skull a little narrow, about two thirds of the head's height.
2. Put the eye line above halfway, by about a twentieth of the distance from the crown to the chin.
3. Set the nose base about a third of the head's height above the chin, and the mouth about a fifth of it above the chin.
4. Draw the jaw at its usual width. A sixth of the head's height above the chin, that's a little over half the head's height.
5. Run the sides upright from the jaw corner to the ear.
6. Check the heights at 45 degrees and in profile. The eye and the chin should sit where they did from the front.

Common mistakes

• Stretching the whole head. The long faces here are no taller; their features sit higher.
• Narrowing the jaw. It stays as wide as on a shorter face.
• Leaving the eyes at halfway or below. That keeps the lower face short.

What else is going on

The gaunt head is older and leaner, with folds that run down the face, and those vertical lines add to the sense of length. The heavy-brow head has the large brow ridge and longer ears. These are ten drawings in one style, so try the steps on other heads before you rely on them.

A short exercise

Trace the heavy-brow head at 0 degrees lightly, keeping the crown, the chin and the jaw where they are. Move the eye line up about a tenth of the head's height, the nose base up a little less than that and the mouth up about half as far, narrow the skull, and run the sides upright to the ear. Compare it with the gaunt-planes head at 0 degrees, then repeat in profile.

The jaw's corner is placed in how to draw a jawline, a lean face's shading in how to draw a thin face, and a fuller outline in how to draw a round face. The gaunt-planes head is Study Pack 02 in Volume 1, and the heavy-brow head is Study Pack 10 in Volume 2.

This guide is one step in how to draw the head at any angle, which puts all the head guides in order.