How to draw the nose from different angles

The nose sticks out further than anything else on the face, so it's the first feature to change when the head turns. Drawn as a set of outlines, it looks stuck on at every angle but the front. Drawn as a form sitting on the front of the face, it turns with the head on its own.

Build it as a wedge

Think of the nose as a long wedge, narrow at the bridge and widening toward the base. It has a front plane down the middle, a side plane on each side, and an underside where the nostrils are. At the bottom, the ball of the tip sits between two wings, and a narrow strip of skin under the tip, the columella, divides the nostrils.

The bridge starts between the eyes at the brow line, and the base sits on the line that divides the middle third of the face from the lower third. That line doesn't move as the head turns, which makes it the easiest check on the nose at any angle.

How to draw a nose from the front

From the front the wedge points at you and its length is hidden. You see the edges of the side planes running down from the inner corners of the eyes, the ball of the tip, the two wings and the nostrils beneath. The base of the nose is as wide as the space between the eyes or up to about a fifth wider (measured on ten heads). How to draw a nose from the front measures how long it is and how high the wings reach.

The soft-planes head from the front. The bridge is two light, broken lines; the tip, wings and nostrils carry the shape.

On the front plates both edges of the bridge are drawn, but lightly and broken, never as a hard pair of lines. Most of the nose is described at the bottom, by the tip, the wings and the shadow under them.

A small turn

At the slight three-quarter view the near side plane opens up and the far side narrows to a thin edge. The far nostril starts to shrink behind the columella. The whole nose still sits inside the outline of the face.

Three-quarter view

At the three-quarter view the near side plane is broad and carries most of the shading. The far nostril is gone, but the far wing still shows as a rounded bulge beyond the tip, forming the far edge of the nose. The tip now projects past the center line of the face, and the far eye sits close against the side of the bridge. The three-quarter guide covers how the rest of the face turns with it. How to draw a nose in three-quarter view measures how close the nose comes to the cheek line on ten heads.

The high-cheekbones head at 45 degrees. The near side of the nose is a broad plane; the far wing still bulges past the tip.

Near profile and profile

By near profile the nose breaks the outline of the face. The bridge, tip and underside become part of the silhouette, and the far eye shrinks to a sliver beside the bridge.

The heavy-jaw head at 67.5 degrees. The nose now forms part of the outline of the face.

In profile you see the full length of the wedge: the dip at the bridge, the slope down to the tip, and the underside running back to where the wing meets the cheek. The underside isn't flat. It climbs from the upper lip to the tip, and the columella usually shows as a short edge below the wing. How to draw a nose from the side measures the bridge, tip, wing and underside on ten heads.

From above and below

All of this assumes a level head. From below, the underside of the nose and both nostrils come into view, and the tip rides up against the wings. From above, the underside disappears and the bridge looks longer. Keep the base of the nose on its line around the head, at the head's tilt, and the rest follows.

Common nose mistakes

Drawing both sides of the bridge as dark, continuous lines from the front.
Keeping the nose inside the outline at near profile, where it should break it.
Moving the base of the nose up or down as the head turns, instead of keeping it on its line.
Showing both nostrils at three-quarter view, where the far one has gone behind the columella.

A five-angle nose exercise

Draw the nose alone at 0, 22.5, 45, 67.5 and 90 degrees, first as a plain wedge with three planes and an underside, then with the tip and wings added on top. Building the box first makes the turn come out right before any detail goes in. The high-cheekbones head shown at 45 degrees is Study Pack 09, with all sixteen angles in pencil and tone.

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