Head turnaround reference: turn a head through 16 angles

What to watch as the head turns

The drawings are the same ten study heads as the head rotation reference, one every 22.5 degrees from the front through profile to the back and around again. Where a head was never drawn at an angle in pencil, the turn skips that angle rather than fill it in.

Follow the center line of the face. It curves with the front of the skull, so it bends further from the middle of the head with every step toward profile, and the far eye and cheek shrink faster than the near ones grow.

Watch the ear. It stays put on the side of the skull while the face swings away from it, which is why the distance from the ear to the eye is the best measure of how far a head has turned. Past profile the jaw corner and the back of the skull take over the outline.

To draw from it, stop on an angle, draw it, then turn one step and draw the next view beside it. When a view goes wrong, read how to draw the head at any angle, step by step, or test yourself on random views with the timed head drawing practice. Two of the heads are also drawn from a low camera on the head from below reference.