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Learn Portrait Drawing

Draw faces that look like real people, from head structure to a recognizable likeness.

Free to start. Built from a single prompt. No credit card.

Portrait drawing is about the human head: its structure, its features and the subtle measurements that make one face recognizable from another. Beginners often draw each feature as a separate symbol and wonder why the face looks off. The fix is to build the head first as a simple form, place features with proportional guidelines, and shade the planes of the face under one light source. Likeness comes last, through careful measuring. Learnr generates a personalized portrait drawing course from one prompt, pairing short lessons on structure with practice prompts you can draw from photos or a mirror.

How to learn Portrait Drawing, step by step

Build the head with the Loomis method. Draw a sphere, slice off the sides, and attach a jaw. Mark the brow line, the bottom of the nose and the chin, which roughly divide the face into equal thirds from hairline to chin. Practice the construction from many angles before adding any features.
Learn the basic proportions. The eyes usually sit near the vertical midpoint of the head, and the head is about five eyes wide. The ears fall between the brow and the base of the nose. Treat these as averages to compare against, since the deviations are what make a face individual.
Draw features as forms, one at a time. Draw the eyeball as a sphere with lids wrapping around it, the nose as a wedge with a ball at the tip, and the lips over the curved cylinder of the teeth. Fill pages of each feature from different angles and from photos of many faces.
Study the planes of the head. A simplified planar head shows where the forehead, cheekbones, eye sockets and jaw turn away from the light. Draw from a planes model or photos of one, then shade real faces by deciding which plane each patch of tone belongs to.
Draw from life and from your own mirror. Photos flatten the face and often distort it with wide lenses. Regular self-portraits in a mirror, and quick sketches of friends or people on a train, teach you how heads turn and tilt in three dimensions.
Measure for likeness and refine. Compare the angle of the jaw, the width between the eyes and the distance from nose to lip against your drawing. Small errors there break a likeness. Brief Learnr reviews of proportions keep these checks sharp between drawing sessions.

What you'll learn

Construct the head from a sphere and jaw using the Loomis method
Place the eyes, nose, mouth and ears with standard proportions
Draw each feature as a 3D form rather than a flat symbol
Shade the major planes of the face under a single light
Measure angles and distances to capture a likeness

What's inside your Portrait Drawing course

A sample path Learnr builds for Portrait Drawing. Your real course adapts to your goal and level.

1. Head structure and the Loomis method
2. Facial proportions and guidelines
3. Eyes, nose, lips and ears as forms
4. Planes of the head and lighting
5. Turning the head: three-quarter and profile
6. Likeness, hair and a finished portrait

How long does it take to learn Portrait Drawing?

Most beginners draw a well-proportioned generic face within a few weeks of steady practice. Capturing a real likeness consistently usually takes 6 months to 2 years, depending on how often you draw from life and how much time you spend on head structure versus copying photos.

What you need before you start

Basic pencil control and simple shading are enough to begin. Graphite or charcoal, an eraser and paper work fine. If drawing in general is new, a few weeks of foundational drawing first will help.

Common mistakes to avoid

Placing the eyes too high on the head, which shrinks the skull and forehead. Check that they sit near the halfway line.
Drawing eyelashes, nostrils and lip lines as hard dark outlines. Model them with soft value changes, and keep the darkest accents small.
Shading the face before the head structure is right. No amount of rendering fixes features that sit in the wrong place, so measure first.

How Learnr builds your course

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Portrait Drawing questions, answered

What is the Loomis method?

A head construction technique from illustrator Andrew Loomis: a sphere with the sides cut flat, plus a jaw and guidelines for the brow, nose and chin. It helps you draw heads at any angle.

Should I draw portraits from photos or life?

Both are useful. Photos allow long, detailed studies, while life drawing teaches form and how faces really turn. Use well-lit photos with little lens distortion and mix in life sketches when you can.

How do I get better at likeness?

Likeness comes from accurate measurement of the specific face: its jaw shape, eye spacing and the distances between features. Measure constantly and compare your drawing with the reference upside down.