Structure of the Face

Biology and art are deeply intertwined as biology is the building blocks of art. Common art subjects such as human faces are difficult to capture unless the artist understands the basic structural form beneath the skin. Thus, many artists study anatomy and human physiology. As an artist, I understand the importance of knowing these forms. So, when I volunteered at Sully Community Center to teach a lesson on drawing portraits, I began the session with an overview of skull anatomy. 

I brought a mold of a human skull to help the students visualize the basic forms that make up a face. We studied the skull bones and sutures. I pointed out anatomical features such as the orbit and the mandible to illustrate how small variations in the bones can result in dramatically different faces. Even smaller bones like the nasal bone can impact a person’s facial profile immensely. The kids then brainstormed about how changing a certain bone would impact someone’s face. For example, a wider mandible will result in a wider jaw. This exercise helped them build a solid foundation in determining the bone structure for our reference. 

After discussing how variations in these basic bone structures can affect how an artist has to draw the person, we started our drawings. I selected a character from a popular TV show and challenged each kid to try to capture her most accurately. Everyone had tons of fun analyzing her face and trying to determine her facial form and structure. In the end, each kid learned about how different subjects like biology and art can interact with each other and built a solid foundation for the study of the human face/skull.