[For beginners] 3 techniques to draw cute faces

I know you want to draw cute faces…!

So today, let me show you 3 techniques to draw faces that are one notch higher in cuteness and that are easy to try, even for beginners!

This is the illustration we will draw this time.

Draw thick and bold eyelashes

The eyes are the most prominent part of the face.

Surprisingly, the part within the eyes that affects the overall look of the face are the eyelashes.

Compare the two pictures below. The eyeballs are painted in exactly the same way.

〇 Thin eyelash

〇 Thick eyelash

You can see that the character in the image below has more striking eyes!

Even if you put a lot of effort into the detail of the eyeballs, thin eyelashes will diminish the impact of the face.

Make them thicker and bigger!

 

Draw broad shadows

Next is the shape of the shadow cast by the front hair.

Below is the shadow using the ordinal method.

It is fine as it is, but it looks a bit flat because the front hair looks as if it is sticking to the forehead.

Then look at the shadow in the following image.

Compared to the former, the larger amount of shadow gives more detail to look at and also creates a fluffy look to the front hair.

This is because a shadow is painted larger and highlighted.

 

Definition: shadow

Dark areas can be divided into 2 types: Shade, a dark area where light doesn’t hit, and Shadow, a dark area that projects the shape of objects that obscure light.

In addition, shadows can change shape and intensity depending on the distance between the object that the light hits and the object that the shadow is cast on.

The greater the distance, the larger the shadow, and the closer the distance, the smaller the shadow.

Also, the color of the shadow is darker when it is close to the object that the light hits, and the color of the shadow becomes lighter and fainter when the object is farther away.

By painting large shadows, you can describe the objects that cast the shadows as floating.

The part of the face you want to float must be the hair.

Draw shadows and float the hair to create a beautiful face with lots of three-dimensionality and dynamism.

 

Make the end of the hair translucent

You can express the clarity of the hair by using the Airbrush to add pale colors to the ends of the hair.

The following image is painted using the ordinal method.

Now, use the Airbrush, and add pale blue to where the air can be seen through, skin color to where the skin can be seen, and the clothes color to where the clothes can be seen through.

The hair came to look even softer and more fluffy and transparent!

You need to bear in mind that you add colors of what you can see through the objects, and leave the colors of the objects that are translucent (the brown of the hair in this image), as too much airbrush will make the areas too clear.

Loosen your strokes to reduce the pressure, or reduce the opacity of the Airbrush to add a pale color in a good manner.

 

Conclusion

Today, we have looked at the 3 techniques for drawing cute faces that are easy for beginners.

1. Draw thick and bold eyelashes

2. Draw broad shadows

3. Make the ends of the hair translucent

 

In addition, there are the following points you can focus on to draw cute faces.

・Draw big and round eyes

・Keep the mouth small and modest

・Add some red to the cheeks

・Draw lines in colors other than black (trace colors)

・Think of cute expressions: smiling, confused, etc.

・Use soft and sickly colors such as pastels

I hope you will try various ideas to pursue your own concept of “Kawaii”!

▼Read this article to learn more about the methods of drawing cute faces!

How YOU can draw a girl’s face in a cute way