How to Draw a Realistic Nose From the Front

This tutorial will (hopefully) show you how to draw a realistic nose from the front. Enjoy!

HB pencil

2B pencil

4B pencil

Kneadable eraser (or a fine tipped one)

Paper

A blending stump

Draw a small circle lightly with the HB.

With the HB, draw two lines starting slightly above halfway up the circle which curve inwards slightly, then near the top curve outwards VERY slightly. As a general rule, the total height of the nose should be about 5 times the height of the circle. Make sure these lines are light.

Still with the HB, draw a curved line across the circle, with the highest point being just below halfway in the circle in the middle of the circle. The line then curves down slightly, and ends about 2/3 - 3/4 of the width of the circle out from either edges of the circle. Next, draw two straight lines that go from just outside the centre of the bottom of the circle to the outer point of the curved line on either side. Then draw two straight lines up from this point which go nearly level with the top of the circle. Then draw another two straight lines which connect the end of the last line to the bridge almost another circles height above. (if none of that made sense, just refer to the picture :))

Next grab your 2B pencil and begin drawing light shading lines which centre around the bridge lines - notice that the top should be the widest and darkest, as the eyebrow line would go here, and make the shading continue down and curve under the circle, where it should be lightest.

Grab your 2B pencil and draw the nostril outlines, which are a series of two sets of lines that go over the diamond shape drawn two steps ago, and under the circle section, then away from the circle and down slightly.

Next, take the 2B pencil, and shade the nose completely, darkening the areas previously shaded, then blur the lines of the nostrils with some light lines and do the same for the outer nostril lines, and leave an area highlighted slightly more for the ball of the nose.

Take the blending stump and blend and soften the lines and shading lines you have drawn, to get the realistic look. To finish off, assess what needs to be done. I grabbed the kneadable eraser and lightened the area around the ball of the nose and cleaned up the areas around it a bit, and also grabbed the 4B pencil and darkened the nostril area.

Enjoy your finished nose, hope it helps!