How to Draw a Nose

Welcome to this nose drawing tutorial! I have made some free worksheets (PDF) that you can print out to help you practice, feel free to grab them below and share them with anyone else you might know that would enjoy them~ ^.^

Front View

Step 1. Sphere

• Start the nose by drawing a sphere that is the size of the drawing you want. We start with this step whenever we draw the nose regardless of the angle or orientation because it’s the main building block of the nose. 

• We think of this shape as a sphere instead of just a circle because we want to develop our understanding in 3 dimensions. Even if you are planning to draw in a very stylized manner, learning how the basic forms work will pay off tremendously. If you want to practice the basic forms you can check out the tutorial here (Open in a new window)

Step 2. Define the Form

• This is the step that is slightly challenging when drawing the nose from the front view because we want to create dimension while maintaining some symmetry. 

• Let’s start by drawing the underside first, draw a box shape that is wider at the bottom and thinner at the top & make the top line curve downwards. Pay attention to how the horizontal line curves down to create the tip of the nose. You can play around with how sharp or round the tip of the nose is by adjusting this line.

• Once we have the bottom plane drawn in, add the side planes by drawing lines that go upwards and segments the form into a large center plane and two smaller side planes on each side. 

• Use the example above and copy as many times as you need to, this step is not easy to it will take a few times to get used to it. This is especially true if you are just starting to get into drawing, the good news is that drawing forms is a skill that transfers to every single subject you will ever draw that has 3D form.

Step 3. Nostrils

• Now that we have defined the form of the nose lets add in the nostrils. I like to think of the nostrils as made up of a large hook that goes upward and hooks down followed by a small curve that connects inwards.

• The key to drawing nostrils is trying to draw it in as a few lines as possible and keeping the angles very simple. I have found that using small angled lines creates a better result than trying to draw circles for the nostrils. 

• Also, note that in the example drawing the nostrils are fairly small in relation to the shape of the nose, I personally think that this looks better but you can play around and see what you like! Playing around and experimenting is what makes drawing so fun :D

Step 4. Refine + Shade

• Now that we have all the main shapes in place we can go back in, erase and refine lines as we see fit. I have darkened some of the lines on the sides and given them more definition as well as darkening the nostrils.

• Add light shading to the bottom plane, this helps give the nose definition because it indicates that this area gets less light than the top portion of the nose. 

Step 5. Celebrate & Practice

• Yaaay you made it all the way through! Thank you for letting me be part of your artistic journey! :D

• Continue your drawing practice in your sketchbook/plain paper or check out some of the worksheets available on the website! I am adding more tutorials and resources so make sure to come back in the future ^.^

I also have nose tutorials for the side view here and ¾ view here