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~ ^.^

Side 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. Structure

• Draw a diagonal line from the bottom right region of the sphere up towards the top left, this line will be the division between the bottom and side plane.

• Add a line that curves downwards from the previous line to the left side of the sphere to create the bottom plane

• Draw a line going up the side of the sphere from the diagonal line, this should create the form of the nose.

• Notice how the nose has been simplified to a slightly rounded box, it almost looks like a box that has lost a lot of its structure and is curved at the bottom side. Try to find funny or interesting ways to remember the forms and shapes of anatomy. Its much easier to remember these forms if you find a story to attach to its basic form instead of trying to remember its entire complexity on its own

Step 3. Nostril

• Draw in the nostril shape, I like to think of this shape as a hook followed by a small curve that connects to the hook. Drawing nostrils can be challenging, play around and see what type of nostrils you like and don’t be shy about erasing. 

• I personally like drawing nostrils that are fairly small and minimal, if you look at the example drawing you can see that they are very small in relation to the nose.

• I have also found that drawing the nostril using small angled lines works better than drawing circles or shapes that are too rounded. I have found it to be difficult to build structure when the forms are too round; however, see what works best for you! :D

Step 4. Practice

• Yaay you completed this drawing! Now take some time to practice in your sketchbook and see how much of this you are able to retain.

• I also have more tutorials and worksheets on the website so feel free to use the resources for your drawings! ^.^

Thank you for letting me be part of your artistic journey! I hope this was useful to you and make sure to check out more of the tutorials all over the site.

I have nose tutorials for the ¾ view here and front view here