Help! I can't draw in profile!

[Smorris]

Hi people. So I've been a little stumped on one of my character designs lately. Here's my character Kenneth the Beggar:

(Also here)

But I tend to draw my characters from 3/4 view 80% of the time, and when a strip called for me to draw Kenneth in profile I was stuck:



The spacing of the face seems wrong to me, and the way the neck meets the shoulders and the back of the head is unnatural to me. I'm unsure where to place the ear and what to do with the area behind them (ie where the hair should end.) But I'm not quite sure how to answer those questions.

I've actually had this problem with other characters as well:


Here I'm bothered by similar areas, the thickness of the neck, the back of the neck and the placement of the shoulders. This character I've drawn alot more so I've overcome the problems to some extent. It was really bad here: http://www.debt-on.com/comics.php?date=20060308 but I overcame the problem in a very stylized fashion here: http://www.debt-on.com/comics.php?date=20060317 But the position of the shoulders here doesn't really work in most circumstances, it just ends up looking like a humped back.

Is this a design flaw? What part of the anatomy am I not grasping here? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
-s

[[AOD]]

It looks pretty fine to me! And, if doing a profile angle bothers you, couldn't you finagle them so that they're always slightly in 3/4 view?

@~AOD

[Churusaa]

This site looks fairly promising. I haven't seen them before, but the content looks good. http://www.portrait-artist.org/face/profile1.html

The section starts at http://www.portrait-artist.org/face/profile.html , but it seems what you're most concerned with is on the second and fourth pages. There's most likely a whole wealth of information there on the head and shoulders of a human figure, so give it a look-see and try out what you find.
---Churusaa

//edit
Another time-tested way to gain proficiency is to draw from life. Sit in a park and observe people, or do the same from your perch at a sidewalk cafe. You might just surprise yourself with just how much you learn from simple observation.

[Grim_melee]

I agree with Churusaa. Practicing from real-life and tutorials (and all that other fun stuff) will help a lot. One thing any good artist will say is to practice drawing everyday, even if it means carrying a drawing pad around and just doodling on the down moments of your day.

One thing I heartily disagree with is the idea of always having characters in a 3/4 view or something like that all the time. Even if its awkward at first, practice makes perfect and eventually you'll find something you're happy with. One thing you do not want to be is a one-trick pony.

[Swiftbow]

Well, I don't adore doing profiles either, but I'd say that you're making his nose a bit bigger than it should be in the profile, as well as extending his mouth too far towards his ear.

Judging from the 3/4 view, he's got a rounder, rather than a longer face, but it looks a bit long in the profile shot. I think it should even out if you make the nose a little smaller, like a mentioned.

[Amefuri]

Hello! This is more a manga style, but the guidelines work for profiles:

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/new ... ofile1.htm

There's also this link to help with foreshortening. You can use the same technique to line up the facial features.

http://www.polykarbon.com/tutorials/for ... eshort.htm

But really, there are no shortcuts. Drawing from real life is probably the best advice that you'll get. ^.^

[Nougat]

You've already gotten several replies, but I wanted to throw in my two cents...

If you're having problems, look at real people. Draw from life, even if that means yourself in a mirror.

I think part of what's bothering you about the shoulders is that you draw the back coming out from the neck, but you don't do the same with the chest (you draw it straight down), which can give the back a humped look. Also, in a full profile, the shoulder doesn't come from the back, but from the middle-ish.

What I mean is this:

(This is just meant to illustrate my point, so be warned that there are probably other anatomical problems with my diagram)

Also. Many many many people have trouble drawing the back/top of the head large enough. It is very natural to render the face proportionally larger than it actually is because it contains so much more visual information than the rest of the head, but this is a common pitfall that you'll have to overcome.