Search for relationships of size, shape and position.

It is important to Look at the work from many different points of view. Look at the work in different lighting conditions.

Notice how the ears appear to be at different levels when the viewer’s position is changed only slightly.

Notice The inner corner of the eye is the deepest part of the face.

The face looks pretty flat from the front.

But it is very curved.

The eye can look sideways because there is a dent in the skull as it wraps around the eye.

From the front, the widest part of the face seems to be across the cheekbones.

But the cheekbones are a lot more narrow. What you see as widest from the front is the distance between the ears.

The face also looks much wider by the mouth than it really is. That perceived width is actually at the back of the jaw.

Beginners tend to make the forehead very square and vertical.

But it is curved.

Beginners make the mouth very flat. But the corners go way back.

Beginners often make the area under the center of the nose concave and flat. But it is not.

Highest here.

And slants towards the corners and edges of the nostrils.

The change of angle defines the edges of the lips.

The “two front teeth” area descends from a point about midway from the tip of the nose to the edge of the nostril.

The jaw ends at the ear.

Beginners often don’t leave enough room for skin and sideburns before placing the ear.

They also make pinheads or Easter Island heads.

But there is a lot of brain case back there.

Now that you know what to look for, feel free to distort to your heart’s content.

Distortion is the basis of creative and expressive work as well as caricatures.