Part II · Anatomy · Chapter 16 of 31

Anatomy IV: The head and skull

Every portrait sits on a skull. Learn the few planes and landmarks of the skull and you can draw a head from any angle — then add the features and the muscles of expression.

Construction: ball and plane

Andrew Loomis's well-known method starts with a ball for the cranium. Slice off the sides to make flat side planes, and hang the jaw and face below. The centre line and the brow line wrap around the ball, so tilting them is how you turn the head.

Divide the face into thirds: hairline to brow, brow to the base of the nose, nose to the chin. The eyes sit roughly halfway down the whole head, and there is about one eye-width between the eyes. The ears fit between the brow line and the base of the nose.

Bones that show

The brow ridge, cheekbones (zygomatic bones), the bridge of the nose, the jaw angle and the chin are all close to the surface. Light catches them first, which is why they are the keys to a convincing likeness.

The eye is a ball set into the socket; the lids wrap over it, so they are curved, not flat lines. The upper lid casts a shadow on the eyeball.

Muscles of expression

Facial muscles attach to skin, not just bone, so they wrinkle it. The frontalis lifts the brows (forehead creases), the corrugator pulls them together (frown lines), the orbicularis oculi closes the eye (crow's feet), the zygomaticus major pulls the mouth into a smile and the orbicularis oris purses the lips.

Reference table

Structure	Location	Function / effect
Frontal bone	Forehead	Shapes the brow and forehead plane
Parietal bones	Top and sides of the vault	Give the skull its width
Temporal bone	Side, around the ear	Anchors the jaw joint; the temple is a shallow hollow
Occipital bone	Back of skull	Where the neck muscles attach
Zygomatic bone and arch	Cheekbone	The widest point of the face; catches light
Maxilla	Upper jaw	Holds the upper teeth; forms the muzzle
Mandible	Lower jaw	Opens the mouth; its angle defines the jaw line
Nasal bone	Bridge of nose	Hard upper third of the nose; the rest is cartilage
Masseter	Jaw angle	Closes the jaw; bulges when clenching
Temporalis	Temple	Closes the jaw
Zygomaticus major	Cheek to mouth corner	Smiling
Orbicularis oculi	Around the eye	Closing the eye, squinting
Frontalis	Forehead	Raising the eyebrows

Historic plates

Public-domain plates from Vesalius (1543), Leonardo's anatomical notebooks and Gray's Anatomy (1918). Tap to zoom into the detail.

Skull, side view (Gray's Anatomy, fig. 188) by Henry Vandyke Carter for Henry Gray — **Skull, side view (Gray's Anatomy, fig. 188)**, Henry Vandyke Carter for Henry Gray (1918 edition). Plate / drawing. Source: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

The skull sectioned by Leonardo da Vinci — **The skull sectioned**, Leonardo da Vinci (1489). Plate / drawing. Source: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Muscles of the head, face and neck (Gray's Anatomy, fig. 378) by Henry Vandyke Carter for Henry Gray — **Muscles of the head, face and neck (Gray's Anatomy, fig. 378)**, Henry Vandyke Carter for Henry Gray (1918 edition). Plate / drawing. Source: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

Master studies

Head of a Man in Profile Facing to the Left, Leonardo da Vinci (1490–94). Pen and brown ink, over soft black chalk. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art · CC0 (Met Open Access)