When I first started drawing faces, I found it really intimidating. Capturing accurate proportions, structure, and subtle facial expressions felt overwhelming. Since I’m completely self-taught, I didn’t have formal lessons or academic training—I just had my sketchbook, my dog Alys keeping me company, and my own curiosity. That’s why I was drawn to Morpho Anatomy for Artists- face, head & neck.
This book is simple, clear, and practical, focusing on anatomical structure and form rather than overwhelming technical jargon. Michel Lauricella’s teaching style feels intuitive—he uses quick sketches, simplified forms, and geometric breakdowns of the face to make learning feel natural.
One of the biggest takeaways for me was how the book breaks down complex facial anatomy into simple, manageable shapes. Instead of trying to memorize every muscle and bone, Lauricella focuses on the most important structures that affect expression and proportions. This approach made me feel more confident when sketching portraits, as I now understand why faces look the way they do rather than just copying what I see.
Here are some of the most valuable lessons I took away from this book:
📏 Proportions & structure – Understanding the underlying geometry of the head is crucial for accurate portraits. Lauricella simplifies the skull into planes, helping artists see volume and perspective more clearly.
🎭 Facial structure (not expression) – While the book does a great job of breaking down the skeletal and muscular structures of the head, it does not focus on how these muscles interact to create specific facial expressions. For a deeper dive into facial emotions, I recommend The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin. Even small shifts in the eyebrows, lips, or jawline can change the entire mood of a drawing.
🌟 Simplification before detail – One of the biggest mistakes beginners make (including me!) is jumping straight into details without first mapping out the structure. This book teaches you to work from big forms to small details, ensuring the foundation is solid before adding refinements.
✏️ Shading & depth – Lauricella’s approach to shading focuses on light and shadow in sculptural terms, helping artists develop a sense of three-dimensionality in their work.
This book takes a modern, simplified approach to drawing facial anatomy, but it’s heavily influenced by traditional techniques used by artists for centuries. Here’s how it compares:
🎨 The renaissance approach – Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo studied anatomy by dissecting cadavers, meticulously sketching muscles and bones. Their approach was deeply scientific, focusing on medical precision. Lauricella simplifies this by focusing only on what’s necessary for artists, rather than overwhelming them with excessive anatomical details.
🖌 The classical french academy approach – The École des Beaux-Arts (one of the most famous art schools in history) taught students to draw from plaster casts before moving on to live models. Lauricella takes a similar approach, encouraging artists to break the face into basic sculptural forms before adding expression and personality.
While classic art training emphasized long study and precise realism, Morpho’s Drawing Book is designed for quick practice and intuitive learning. It’s a great modern alternative for artists who want to improve without getting lost in overly complex anatomy studies.
✔ Beginners who struggle with drawing faces and need a structured way to improve.
✔ Self-taught artists (like me!) who want to learn without diving into medical-level anatomy.
✔ Painters who want to improve their sketching and structure before moving to color.
✔ Anyone interested in character drawing!
Even professional artists refer to books and drawing aids in order to achieve correct proportions & feature details in their work. So it’s great to stock up your artist library! And just for you to know, all the books mentioned in my articles are available on amazon, & make for extremely useful references to have in your studio. I paid for them all myself, with my own money, have read them cover to cover & I would certainly buy them again!
One of my most personal projects where I applied these lessons was my portrait of my Grandad. You can see it here. He had the most cheeky grin after climbing up a castle, and I wanted to capture that moment in my painting. While Morpho’s Drawing Book was invaluable in helping me understand head structure and proportions, it didn’t cover facial expressions in depth. For anyone wanting to improve expressive portrait painting, I highly recommend The Artist’s Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin. This book thoroughly explains how different emotions—joy, anger, sadness—affect the face’s structure and provides a detailed guide to drawing facial expressions accurately.
this little skull is the perfect reference for drawing faces. Small & easy to set aside on your desk right next to your drawing space. I highly recommended this for any artist wanting to better understand human specifically, skull structure & practice drawing faces. Having some anatomical knowledge can seriously improve your portrait drawing skills, so it’s definitely worth familiarising yourself with these boney landmarks.
This skull model can fit on your hand, but you can get a life size skull model if you prefer
as with a lot of things, drawing is best learned by doing – so grab a pencil, pen, whatever it is you prefer, & start doodling.
Starting your own artist journal can be a super helpful way to learn how to draw portraits, especially if you’re a beginner artist.
& having a cute little book to refer to is just a bonus!
Drawing faces is one of the most rewarding yet challenging skills an artist can develop. Here are some extra tips to keep in mind:
🖌 Practice gesture sketching – Instead of focusing on perfect proportions every time, try quick 30-second sketches of faces to capture their energy and movement.
📏 Avoid perfect symmetry – Real faces aren’t perfectly symmetrical! Small variations in features make a portrait feel more natural and realistic.
👀 Pay attention to eyebrows – Eyebrows are key to expression. A tiny shift in their angle can change an entire mood!
💡 Use references—but don’t copy blindly – Studying real faces helps, but interpreting them in your own style is what makes your art unique.
✏️ Flip your drawing – Looking at your portrait in a mirror or flipping it digitally helps spot mistakes you might have missed.
If you’re looking for a straightforward, easy-to-follow guide to drawing faces with structure and confidence, Morpho’s Drawing Book is a great resource. It’s visually focused, making it ideal for artists who learn best through observational practice rather than technical explanations.
📖 Find the book here
I’d love to hear from you—have you ever struggled with drawing faces? What has helped you improve? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re in the mood to keep reading, check out all my other articles for more artsy goodness 😌✨🌻
☼ Faigin, G. (2008). The artist’s complete guide to facial expression. Watson-Guptill.
☼ Lauricella, M. (2019). Morpho: Anatomy for artists – Drawing the human head. Rocky Nook.
☼ Vesalius, A. (1543). De humani corporis fabrica (On the fabric of the human body). Basel: Johannes Oporinus.
☼ how can I learn to draw the human face?
☼ how do I get the proportions right when drawing a human face?
☼ what is the classic technique for drawing faces?
☼ what is the loomis technique for drawing faces?
☼ what skeletal/boney landmarks do I need to consider when drawing a human face?
☼ what does a human skull look like?
☼ what muscles do I need to consider when drawing a human face?
☼ how do I draw fat & skin folds on the human face?
☼ should portrait artists learn anatomy?
☼ will learning anatomy help me draw human faces?
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hi, i’m sarah, an australian artist head-over-heels for watercolour & creative practice- it truely is good for your soul.
& this ↑, is my girl alys.
i am completely self-taught in all the mediums i use & i am here to share everything i know with you!
i write about all things creativity, watercolour, gouache, hand-made ceramics, collecting art, & my own artistic process. I have degrees in human psychology & veterinary medicine- so you might find some sporadic related facts in my writing.
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