We are almost complete all the sections about the features of drawing a portrait except the hair, SO this blog is going to talk about how to draw an ear in side view and back view.
Before we jump right into the topic, there are a few words of the parts of the ear you may know. They help you outline the shape with ease.
Helix: the curve of the outer and it is the most distant part of the ear from ears connection to the head.
Antihelix: a curved prominence of cartilage parallel with and in front of the helix on the pinna.
Tragus: a small pointed eminence of the external ear.
Side View
Step 1: Outline the ear
Start with lighter grade graphite pencils, like HB or H to outline the ear. We can separate the ear into 2 parts from up to bottom. The tragus is from the bottom part. The top of the tragus and the middle of antihelix align and form the middle of the ear as a whole.
Step 2: Shading and blending
Start shading lighter areas with a 2B in these areas. For the outline, we can use 4B to re-outline the ear to give it more dimensional.
For the darkest areas, we can use 4B to shade it. You can use any blending tools to blend the harsh line between the areas of 2B and 4B.
Step 3: Add the details
Based on this image, there are some freckles on the ear. We can use 4B to dot the freckles and use 6B to put the darkest spots on the freckles.
Back View
Step 1: Outline the ear
Follow the orange line and outline the ear.
Step 2: Shading and blending
In the orange areas, start shading these lighter areas with 2B graphite pencils and move to 4B to darken the darker areas.
Finally, blend all the shading and smooth the graphite out.