Skull Drawing: Not So Scary! potx

Shape The same tips for how to draw a face can be applied to creating skull drawings.. The proportions are obviously the same, as the skull is what gives the face its underlying shape..

Skull Drawing: Not So Scary!

Skull drawings are a part of classic tattoo designs They appear in almost all tattoo art and styles, including Hindu and Buddhist Skulls are also a pretty significant part of religious art as well

There are many ways to interpret the skull

Shape

The same tips for how to draw a face can be applied to creating skull drawings The proportions are obviously the same, as the skull is what gives the face its underlying shape The only difference is that there is no cartilage to be drawn on the skull It is strictly bone

Skulls come in all shapes and sizes and can

be customized to how you like, once you know the basic shape and

proportions

It may even be easier to draw a skull than a full head Most guides and

instructions, including the ones on this site, use a circle to establish the size and shape of the head, as this is the simplest and most effective method

Same as Drawing the Face

Below you will see that the skull is drawn pretty much the same way as the face The roundness is even more apparent when drawing the skull, as there are no ears

or hair It can be drawn using the same proportions as the face The brow line, mouth, and chin will all be in the same locations

The only difference is that you will draw everything that you see along with more structural parts of the face

Having a little knowledge of the skull helps, but if you have a face, you pretty much know how it is shaped If you are reading this, you have also probably seen

a thousand skulls as well

You already know what the skull looks like The key with drawing one is to make it your own Developing your own style helps with this

Tip: Style is achieved by doing anything consistently Keep drawing skulls until you find a "look" that you like That really is the key to finding your own style

Keep drawing more and more things until a "look" emerges It's pretty much the same way with personal style The older someone is, usually the more refined style they have Why? They have been doing it longer and have perfected their

"look."

I digress Back to skull drawings The point is that the artist's interpretation is what makes it great

Tip: Drawing the cheekbones in will really start to make your skull drawing look like a skull You can exaggerate the size of them to create more interesting

drawings and creatures This also applies to the eyes

Step By Step

A very simple way to start with drawing a skull that I learned a long time ago is to start with the nose This is the first skull drawing I learned to draw It is a very simple and classic skull drawing

While this version is not very realistic and doesn't follow the drawing portraits

approach, it is a pretty easy version to get started with Once you get some basics down, you can start to customize them and vary the proportions how you like, creating more realistic versions

Nose

First start by drawing an "A" shape for the nose Fill in the center of the "A" and then you have a very basic nose shape It is also like an upside down heart shape

Eyes

The eyes will be round circles To give them a little more shape, angle the inner part of the eyes This will suggest the cheeks

Cheeks

The cheeks will be the most revealing part of this skull drawing, giving the

drawing its main shape and really making it look like a skull Draw a sharp curved line from the top of each eye to just under it, almost like a really curvy "J." This is the cheekbone leading to the teeth

The Cranium

Now that you have the main part of the face, you can draw the top of the head Starting with an angular line from the top of the cheekbone, draw the round part of the head and connect it to the other side of the head You can shape the head however you like with just a small adjustment to the angles and pitch of the top of the head

Teeth & Jaw

The last part is the teeth and jaw The top part of the drawing can be simplified into one shape The jaw is the movable part It will start under the cheekbone Draw a curved line from each cheekbone This will create the chin You can then fill in the teeth You can draw them individually or as all one image with lines to suggest them There is a slight gap in between them

In Closing

Skull drawings, like any other images, are best with a personal touch You can exaggerate what elements you like, but the overall structure of the skull will

remain As always: KEEP IT SIMPLE!

For even more inspiration for your skull images, check out Tattoo Johnny They have one of the largest collections to browse through on the Net Having a good idea of what's out there can significantly influence your own work and take it to even greater heights!