Lesson 9: "Can You Ear Me Now?" or..."Just Jawin'"

Here is a fat guy with big jowls.
Note: Constant mass
requires that we make the
forehead smaller to compensate

Now that we have covered the main features of the face we can tie them all together with the cheeks, chins, ears, eyebrows, foreheads and jawlines. While not the main facial features, they certainly add to recognizability in certain people and minimizing them sends the eye to the features you want to emphasize.


Cheeks and chins change dramatically with body type/weight so it is very easy to add weight to a person's face by pumping up the cheeks and jowls (a line you may not want to cross when asked to show off your talents at the family reunion).


Ears are one (two in most cases) of the more noticeable of the lesser features and can add to recognizability by adjusting size, location and cant on the side of the head. Ears continue to grow throughout life, especially in men so can also be used to suggest age. Don't get carried away, they should be drawn with just enough detail to show depth and the major folds lest they garner too much attention.


Like everything else, the combinations and possibilities are endless but having a small library of ears and chins should give you plug-and-play implants for most subjects. Just like Hollywood!

Here is a guy with a long face
made by exaggerating the chin.

This guy has a more chiseled
jaw and heavy eyebrows.