LIGHT ✧ DARKNESS

my go-to is drawing a circle for the base of the head, then cross out the face to divide the front face into 4 quarters. i do all this with a larger brush so that i avoid overthinking the details.

the cross has 2 purposes: (1) to divide the face so its easier to know where to draw the facial features, and (2) to set the angle at which your character is facing. are they looking up? down? facing front to the viewer or 3/4s or to the side?

the cross is not meant to be a rigid rule for me, but an estimate for where everything else needs to be

then i proceed to draw the edge of the face, eyes, nose and mouth. i usually edit my construction lines when sketching out the details so that it looks "correct" to my imagined idea and understanding of anatomy

when it comes to deciding on the shapes of facial features, i think about shape language and real life facial features. how do i want this character to come across? also, what facial features i've seen on real people can i use as reference?

for example, i view saluting captain as a straightforward and diligent person. they don't speak much but when they do, it's blunt and can come off insensitive at times. i expressed that neutral aspect to them through boxy shapes like their face and their prominent eyebrows. when deciding on the colors, i made sure to keep the lighter palms (in hindsight, i could've colored it lighter tbh) and the two-toned lips.

in comparison to frightened refugee who has a mix of round and sharp features. i gave them rounder eyes and nose in connection to the round bun they have, while giving them a more oval/kite face shape and breaking the bun outline with a few curls to demonstrate how frazzled they are. i searched real life references for their hair texture and based their nose shape and lips off of some black youtubers' faces

i've gotten comments of how people love seeing the variety in the faces i draw and the easiest way to think of different features from imagination is just diversifying the media you engage in! you always get inspired or think of some aspects of the media/content you consume, so it's good to have variety. naylissah provides really beginner-friendly art tutorials in drawing black features and hairstyles that have helped me out when references were hard for me to study on my own. monica.raviii's make-up color theory series and pippa barnes's make-up looks are my main inspirations for how i translate sky spirit masks into face paint/make-up

and if i haven't said it before, i'll say it again: koyoharu gotouge (demon slayer mangaka) and harukawa95 (bungo stray dogs illustrator) have been my main anime-style inspiration for a very very long time. that's why i love designing different eyes and hair details! i've literally taken inspiration from muichiro's eyes in how i've drawn stewie like ever since lol