How to draw a square face: hold the width, then turn the corner

A square face is usually described as a jaw nearly as wide as the face above it, with corners. This guide measures that outline on two drawn heads rather than giving a construction; the construction is in drawing different face shapes from one construction and how to draw a jawline. On the square head the sides start wide below the ear lobes, run nearly straight down, bend at a corner below the mouth and then come in quickly to a chin of ordinary width.

All ten heads come from the free head rotation reference. On each front plate we followed both sides of the face from just below the ear lobes down to the chin, keeping to the face line where the neck line splits off beside it. The heavy-jaw head has the widest jaw of the ten for its height, and it also loses the least width on the stretch from just below the lobes to a sixth of the head's height above the chin, a little less than the hard-plane head and clearly less than the other eight. The hard-plane front is drawn from slightly below, so the heavy-jaw head is our square face. It's one head, so treat what follows as one example.

The figures compare it with the square-jaw head, whose front outline, despite its name, is one of the typical eight: it narrows steadily over the same stretch. Both skulls are about seven tenths of the head's height across. Each width below comes as a share of the head's height, from the crown to the chin. The numbers describe these drawings, not people.

From the front

Widths measured up from the chin, heavy-jaw first, with each as a share of the head's height:

• A quarter of the height above the chin, just below the ear lobes: about three fifths against a little over half.
• A sixth above: a little under three fifths against half.
• A little over a tenth above: half against a little under half.
• About a twelfth above: a little over two fifths against a little under two fifths.
• About a twentieth above: about three tenths on both heads.

Down to a little over a tenth of the height above the chin the heavy-jaw face is wider by about 5 to 7 percent of the height; by a twentieth above, the two match.

Start wide and keep the sides upright

Most of that gap is already there just below the lobes: about three fifths of the height against a little over half. The rest comes from the slope. Down to a sixth of the height above the chin the heavy-jaw sides stand at about 81 degrees from the horizontal, coming in about one part on each side for every seven down. The square-jaw sides stand at about 77 degrees, about one part in for every four down.

Bend at one corner

Then the heavy-jaw outline turns. Over a short stretch just below a sixth of the height above the chin, the width it loses at each step increases sharply, and the sides drop from 81 degrees to about 46: a bend of about 35 degrees. The corner sits a little over a third of the way from the line of the mouth to the bottom of the chin.

The square-jaw outline has no single place where it turns. Its sides lean in a little more at each step, so the outline is one continuous curve.

Below its corner the heavy-jaw face comes in faster than any of the ten, until just above the chin. The sides run at about 46 degrees to about a twelfth of the head's height above the chin, then flatten to about 31 degrees into the chin.

The chin isn't the difference: its flat stretch is about a seventh of the head's height on the heavy-jaw head and about an eighth on the square-jaw head.

At three-quarter

At 45 degrees the near jaw shows the same thing. Follow the back edge of the jaw down from the ear lobe. On the heavy-jaw head it moves forward only a fifth to half as far as it drops, then further forward than down as it swings into the jaw line. On the square-jaw head the same swing is spread over about twice the distance. After the turn both jaw lines run toward the chin at about 23 to 24 degrees from the horizontal, so the slope of the jaw line isn't the difference.

On the far side both contours lean in by similar amounts from the cheek to the mouth. The heavy-jaw contour then turns under the chin over about half the distance the square-jaw one takes. A profile can't show width, so the front and three-quarter views carry the shape.

Drawing it

1. Set the head's height and the skull first, with the skull at about seven tenths of the height across.
2. Place the sides just below the ear lobes about three fifths of the height apart, a quarter of the height above the chin.
3. Drop each side almost straight, about one part in for every seven down, to a little under three fifths of the height apart at a sixth of the height above the chin.
4. Mark the corner as a point on each side, a little over a third of the way from the mouth to the bottom of the chin.
5. Bring the jaw in from the corners at about 45 degrees to a little over two fifths of the height apart, then flatter, at about 30 degrees, to a little under a third of the height apart just above the chin.
6. Flatten the bottom of the chin for about an eighth to a seventh of the height.
7. At three-quarter, keep both turns short: the near back edge into the jaw line, the far contour under the chin.

Common mistakes

• Widening the skull. The skull is ordinary; the jaw does the work.
• Widening the chin. The square face's chin is no wider than most.
• Spreading the turn. A bend spread over the lower face makes one curve, even on a wide jaw.
• Carrying the width into the chin. Below the corner the face narrows faster than any other.

What else is going on

The heavy-jaw head's lower face is also taller: a quarter of the head's height from the mouth to the chin against a fifth, with the eyes higher on the head (see how to draw a long face), so part of its room for a low corner is that length. It also has a heavier brow and looks older, and the square-jaw head has a longer nose. The hard-plane head holds its width almost as well, but its front plate is drawn from slightly below. These heads are bald, so the forehead's width at the hairline, which many face-shape charts set against the jaw, isn't covered. They are ten drawings in one style, so check the steps against other heads too.

A short exercise

Trace the square-jaw head at 0 degrees lightly, keeping the crown, the skull and the bottom of the chin where they are. On a tracing 20 cm tall, push each side out about 5 mm just below the ear lobes and about 6 mm a sixth of the height above the chin, keeping the sides nearly upright in between. Carry them down to a corner a little over a third of the way from the mouth to the bottom of the chin, then bring the jaw in to the chin you kept. Compare it with the heavy-jaw head at 0 degrees, then try the near corner at 45 degrees.

The opposite shape, a jaw narrowed all the way down, is in how to draw a heart-shaped face, and an outline that keeps bending in how to draw a round face. The heavy-jaw head is Study Pack 03 in Volume 1, and the square-jaw head Study Pack 07 in Volume 2.

This guide is one step in how to draw the head at any angle, which puts all the head guides in order.