Drawing babies can be tricky because it’s easy to unintentionally make them look older than they are. The face gets longer in proportion to the cranium with age, so the younger the child, the lower the eyes are on the face (and thus, the larger the forehead). In addition, babies’ eyes are disproportionately large in comparison to the rest of their bodies—so draw them this way!
STEP 1 Using an HB pencil, I block in the cranial mass and the facial guidelines. (See page 20 for more information on placing a baby’s features.) The head is tilted downward and turned slightly to its left, so I adjust the guidelines accordingly. I place the eyebrows at the horizontal centerline and the eyes in the lower half of the face.
STEP 2 Now I create the fine hair using soft, short strokes and a B pencil. I draw the open mouth with the bottom lip resting against the chin. Then I add large irises that take up most of the eyes and suggest the small nose. I draw a curved line under the chin to suggest chubbiness; then I indicate the shoulders, omitting the neck.
STEP 3 Erasing guidelines as I draw, I add pupils and highlights to the eyes with a B pencil. I lightly sketch more of the hair and eyebrows, then shade under the chin to give it form. I also shade inside the ears. Then I connect and refine the lips, shading the upturned corners to suggest the pudgy mouth. I shade the inside of the mouth, showing that there aren’t any teeth; then I further define the neckline of the shirt.
STEP 4 With a 2B pencil, I shade the irises, and then go back in and lighten the highlights with a kneaded eraser. I draw more soft strokes in the hair and eyebrows and shade the lips and face. I emphasize the pudgy mouth by softly shading the smile lines, then finally add curving lines to the neckline of the shirt.
STEP 5 I continue shading the face, then add another light layer of shading to the lips. I use the end of a kneaded eraser to pull out a highlight on the bottom lip. Then I draw some very light eyelashes. I create darker values in the hair and eyebrows and round out the outline of the face. I also lightly shade the shirt. Then I take a step back from the portrait to assess whether I’ve properly built up the roundness in the cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth. I use a blending stump to softly blend transitions in my shading to make the complexion baby smooth.
DRAWING A BABY’S FEATURES
Babies often have wide-eyed, curious expressions. Try curving the eyebrows upward to create the appearance of childlike curiosity; pull out highlights in each eye to add life and interest to your drawing. A baby’s lips have a soft, pudgy appearance, and the mouth is usually not as wide as an adult’s is. Adding highlights is important to convey a smooth texture, and creating creases at the corners of the mouth will help indicate youthful chubbiness.
