Drawing the face from behind, at an angle

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Drawing a character from behind might seem easy, since the face isn’t entirely visible, but it can actually be quite tricky to get this angle right. When drawing illustrations, there will be times that call for this back view, so let’s see how we can draw it right!

In particular, let’s focus on how all the facial features look from this unusual angle.

Outline of the face

When drawing from behind, it’s important not to forget the curved shape of the face. This curve is the same as when we draw the face from a 3/4 front angle! Make sure to have the swell of the cheek come between the bottom line of the eye and the top of the mouth.

Drawing eyes from a diagonal back angle

The width of the eye will be significantly reduced when drawn from this angle. Don’t forget to draw the inner corner of the eye too (the side closest to the outline of the face). This is important to create dimension in the eye.

Drawing a slight dip in the curve of the upper line of the eye will make the eye look even better.

Drawing ears from a diagonal back angle

This is an unusual angle to draw the ears from – we see the back of the ear and earlobe when we look at the face from behind.

We actually discussed this in detail in the following article: drawing ears from different angles.

Be sure to check that out for more tips!

Drawing the mouth from a diagonal back angle

As the face turns, we see a smaller portion of the mouth, and the last part that remains when we reach this 3/4 back angle, is the very corner of the mouth, so it’s angled a little more steeply than you might think.

I hope todays tips will be useful when drawing characters from this tricky back angle! Remember to use lots of reference images to practice with when drawing difficult angles – particularly ones like this where you can’t use yourself as a reference. Keep working hard!

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