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The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head
In this innovative guide, master art instructor William Maughan demonstrates how to create a realistic human likeness by using the classic and highly accurate modeling technique of chiaroscuro (Italian for “light and dark�) developed by Leonardo da Vinci during the High Renaissance.
Maughan first introduces readers to the basics of this centuries-old technique, showing how to analyze form, light, and shadow; use dark pencil, white pencil, and toned paper to create a full range of values; use the elements of design to enhance a likeness; and capture a sitter’s gestures and proportions. He then demonstrates, step by step, how to draw each facial feature, develop visual awareness, and render the head in color with soft pastels.
Maughan first introduces readers to the basics of this centuries-old technique, showing how to analyze form, light, and shadow; use dark pencil, white pencil, and toned paper to create a full range of values; use the elements of design to enhance a likeness; and capture a sitter’s gestures and proportions. He then demonstrates, step by step, how to draw each facial feature, develop visual awareness, and render the head in color with soft pastels.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 20, 2025
This is the book that stopped me from going mad and burning down my entire street in absolute rage because I could not understand why does the entire universe paint a specific part of the eye in a specific way and I had to go through over a dozen 'art guides' and medical books that couldn't be bothered to mention it until this artist/writer came along and nonchalantly dropped it on me that it's because of mavity.
Be advised, this is a guide for drawing portraits in Chiaroscuro and Sfumato, but it's also a treasure cove of Practical information surrounding the elements of the head, I was exceptionally thrilled in the comparison between mouth corner and a doughnut, see , useful for both beginner and more advanced artists.
Be advised, this is a guide for drawing portraits in Chiaroscuro and Sfumato, but it's also a treasure cove of Practical information surrounding the elements of the head, I was exceptionally thrilled in the comparison between mouth corner and a doughnut, see , useful for both beginner and more advanced artists.
November 5, 2012
First off, I'm not an expert when it comes to books about drawing. I read a few of those "how to draw ____" type books as a kid, which do teach you the basic fundamentals in a fun sort of way. But I was an obstinate kid and preferred to draw the way I wanted to draw, so after doing all the exercises with shapes would just go back to outlines. Took me years of drawing classes to break that habit. A lot of what I know about drawing comes from that instruction, and I can happily report that drawing eggs for heads is no longer a boring/stupid chore.
Now, this book is a ways ahead of those books, and if you're a total beginner (like me at 8 years old) you might struggle a bit, but those with an understanding already of basic life-drawing principles (me at 16) should find it pretty helpful. I'm actually very experienced as far as life drawing goes, but there are particular areas in which I"m less experienced. I'm trying to improve my understanding of anatomy and am working especially on my approach to the human head, so that's why I got this book.
I probably should have done more research on the content before doing so, because while Maughan does deal a bit with basic anatomy of the head, this book is really about a particular method of drawing the head. More specifically, using only chiaroscuro (light and dark) to model the head in pastel or charcoal, a method that goes back as far as the Renaissance. Even though he is very specific on medium, the basic method and principles can be adapted to other mediums, making this a worthwhile book for me and any artist working with the head. Not only does he cover the method and explain the principles, he demonstrates the application of the method/principles quite well through photos, etc. The book is a good size for the content, and the reproductions of the work are top quality. Additional bonuses include a section on applying more creativity by using multiple photo/life references in your work, and a detailed section on applying color theory to the previous lessons.
The only criticisms I can think are: 1) Maughan repeats a couple points a lot and 2) some sections are almost too detailed and take a while to grasp. Regarding #1, Maughan does this mainly to emphasize the basic principles of how light and shadow work. Drawing teachers often have to hammer at the same point repeatedly while demonstrating said point to change thinking and habits of students. Yes, it can get annoying, but it works. #2 mainly applies to the section on color theory (admittedly not a strength for me) and gets rather complex as regarding harmony, temperature, and analogous schemes. Nonetheless, it made me more interested in exploring more color pieces.
I definitely recommend this book if you're wanting to get a stronger grasp of drawing the head. It does cover some basic anatomy and most important gets you to think in terms of light/dark and volume, rather than contour. Just be aware that the focus is a wee bit more specific than title implies, though thankfully broad enough that anyone in any medium can learn a thing or two.
Now, this book is a ways ahead of those books, and if you're a total beginner (like me at 8 years old) you might struggle a bit, but those with an understanding already of basic life-drawing principles (me at 16) should find it pretty helpful. I'm actually very experienced as far as life drawing goes, but there are particular areas in which I"m less experienced. I'm trying to improve my understanding of anatomy and am working especially on my approach to the human head, so that's why I got this book.
I probably should have done more research on the content before doing so, because while Maughan does deal a bit with basic anatomy of the head, this book is really about a particular method of drawing the head. More specifically, using only chiaroscuro (light and dark) to model the head in pastel or charcoal, a method that goes back as far as the Renaissance. Even though he is very specific on medium, the basic method and principles can be adapted to other mediums, making this a worthwhile book for me and any artist working with the head. Not only does he cover the method and explain the principles, he demonstrates the application of the method/principles quite well through photos, etc. The book is a good size for the content, and the reproductions of the work are top quality. Additional bonuses include a section on applying more creativity by using multiple photo/life references in your work, and a detailed section on applying color theory to the previous lessons.
The only criticisms I can think are: 1) Maughan repeats a couple points a lot and 2) some sections are almost too detailed and take a while to grasp. Regarding #1, Maughan does this mainly to emphasize the basic principles of how light and shadow work. Drawing teachers often have to hammer at the same point repeatedly while demonstrating said point to change thinking and habits of students. Yes, it can get annoying, but it works. #2 mainly applies to the section on color theory (admittedly not a strength for me) and gets rather complex as regarding harmony, temperature, and analogous schemes. Nonetheless, it made me more interested in exploring more color pieces.
I definitely recommend this book if you're wanting to get a stronger grasp of drawing the head. It does cover some basic anatomy and most important gets you to think in terms of light/dark and volume, rather than contour. Just be aware that the focus is a wee bit more specific than title implies, though thankfully broad enough that anyone in any medium can learn a thing or two.
April 26, 2015
One of the best art books I have ever read. I literally could not put it down.
I have been able to take technical tips from this book and able to adapt it to other subjects.
This book takes each aspects of the face and really focuses on how to bring each detail to life. From the eyes, nose, mouth and hair. It takes you away from drawing broad outlines of a face but focusing on how the light and shadows make up the picture using various tones. A real gem in the artist aid books and recommend it to all art students or those interested in any forms of drawing.
I have been able to take technical tips from this book and able to adapt it to other subjects.
This book takes each aspects of the face and really focuses on how to bring each detail to life. From the eyes, nose, mouth and hair. It takes you away from drawing broad outlines of a face but focusing on how the light and shadows make up the picture using various tones. A real gem in the artist aid books and recommend it to all art students or those interested in any forms of drawing.
December 26, 2014
This book is great for intermediate-skilled artists who want to improve their portrait drawing skills. The author gives many examples of how to make master level portraits using pastel pencils on toned paper.
I would not recommend this book for beginning artists. At a minimum, I would say the student should have at least two years of drawing lessons before s/he would get much benefit from this book.
I would not recommend this book for beginning artists. At a minimum, I would say the student should have at least two years of drawing lessons before s/he would get much benefit from this book.
May 3, 2022
This is a great drawing-instruction book by a master of pastel drawing. It explains how an entire drawing can and should be viewed as a combination of varieties of shadow and light, rather than a bunch of contour lines.
This was the first place I learned of the Loomis method for the proportions of the human head; this method gives a beginner that all-important gentle kick in the rear to get started on an otherwise daunting task. I found Maughan's interpretation quicker and less rigid than Loomis's original, since if you're drawing real-life individuals, you have to correct it anyway -- especially if you're drawing people more ethnically diverse than Loomis (b. 1892) had to. The Loomis method is not something to get too OCD over, as it is no more -- but also no less! -- than a crutch.
Instruction of course is nothing without convincing examples, and Maughan delivers in spades. His book has beautiful example drawings, the sanguine or red ocher hue of his pastel pencil lending his portraits a lifelike sheen despite their being strictly monochrome.
Nevertheless, I had a problem with this book that it took a few years to circumvent and that I wish for other beginners to avoid. The author's specialty is clearly pastel, and naturally that's what he recommends to the reader. I got a sanguine pastel pencil as he suggests, and while I enjoyed how it laid down pigment, it was a disaster for actually learning to draw anything, because of the pigment's darkness and unerasability. Pastel also seems to need more room to work its tonal magic than the half-letter size sketchbook that I was comfortable with.
The book had me so enamored of the sanguine color that I tried replicating it with colored pencil. Since sanguine is the instantly recognizable color of the red chalk used by the great masters of the 15th century, I was probably impelled by the pardonable conceit that I was emulating art royalty. I tried various brands (from a famous online store that rhymes with "click") in my quest to get the one with the right color and texture. (Luckily, buying single colored pencils is not as financially ruinous as full-blown art-supply addiction can get.) As lovely as these pencils are, each in their own way, they sadly didn't really push my drawing to the next level as I'd hoped. While more manageable than pastel, colored pencil was still too uni-tonal and unerasable to help with securing a likeness.
Eventually, good sense prevailed and I settled for a couple of cheap graded graphite pencils (from a famous big-box store that rhymes with "small part"). They were erasable and provided the necessary contrast. The book remains perfectly usable for humble graphite.
The last two chapters (5 and 6) of the book I confess I was never really interested in, though they may appeal to others. Chapter 5 deals with deliberately distorting one's drawing of real-life people so as to produce monstrous caricatures. Since I told myself I was getting these without intending to, I didn't see the point. Tastes will vary, but I found the example caricatures in the book to be on the disturbing side -- think nightmare rather than manga.
Chapter 6 deals with color pastel drawings, i.e., involving the entire circumference of the color wheel instead of just sanguine. I found these drawings not as appealing and elegant as the monochrome ones in the previous chapters. This could be my monochrome bias, or maybe photoreproduction on letter-size glossy pages simply couldn't do justice to the originals.
This was the first place I learned of the Loomis method for the proportions of the human head; this method gives a beginner that all-important gentle kick in the rear to get started on an otherwise daunting task. I found Maughan's interpretation quicker and less rigid than Loomis's original, since if you're drawing real-life individuals, you have to correct it anyway -- especially if you're drawing people more ethnically diverse than Loomis (b. 1892) had to. The Loomis method is not something to get too OCD over, as it is no more -- but also no less! -- than a crutch.
Instruction of course is nothing without convincing examples, and Maughan delivers in spades. His book has beautiful example drawings, the sanguine or red ocher hue of his pastel pencil lending his portraits a lifelike sheen despite their being strictly monochrome.
Nevertheless, I had a problem with this book that it took a few years to circumvent and that I wish for other beginners to avoid. The author's specialty is clearly pastel, and naturally that's what he recommends to the reader. I got a sanguine pastel pencil as he suggests, and while I enjoyed how it laid down pigment, it was a disaster for actually learning to draw anything, because of the pigment's darkness and unerasability. Pastel also seems to need more room to work its tonal magic than the half-letter size sketchbook that I was comfortable with.
The book had me so enamored of the sanguine color that I tried replicating it with colored pencil. Since sanguine is the instantly recognizable color of the red chalk used by the great masters of the 15th century, I was probably impelled by the pardonable conceit that I was emulating art royalty. I tried various brands (from a famous online store that rhymes with "click") in my quest to get the one with the right color and texture. (Luckily, buying single colored pencils is not as financially ruinous as full-blown art-supply addiction can get.) As lovely as these pencils are, each in their own way, they sadly didn't really push my drawing to the next level as I'd hoped. While more manageable than pastel, colored pencil was still too uni-tonal and unerasable to help with securing a likeness.
Eventually, good sense prevailed and I settled for a couple of cheap graded graphite pencils (from a famous big-box store that rhymes with "small part"). They were erasable and provided the necessary contrast. The book remains perfectly usable for humble graphite.
The last two chapters (5 and 6) of the book I confess I was never really interested in, though they may appeal to others. Chapter 5 deals with deliberately distorting one's drawing of real-life people so as to produce monstrous caricatures. Since I told myself I was getting these without intending to, I didn't see the point. Tastes will vary, but I found the example caricatures in the book to be on the disturbing side -- think nightmare rather than manga.
Chapter 6 deals with color pastel drawings, i.e., involving the entire circumference of the color wheel instead of just sanguine. I found these drawings not as appealing and elegant as the monochrome ones in the previous chapters. This could be my monochrome bias, or maybe photoreproduction on letter-size glossy pages simply couldn't do justice to the originals.
July 2, 2016
This could almost be considered the definitive book on drawing the human head using the Chiaroscuro technique of the old masters. The book focuses on the shapes of shadows to create the form of the facial structures. There are many excellent chapters throughout as the face is broken down into its structural components, with each chapter providing tremendous insight into the techniques and landmarks necessary to render each of them. The only downside was that for each tutorial only four drawings were used. I would have preferred to have more steps included so that each step could be more fully developed. Otherwise, there is plenty of material to absorb. I'd love to see the author write a series of texts applying the same approach to the rest of the male/female anatomical structures.
March 5, 2017
A good book, please write more. From the first page the author gets right to the point and what is important he is one of those few artists who can clearly explain what they are doing without dancing around the subject. The book is a concentrate of practical instructions about pastel\charcoal drawings of a human head, but the same principle can be extended to any drawing. Given enough patience and time for practice, if you follow all the instructions to the letter, eventually you should be able to draw in similar fashion. This book contains enough great looking drawings which I recommend to copy just to understand the method.
January 13, 2014
Enjoyed Maughan's book. Creating portraits with values, as opposed to delineation, makes so much sense. Suggestions like starting the shadows in the center, crisping and fading out cast shadows and, my fav, visualizing the mouth over two doughnuts were very helpful in improving my portraits. Love it!
December 28, 2018
A wonderful lesson of chiaroscuro technique and a great lesson for advanced artists. The only reason I gave it a low rating is because it’s written too technically, to a point where this book should really be a video lesson or a live lecture.
January 15, 2018
Comprehensive and incredibly useful text.
February 5, 2019
This book has helped me bring my art to another level. I am an amateur artist and I found the explanations about depicting depth with value and shading to be extremely illuminating, no pun intended. I find that re-reading shortly before attempting a piece assists in keeping the good habits consistent in the work and I'm generally very satisfied with the outcomes.
April 5, 2020
This book gives a solid introduction to the concept of chiaroscuro and drawing the head (as the title suggests). Maughan is pretty dismissive of other styles, and I was able to incorporate his suggestions into my own practice anyway.
Practically, this book is full of excellent instructions and great diagrams.
Practically, this book is full of excellent instructions and great diagrams.
April 8, 2023
This book was a fast read, but was full of useful information! I recently began drawing classes at the local community college but really struggled with people. I cranked out three small, recognizable portraits in 45 minutes after completing this book. If you’re trying to draw portraits, it is a must read!! But the information is useful for all kinds of art.
December 6, 2017
really for more advanced student, very appealing tho for later
February 13, 2018
This made portrait drawing super intuitive.
April 4, 2019
All you need to know about drawing head. Covers each step. From gesture, proportion, shadow shapes, edge control to highlight, explained with method anyone can understand.
December 10, 2020
Game changer!
April 3, 2021
Truly superb book. It advanced my skills by way of thinking about drawing.
January 23, 2022
Had to read this for a college art class and it was wonderful. It was so helpful and I highly recommend it.
February 16, 2022
This is a nice book which introduce a simple method for drawing portraits using pencil. Not for me though.
March 8, 2022
It's a good reference book, but far from "complete guide" as the title says. I would recommend Loomis' book on drawing the head instead.
April 1, 2024
A valuable resource for anyone looking to improve their drawing skills. Clear instructions and details.
September 1, 2024
with amazing perspective of drawing technique, This is one of the first book that comes to my mind when talking about sketching and drawing portrait.
August 26, 2014
P90X for Artist
In short: fantastic breakdown of chiaroscuro techniques that can be applied to any subject matter, highly recommend!
Contextually, this book was the textbook for a class developed and overseen by the author, William Maughan, who is the head of the illustration department at the school I was attending. The class kicked my butt, and to this day is the best class I've ever taken in terms of beefing up my technical abilities--many peers also share such sentiment. I'll share a link to some assignments based on the material: before [] during [] after []
Good news for those not looking to shell out 2k for the class: this book is that class, nearly word-for-word. If you're up for it, challenging yourself to practice each principle with intent will do your art skills some serious good.
In short: fantastic breakdown of chiaroscuro techniques that can be applied to any subject matter, highly recommend!
Contextually, this book was the textbook for a class developed and overseen by the author, William Maughan, who is the head of the illustration department at the school I was attending. The class kicked my butt, and to this day is the best class I've ever taken in terms of beefing up my technical abilities--many peers also share such sentiment. I'll share a link to some assignments based on the material: before [] during [] after []
Good news for those not looking to shell out 2k for the class: this book is that class, nearly word-for-word. If you're up for it, challenging yourself to practice each principle with intent will do your art skills some serious good.
June 19, 2016
A excellent and inspirational resource.
It was great to see a practical and straightforward approach to using time honored techniques to improve modern art practice. A good foundation for those who want to concentrate on drawing but also for those who want to take a solid foundation into other mediums.
As a portrait artist this is one of the most valuable books that I own.
It was great to see a practical and straightforward approach to using time honored techniques to improve modern art practice. A good foundation for those who want to concentrate on drawing but also for those who want to take a solid foundation into other mediums.
As a portrait artist this is one of the most valuable books that I own.
May 6, 2008
This book is amazing! He explains things clearly, and he seems very knowledgeable.
October 5, 2008
A very good book about shading the head. Perhaps not for the very beginner, but if you have a little background very clear and helpful. My high school students find it helpful as well.
March 14, 2010
Fascinating to learn about drawing history and technique. Definitely helped my art : )
March 17, 2011
What a good drawing book is all about: clear step by step explanations, beautifully rendered illustrations, and simple clear explanations, plus a little extra fun at the end! Outstanding!
October 4, 2014
Recently started.... Great book. First few pages and It already taught me a great deal in to values and tones and how to express them.
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