In this tutorial I've tried to explain the most basic of steps in creating a face at a 3/4 turn. This seems to be a tricky angle for a lot of people but with a few tips you can elliminate a lot of the difficulties inherent in this facial position.

The head I'm using comes from this base; while the tutorial steps should allow you to use any 3/4-turn base you want, it may be easier to use this one your first time through. Also, I use MS Paint so all of the steps below are geared toward that program- there really shouldn't be any problems using this tutorial in other drawing programs, though.

Step 1:

I usually choose my colors at random and revise them as I work- but for this tutorial I thought it might be helpful if I included the color palette I used. Each color is numbered so I'll be referring to them as numerals in each step. And, speaking of color, we need to recolor the base before we start working; the outline should be in Color 3 and the skin tone should be in Color 6.

On to the real first step... The first thing that you should do when working on a face, no matter what angle it's at, is assess the vertical central point of the face. In this case, the center of the face is far off to the right because the head is turned. Although you don't have to draw a line through the face, it's helpful to know where that line is. It's the dividing point in your doll's face and it's extremely important that its placement is just so- the nose, eyes, mouth, and chin will all be affected by where you estimate that line to be. Also, notice that it curves in some areas- particularly at the forehead and chin.

The next line to look out for is the horizontal central point- or, in simpler terms, the eye line. A good way to remember placement of the eyes is that the horizontal line should fall almost directly in the center of the head- the tops of your ears should also touch this line. If you're certain that you have a fairly good understanding of where these two lines should be, you're ready for the next step- if not, I suggest looking at similar face angles in magazines 'til you find one that you can use as reference for your doll. :)

Step 2:

Using Color 14, follow the horizontal line (eye line) and make the top lashes of the doll's eyes. Remember, when working in small spaces like this, simplicity is key; keep the lashline relatively flat and not too long. It may look plain, now, but later on you'll be doing some shading and it'll look amazing! Also, notice how there is one pixel's difference in the positioning of the eyes? The eyes are not straight accross from each other because they are following the curve of the head- if they were on the exact same level, the face would look extremely flat. However, make sure that the levels are close enough that your doll doesn't come out looking like Quasimodo... ;)

Step 3:

Using Color 13, draw the bottom lashline. No one has as many lashes on their bottom lashline as on their top- making the bottom line a slightly lighter color helps the top lashline stand out more and look fuller. Notice that I didn't stretch the lashline all the way to the other end; you should only put lashes at the outer corners of the eyes and leave the inner corners and part of the lower lashline blank. Also, I find that the easiest eyes to make are those that curve upward on the outer edges- if you don't like this type of eye, though, feel free to experiment and come up with something you like better. Again, make sure that you follow the eyeline around the face- it's important that the eyes look like they're in your doll's head and not just floating around on top of the skin.

Step 4:

The easiest direction to point a doll's eyes in is to the side- so that's what we're doing in this tutorial. Using Color 9, draw the very top of an iris in the left-hand corner of each eye socket. Only use this color for the uppermost portion of the eye- it will give the impression that the eyeball is being shadowed by the lashes and will give the eye more dimension. Next, use Color 10 to create the lower half of the iris. Make sure that you're not coloring too much in, though- you need some white to shine through to make it obvious what direction your doll is looking in.

Step 5:

Using Color 3, connect the lower and upper lashlines- make sure that you make a corner with the connecting lashlines or it will look like she's missing her tear ducts. Did you notice that I didn't draw a line through the right iris to connect the lashline? The reason for this is that because the right eye is so much smaller than the left, I need as much of the iris showing as possible to keep her eyes pointing the same direction- plus, if I had connected the lashes, it would have looked very thick and boxy (yuck!). There's one more thing to do in this step- following the lines you used to make the iris, use Colors 11 & 12 to finish shading the rest of the eye (make sure to line them up with the iris colors!).

Step 6:

We're starting to get somewhere now, huh? :) Using Color 4, make a small diagonal line for the nose. Again, simplicity is key. You may be thinking, "That's just two dots, not a nose!" And you're right. Shading is what will turn this thing into a nose- but you need the dark line first.

Step 7:

Using Color 5, try to round out the underside of the line you created in Step 6- this may require only one pixel, actually. You'll also want to shade the top side of the line but don't over-do it- the nose shouldn't be too big and it's shape shouldn't be too distinct (the less defined detail you have in this feature, the prettier it will be). The last part of shading the nose is creating a very slight line, angled upward to suggest the bridge of the nose- again, less is more with this facial feature!

Step 8:

Using Color 1, shade the outer edge of the top and bottom lashlines- keep this color away from the inner corner. Because the right-hand eye is smaller, it would draw a lot more notice to it if you edged the entire thing in Color 1- it would probably even detract attention from the other eye. For this reason, use Color 4 as the primary 'eyeliner' on that eye; also use this color to shade the top inner corner of the left eye.

Step 9:

Now we're going to shade the face- it'll really start looking good now! There are all sorts of ways to shade so if you prefer to shade in a way that differs from the method I use, go for it! :) Using Color 5, edge the inside of the outlines- just a pixel-width should do it. Edge the eyes, as well. Notice how my lines around the facial outline sort of overlap each other but the lines around the eyes don't? I do this to make the shading around the eyes a bit softer and more realistic. Depending on what direction the light is coming from, you should also add a bit more shading to one side of the face- I chose a left-hand 'sun' so her face is a bit more shadowed on the right. Also, make sure to add enough shading on your dolls neck to convey the idea that her chin is casting a shadow- otherwise it will either look like you have two light-sources or it will just look very flat.

Step 10:

Using Colors 7 and 8, make two parallel lines for the mouth- just two small, straight lines. The darker color should always go on top- most upper lips angle inward so they're more shadowed than the bottom lips which roll outward. It may be tempting to add a curve in the mouthline at this stage- but don't! The primary lip colors are too stark against the skin tone to be able to create a gentle curve- instead, we'll use some shading to add more definition in the next step. However, if you really think the lip line will look too straight, add one pixel of the bottom lip color to the corner of the top lip- choose the side that has the most amount of cheek exposed.

Step 11:

With Color 4 it's time to shade the lips. The first thing you'll want to do is pull up the corner of the mouth on the side with the least amount of cheek exposed- if you can get this side to look right, the other side will be a snap. :) Generally, the easiest way to do this is to make a three-pixel corner around the top lip edge- but don't shade the side of the bottom lip or it will go right back to the way it looked before. Do you see how just these three pixels automatically lift the right side of the mouth into a smile? The color is just barely darker than the shaded skintone but it's dark enough that it blends both the lips and skin together.

The next step will help bulk out the left side of the lips. Using Color 4 again, shade the left side of the mouth. You should only use 1-pixel-width in this area and make sure that you don't add any of this color above the lips on this side. When you're done with that, add a small line right under the bottom lip- this will give it a little more fullness and will also make her chin look a little smaller.

Step 12:

Using Color 5, shade the left side of the mouth again- just outline the pixels you created in the last step. Also, make a small line directly over the upper lip- it should stop right about where Color 4's shading begins. But DON'T use Color 5 to shade under the bottom lip- you want a tiny bit of the original skintone shining through right there to give some roundness to the area.

Step 13:

Now it's time to make the eyebrows. As with the nose, I feel that the less pixels you use, the better the brows will look- this doesn't mean that you can't make thick eyebrows if you want them. For this step, use Color 2 to make a short, straight line a few pixels above each eye. Then, using Color 3, place one or two pixels diagonally at the outer edge of the left brow (the right one doesn't apply here); the lighter color will help the brow look more tapered. You can also add a diagonal pixel to the inside of each brow (in either color) to make a more sculpted line and give the impression of the continuing line of the nose.

Step 14:

Here it is- the last step! :) There are a couple of options for shading the brows. First, and easiest, you can just outline the entire brow in Color 5; this technique will make the brows look very thin while still giving them some depth. The second step is a bit more involved but if you like your dolls' eyebrows to look a bit more substantial it may be worth it. Using Color 4, outline the top and side of each brow (don't shade the undersides). Next, use Color 5 to outline the pixels you just drew on the diagonal parts of the brow- but don't outline the horizontal pixels or they'll start to look over-done. You can also outline the undersides in this color to help add more depth to the eyes below.

That's it- you're done! :) Now go grab a new base and try out the techniques again- you'll more than likely have to adapt these steps to a different facial shape but the general concepts will remain the same. In the process, you may even discover techniques that you like better! :) If you have any questions or feel that certain steps should be explained in more detail, please let me know! :)