How to Draw JAW

Step 1 - Following the jawline, I lay down my darkest tones with a 3B pencil. The darkest tones for the jaw will be towards the edges. If the subject is smiling as is the case in my reference, there will be folds in the skin so watch for those too. These folds will be darker. I move onto the upper lip area laying down some B graphite. Make sure that you are making the whole jaw area darker than the highlights on both the cheeks and nose. Since my light source is coming from above, there is a cast shadow underneath the nose. This is not always the case and will depend upon where the light source is coming from. I shade this shadow area with a 3B pencil. 

 Step 2 - As you work your way down on the face don't forget about the hair. I play catch up on the hair until it's about down to the jaw area. Working this way prevents you from having to rest your hand on the finished facial area to get at the hair. Don't go too far down with the hair either because you'll have to rest your hand on the finished hair area to get at the face. Try to keep every part of the drawing at about the same point horizontally. I'm often asked how my drawings look so clean and this is the reason. You'll never see smudge marks all over my paper. Just as before, I use my 3B mechanical pencil along with a woodcased 7B for darker areas. The only lines that you draw in the hair should indicate the flow and direction. Now I'm down far enough with the hair on the left side where I can go back to working on the face.

Tip - A retractable eraser is a useful tool to have when working on hair. You can use it to erase small fly-away hairs, adding detail and realism to your drawing. 

Step 3 - I go back to working on the jaw and mouth area, on the right side this time. I start by laying down my darkest tones along the jawline, again watching for laugh lines and dimples. Next I lay some B graphite and blend it into the darks I just laid down, making a subtle gradient towards the edge of the jaw. When I'm happy with the jaw area I go back to working on hair, catching it up to the jaw on the right side.