You can draw the Red Baron even if you are not good at drawing faces, this one it is easy. The helmet and the big mustache are cool and free the artist from some of the problems found in many portraits.
Start with a circle a little above the center of the page you are drawing on. Add the squarish jaw and even though you are going to draw over it draw the neck and shoulders. Sometimes you need to have these references on the page to help control the composition or else the picture takes on a life of it's own and gets away from you. Draw the reference line vertical up and down the center of the face, this way you keep everything even; and a horizontal reference line half way down for the eyes that way you won't draw one higher than the other. Half way below that draws a reference for the mouth. Many kids will want to get right into drawing the crazy handle bar mustache but I always say save the fun stuff for last. Draw in the ears using the horizontal lines for top and bottom to keep the ears the same on each side of the face. Draw circle for the eyes. I gave him half closed eyes but even though you are going to erase part of the circles draw them in so you keep things even. Keep the eyelids simple they are like two horizontal lines that drop at the ends. The nose is big draw it as circles but use the side of your pencil so you are shading it in instead of drawing it with the point. Make the nose out of shadows and not many lines. Shade in the side of the face that has the shadow making it darker under the jaw. Only after you are happy with the face then do the mustache- it is easy. Draw a light outline of how you want it to be then build it up with lines that go down in the middle and out at the sides. Make the mustache dark since it is a point of interest in the face. The helmet is drawn after the face is done. It is round and mostly done with shading. Only a few zigzag lines in the goggles are needed to give them a glassy look. The jacket collar is lamb's wool use the side of the pencil to shade in the fluff by making squiggles shaped like the letters "C" and "U" and mix in some of the same shapes with the point of the pencil where the light hits it. The rest of the jacket is just black shading. When you are done everyone will want to see it!
(c)Adron Dozat
