You've probably seen it. A circle with a cross on it, maybe some weird ellipses on the side, and a chin that looks like it was glued on as an afterthought. That is the Loomis Method. If you’ve ever tried to draw a face and ended up with something that looks like a lopsided potato, this is usually where people tell you to start.
Andrew Loomis was an illustrator in the 1940s who basically cracked the code for drawing the human head from imagination. He didn't just want you to copy a photo. He wanted you to understand the head as a 3D object—a ball with sides sliced off. But honestly, most people get it wrong because they treat it like a flat 2D diagram.
If you want to master the Loomis Method all angles, you have to stop thinking about lines and start thinking about volume.
The Ball and the Slice: The Secret to Every Angle
Everything starts with a sphere. Think of it as the cranium. But human heads aren't perfect basketballs; they’re flatter on the sides. To account for this, you "slice" off the sides of the sphere.
In a front view, these slices look like two vertical lines. From the side, the slice is a perfect circle right in the middle. But the 3/4 view? That’s where the magic (and the frustration) happens. That slice becomes an ellipse.
Here is the part most beginners miss: the height of that side slice is exactly two-thirds of the height of your original circle. If you get that proportion wrong, your head will look too wide or too skinny.
Mapping the "Cross"
Where the brow line and the middle line of the face meet, they form a cross. This isn't just a mark; it’s the "anchor" for the entire face.
- The Horizontal Line: This represents the brow ridge. It wraps around the ball like an equator.
- The Vertical Line: This is the center of the face. It runs from the crown of the head, through the bridge of the nose, and down to the chin.
When you tilt the head up, the cross moves up. When the head looks down, the cross drops. It sounds simple, but keeping those lines curved to follow the sphere's surface is what gives the drawing depth. Flat lines kill the illusion.
Mastering Loomis Method All Angles: The Step-by-Step
Let's get practical. To draw a head at any angle, follow this sequence. Don't skip steps.
- Draw the Sphere. Keep it light.
- Find the Tilt. Draw the vertical axis (the "toothpick" through the ball) to decide if the head is leaning.
- Slice the Sides. Draw an ellipse on the side of the ball. The center of this ellipse is where the ear will eventually sit.
- The Brow Line. Draw a line from the center of that side ellipse, wrapping around the front of the "face."
- The Thirds. This is the core of the Loomis Method. The distance from the hairline to the brow, the brow to the bottom of the nose, and the nose to the chin should be equal.
The Upward Tilt (Worm's Eye)
When someone looks up, you’re seeing the "under-plane" of the jaw and nose. The brow line curves upward like a smile. The side ellipses move lower on the ball.
You’ll see the nostrils, the bottom of the chin, and maybe even the underside of the brow ridge. The ears will actually appear lower than the eyes. This is a common point of confusion. People usually try to keep the ears level with the eyes, but in an upward tilt, the ears "drop" in perspective.
The Downward Tilt (Bird's Eye)
This is the "moody" angle. The brow line curves downward like a frown. The top of the head (the cranium) becomes much more prominent.
The ears move "up" relative to the facial features. You might not see the chin very well because the nose or the bulk of the face overlaps it. Foreshortening kicks in here, making the distance between the nose and chin look shorter than it actually is.
Why Your 3/4 View Looks Wonky
The 3/4 view is the "boss fight" of the Loomis Method all angles. Most students draw the "far" side of the face too wide.
Remember: the center line of the face is not the edge of the face. There is a whole other side of the head over there, even if it's compressed by perspective.
The Jawline Trap
The jaw doesn't just hang off the front of the ball. It starts at the bottom-center of your side slice (where the ear is). It angles down to the chin and then back up.
If you draw the jaw as a flat line from the chin to the ear, the face will look like a piece of cardboard. You need to show the "turn" of the jaw. Real human jaws have a corner—the angle of the mandible. Mark that corner. It usually aligns roughly with the mouth line.
Beyond the Basics: E-E-A-T and Common Pitfalls
If you’ve read Andrew Loomis’s original 1943 book, Drawing the Head and Hands, you know he was big on "ideal" proportions. While his method is a gold standard, it has limitations.
Modern experts like Stan Prokopenko or Michael Hampton have refined these ideas. A major critique of the pure Loomis Method is that it can produce "generic" faces. Because the method relies on "thirds" (equal spacing), every character can end up looking like a 1940s leading man.
How to fix this: Use the Loomis Method as a ghost structure, not a cage. Once the ball and the jaw are placed, look at your reference. Does your subject have a massive forehead? Shorten the top third. Do they have a long chin? Extend the bottom third. The structure stays the same, but the measurements change.
The Ear Placement Mistake
Almost everyone puts the ear in the wrong spot. In the Loomis Method, the ear sits in the back-lower quadrant of that side slice. It's tucked between the brow line and the nose line.
If you place the ear too far forward, the head looks like it has no back. If you place it too far back, the face looks like it’s sliding off the skull.
Practical Checklist for Success
Don't just read about it. Draw it.
- Ghost the sphere: Draw several circles quickly to get the "roundness" in your muscle memory.
- Draw the "T": Practice drawing just the cross on a sphere in different rotations. Don't even add a jaw yet. Just get the ball spinning in space.
- Think in Planes: Once you have the basic Loomis structure, try to "box" it out. The face has a front plane and two side planes.
- Avoid Symmetry: In a 3/4 view, the eye on the far side should be narrower than the eye on the near side.
Moving Forward With Your Portraits
Mastering the Loomis Method all angles isn't about one perfect drawing. It’s about doing 100 "crap" drawings until your brain starts seeing the sphere in 3D automatically.
Start by sketching five heads looking up, five looking down, and five in a 3/4 tilt. Don't worry about eyelashes or hair. Just focus on the ball, the slice, and the jaw. Once those three pieces feel solid, the rest of the facial features will practically place themselves.
The next time you sit down with a sketchbook, skip the eyes. Start with the cranium. Slice the side. Find the cross. Build the foundation before you try to paint the house.
