You finish the eyes, shade the lips, and draw every wave of hair. The result looks like a person, but it does not look like your person. Adding more detail often makes the drawing more finished without making it more recognizable.

When a portrait doesn’t look like the reference, start by checking the large relationships: head angle, skull shape, facial proportions and the placement of the features. This guide uses stages from my portrait lesson to show what to check before you commit to dark pencil marks.

The source video demonstrates a portrait being built, rather than a series of deliberately incorrect drawings. The checks below are a way to review your own work alongside those stages.

Check the Head Angle Before the Individual Features

Ask whether your drawing faces the same direction as the photograph. Compare the turn, the tilt and the amount of each cheek you can see. A small change in angle affects the visible widths of the eyes, nose and mouth.

In the lesson, I begin with the cranium and a side-plane guide on the reference. That gives me a way to think about the skull underneath the hair, rather than copying the outer hairstyle as the head shape.

Try covering the features on your drawing for a moment. Does the skull and jaw still suggest the reference’s pose? If not, correct the pose before adjusting eyelashes.

1. Make Sure the Skull Is Large Enough

Hair can hide where the skull begins and ends. If your initial circle is measured from the hairline to the chin, the upper part of the head may be too small and the lower face too long.

Look for the rounded mass above and behind the face. Leave room for the jaw underneath it and hair outside it. In a turned portrait, compare how much of the side plane is visible rather than assuming the same shape works for every angle.

If you need a construction refresher, the three-quarter Loomis drawing guide walks through those first marks in more detail.

2. Follow the Facial Center Line All the Way to the Chin

Check a continuous path through the middle of the forehead, between the eyebrows, down the nose, through the mouth and into the chin. Those features should agree on where the front of the face is.

In the demonstration, the center line curves over the upper part of the skull and continues down the face. It does not simply sit in the middle of the visible circle.

If the nose turns one way while the chin drifts back toward a frontal position, the portrait can feel subtly twisted. Lightly redraw the center path and check each feature against it before deciding which one to move.

3. Compare the Facial Thirds, Then Adjust Them

Check the distances from hairline to brow, brow to the base of the nose, and nose to chin. The Loomis thirds provide a useful first estimate, but the reference has the final say.

Do not force a particular person into three mechanically identical spaces. A different forehead height, nose length or chin shape can change the likeness. Tilt can also change the distances that are visible in the photograph.

Ask a specific question: is my lower face longer than the reference, or is my forehead too short? That is easier to correct than a general feeling that the face looks wrong.

4. Check the Jaw Width and Chin Position Together

The jaw controls much of the face’s overall shape. Compare where it leaves the ear area, how it turns toward the chin, and how broad or narrow that chin appears.

A jaw that is too narrow can change the character of the face even when the eyes are carefully drawn. A misplaced chin can also make the mouth appear wrong when its own shape is close.

Judge the outline as a whole before refining one cheek at a time. Keep your early lines light enough that you can move the contour without leaving a second dark jaw beside it.

5. Compare Feature Spacing Before Feature Detail

Next check the spaces between the features. Compare the eye-to-nose relationship, the width of the mouth against the nose, and the distance from the mouth to the chin.

There is no single mouth position that fits every reference. The lesson uses a simple guide to establish it; for your drawing, check the actual mouth opening and the shadows around the lower lip against the photograph.

For a turned head, compare the visible width of the far eye and far half of the mouth. Don’t make both sides identical just because you know faces are broadly symmetrical in three dimensions.

A useful pause point is the simple block-in below. You can still change the main relationships without having to erase layers of shading.

6. Keep the Hair and Expression from Changing the Likeness

The outside shape of the hair frames the face. Check the parting, the height above the forehead, the width at the sides and the shape around the ears. A different silhouette can make a well-proportioned face look like someone else.

Then look at the expression. Compare the eyebrow angles, the amount of upper lid showing, the mouth opening and the lift at its corners. Small changes here can alter the person’s attitude.

In this portrait, the later stages develop the hair and facial details after the underlying structure is in place. Use that sequence as a reminder to check the pose first, then the smaller expression cues.

7. Correct the Largest Mismatch First

Place the drawing and reference where you can see both together. Look at the whole face from a little farther away, then choose one clear difference to address.

• Wrong direction: recheck the turn, center line and side plane.
• Face too long: compare the facial sections and the chin position.
• Features seem crowded: check their spacing before shrinking each feature.
• Expression feels different: compare the eyebrows, eyelids and mouth opening.
• Face close, identity still weak: check the jaw shape and hair silhouette.

Make one correction and compare again. Moving several features at once makes it difficult to tell which change helped. If the structure is wrong, darker shading is unlikely to solve it.

A Better Practice Exercise Than Repeating the Whole Portrait

Make a small study from the same reference and stop at the feature guides. Write down the biggest mismatch you see. Start a second study with that one issue in mind.

This gives you two quick comparisons without spending another hour on the hair. Once the angle and spacing are closer, choose the stronger study to develop.

Learn to Check the Structure with More Confidence

My Complete Loomis Method Course provides guided practice with the head and facial features across different angles. If you are starting from the front view, begin with this step-by-step face drawing tutorial.