The Human Ear

I, as an artist, have never attempted to draw an ear, simply because I never needed to. The book How to Draw Cool Stuff covers the ears as a section within the chapter of the human face. So, I took this as an opportunity to try drawing an ear! My drawing was based off of this photo:

I decided to draw one with piercings because I find them cute :)

In this section of the book, Holmes gives a bit of information about drawing ears when they are going to be attached to an entire face. She explains that the ears are generally placed symmetrical on each side of the head (70). I unfortunately did not draw an entire face with ears showing, however it is good information to know when I attempt to draw them in the future.

To begin, Holmes suggests to start with two circles, as seen in this picture:

From there, I was instructed to erase a couple of lines and add one underneath the bigger circle:

After this, I was instructed to do a few more things before coming out with my finished product!

Holmes states, "The average human ear can be drawn realistically by using standard guidelines/measurements" (70). This is a reoccurring statement that I've noticed throughout this book, and I could not agree more. I have applied the simple techniques proposed in the book, and my drawings have never looked better! Though my shading still needs a lot of work and the perfect is not perfect, I understand where to start, and can draw my pictures in an organized manner without overcomplicating things.

Have you ever attempted to draw an ear? If so, how did you start? 

Book citation:

Holmes, Catherine. How to Draw Cool Stuff. Library Tales Publishing, Inc., 2013.