Almost all of our colouring magazines feature figures and faces, so learning how to colour all the elements of a face is an essential for any colourist. From shading skin to layering hair, learn about all the techniques you need to colour a beautiful face.
Before you get stuck into this colouring tutorial, be sure to download some of our free colouring charts, which will give you a chance to practice eyes, lips, hair and skin.
If you’re new to colouring, take a moment to read our how to colour guide for beginners, which contains lots of handy tips and resources.
Learning how to colour skin is one of the most challenging aspects of the face, as achieving a smooth and realistic skin effect can be difficult! As well as learning what colours and tones to use to achieve different skin types for your colouring page.
Here are a few of our colouring tutorial videos to help guide you through the process of colouring skin. Don’t forget – in the world of fantasy colouring, skin can be any colour you like!
Once you’ve perfected your skin, you’re ready to move onto hair! Colouring hair is all about using directional strokes and shading to create a realistic effect.
Whatever colour you choose for your figure’s hair, the tips in our video colouring tutorial will definitely come in handy.
Giving your figure striking, beautiful eyes is the best way to truly bring your colouring page to life! Our amazing video colouring tutorial by Kirsty Munro will guide you through the process of creating highly realistic eyes.
However, depending on the size and detail of your colouring page, you may find that you need to simplify the colours and details.
So your skin is perfected, your hair is looking gorgeous, and your eyes are quite literally eye-catching – your beautiful face is almost complete!
However there are a few more details to go, so here are our top tips for the rest of the face.
You can use directional strokes to your advantage for eyebrows. Using some reference pictures and a sharp pencil, colour in short strokes in the direction of the eyebrow, from the nose outwards. For added depth and detail, layer up with a few different shades – but don’t over do it, as sometimes simple is best!
The nose can be a tricky detail to get right. We recommend thinking about your light source and the shadows it will cast – here’s a handy video tutorial to help you get started.
Another pesky detail of faces are the ears! Our best top tip for colouring ears is to use a reference picture (or even a mirror!) as this will help you achieve a more realistic effect. Ears are generally darkest in the centre and where the skin overlaps.
For colouring lips, we recommend using soft strokes and lots of layers for a smooth surface. Add a bright white highlight for a lip gloss effect, or some careful strokes to replicate the texture of a natural lip. You will find again that reference images will really help!
Colouring should be fun, enjoyable and stress-free! If you’re not enjoying colouring faces, maybe find something else to try. Some of our Collection issues feature themes like flowers, animals and patterns.
Now you know all the secrets to colouring a beautiful face. We can’t wait to see your gorgeous Colouring Heaven pages in our Friends of Colouring Heaven Facebook group!
Coloured a beautiful page and want to share it with your friends and family? Take a look at this article about how to photograph colouring pages.
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