When I got back to drawing portraits earlier this year, I wondered what I should learn first to draw the human head properly: the Loomis Method or the Reilly Method.
My initial impression of the Reilly method was that it was too complicated for beginner artists. So I decided to learn the Loomis Method first in the hope of exploring the Reilly Method later. After gaining some basic understanding of the Loomis Method, I did study the Reilly Method to see how it compares with the former. So in this post, I share what little I have learned about the two approaches for drawing the human head, their similarities, differences, examples, and my final thoughts on which one is better for beginner artists based on my experience.
After I dive into the Loomis Vs. Reilly comparison, I’ll briefly share my (admittedly limited) knowledge about the basic process of drawing the human head using each method and my recommendations on the best resources to learn more about each technique.
Loomis Vs. Reilly
The Loomis and Reilly Methods are both very useful guides for portrait drawing. While the Loomis Method aims to help artists draw the basic structure and proportions of the face, the Reilly Abstraction helps to bring drawings to life by improving the flow, likeness, and accuracy of portraits.
Both methods are great resources for artists, and I think everyone who wants to improve their portrait drawing skills can learn a great deal from each technique.
And although there is a lot of overlap between the two methods when it comes to the actual process of drawing the human head as I’ll explain later in this post, there are significant differences between both approaches.
Here’s a more detailed comparison of the differences between the Loomis and Reilly methods. My goal for writing this comparison is to help beginner artists like me who are unsure about which approach to study make an informed choice.
| Loomis Method | Reilly Abstraction |
|---|---|
| In his book Drawing the Head and Hands, Andrew Loomis published his approach to drawing the human head and hands. | There is no first-hand written account of the Reilly Abstraction by Frank J. Reilly himself. However, some of his students, like Jack Faragasso, who wrote Mastering Drawing the Human Figure, have attempted to document and preserve his approach to drawing the human face and figure. |
| The Loomis Method is relatively easier for beginner artists to grasp because Andrew Loomis explains things in layman’s terms. | The Reilly Abstraction is more appropriate for artists who are already somewhat familiar with the basic anatomy of the face and proportions. |
| Although so many instructors have taught the teachings of Andrew Loomis, the method itself does not vary a lot from instructor to instructor, which helps to consolidate the understanding of the drawing process as a beginner artist. | There are very few quality resources to learn the Reilly Method, and the actual process of creating a portrait using the Reilly Abstraction varies slightly from instructor to instructor. Because of this, beginner artists who like to study things from different sources may find it hard to consolidate their understanding of the Reilly Method. |
| The Loomis head is great for mapping out the basic shapes and proportions of the face fairly quickly. | The Reilly Abstraction is really helpful in scanning the portrait for errors and informing the artistic choices to improve the drawing’s likeness, flow, and accuracy. |
| Andrew Loomis doesn’t go into much detail about developing the individual features of the face or how the planes of the face connect to the suggested shape of the head. | Frank Reilly taught detailed guidelines for creating the different elements of the face and connecting them using rhythm lines to form a coherent portrait. |
In the following couple of sections, I try to sum up the steps involved in drawing the human head using each approach so those of you who are new to Loomis and Reilly can get a basic idea of the process.
Do stick around till the final section of this post as I’ll be suggesting some of my favorite resources for learning Loomis and Reilly methods along with some words of (hopefully) helpful advice based on what I’ve learned so far.
Steps for drawing the Loomis Head
Andrew Loomis developed a logical process for drawing the human head in space by using simple shapes to represent its complex forms in correct proportions. The basic idea behind the Loomis Method is that to draw the head correctly, the artist must be aware of the three-dimensional structure of the entire head and know how to place the individual features correctly.
In the words of Andrew Loomis in his book Drawing the Head and Hands, ”it is impossible to draw the head correctly by starting with an eye or nose, oblivious of the skull and the placement of features within it”.
The Loomis Method helps artists to recreate the human head in their drawing by forcing us to think of the underlying structure of the head and is an excellent way of determining where to place the different features of the face in a portrait.
Here is a step-by-step tutorial for drawing the Loomis Head.
Step 1: Draw a Ball
To begin with the Loomis Method, we draw a ball to represent the mass of the cranium (the upper part of the skull surrounding the brain that does not include the bones of the jaws).
Step 2: Flatten the sides of the ball
If you observe your face in the mirror, you’ll notice that the front planes of the face merge into the flat side planes of the head around the temples. We flatten the sides of the cranium ball drawn in Step 1 to show these flat circular side planes of the head.
The flattened sides are roughly two-thirds the size of the cranium ball, but the degree to which they are visible to the observer depends on the angle of the face relative to the viewer. When drawing the head from the side view, we draw a smaller circle within the cranium ball to represent the side plane.
Step 3: Draw the browline, middle line, and halfway line