How to Draw a Chinese Woman

Women have historically been seen as burdens to their husband and family. This tight construction poem written in pantoun style (also known as pantun) reveals injustice and oppression faced by Chinese women – something which is evident by how many young Chinese women edit their photos to lighten their skin before sharing them online.

Face

Use the facial guidelines that you drew in step one to sketch out her face shape. Draw an extended line for her forehead; and sketch out details for her cheek, chin and jawline as well.

Sketch in the eyelid lining as well as her eyelashes. Next, sketch her nose line and eyebrows before moving on to sketch out her lips and mouth – be sure to draw it wider than normal for added realism!

Sketch a basic ponytail as the hair, adding in any necessary details such as highlights and detailing lines to make the ponytail appear more realistic. Finally, erase any traced outlines left from step one and your artwork is complete!

Eyes

Asian eyes differ significantly from western ones in several ways. Their top lid lines tend to be bolder, their iris smaller and more oval in shape, and there’s usually an inner corner caruncula (soft pink fleshy area between eyeball and iris) present which should be drawn lightly as this will later be erased away.

Explore all of the various Asian eye styles – some may lack an eyelid crease altogether while in others it may only be faint or nonexistent.

Nose

Chinese culture places great value on the nose as an integral component of facial beauty, with most Chinese women possessing wider, rounder noses than westerners due to genetics and the fact that wide nostrils allow adequate oxygenation of the nose while its wide base prevents excessive tip projection.

At our examination of Asian noses, we discovered that the Chinese nasal canal is closer to the nasomental line (Rickett line) than that of white face; furthermore, its columella show is more horizontal; furthermore, its width-intercanthal distance ratio was greater in Chinese nose.

To draw a nose in profile, start with a circle for your outline and use this as the shape of your nose. Draw two long vertical lines on top of this circle that extend slightly outside its borders – these will become the outer edges of nostrils.

Add a horizontal line through the center of your circle, slightly offset right, to form your nose profile. Remember that anything closer to your guidelines should be shaded darker for increased definition of your outline of your nose. Begin shading along your guidelines using pencil tips to highlight dark areas – this step will allow you to start shaping your chinese nose! Just be wary not to overdo this step or you risk altering its natural form!

Lips

Sketch the outline of lips on either side of your mouth with intertwining, curved lines. The lower line should meet at the base of each circle and extend slightly beyond them depending on the desired fullness of lips. Draw a middle line that curves around all three circles until nearing the lower circle’s base; longer this middle line, wider and fuller lips it creates; shorter is better for more round and plump lips – then erase triangle construction lines!

Sketch some faint outlines of lips for shading purposes. Decide how and from where you will shade your drawing; this will determine where highlights and shadows lie – for example if lighting comes from above then highlights will fall at the top while any darker areas below where the lower lip meets the upper will become apparent.

Assimilate more definition into your lips by drawing thin semicircular lines for lip wrinkles. As an extra touch, sketch a few dots on both top and bottom lips as an added detail. In China during the Tang Dynasty women would make their lip contours look like flower petals using makeup; you could add to this effect by drawing some flowers around each side of your lips for extra definition.

Hair

Long before social media existed, ladies’ hair held its own secret language. Much like an online profile or dating profile, hair could reveal much about a woman’s status; keeping hair hidden was an indication that they were single; wrapping or braiding her locks indicated married but without children; while buns indicated they already had kids – ultimately it was up to each woman herself and their partner of choice until her Prince Charming arrived!