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THE NOSE Not too many people give noses a lot of thought. I do, partly because, well, what else am I going to do? I don’t like to watch sports. I hate the theater and being outside in nature. Thinking about noses is the highlight of my day. Boy, I need a vacation. You can create a practically unlimited variety of nose types by adjusting the length and width. In fact, if you were to count all the grains of sand on a beach, you might even still have more cartoon nose types. My point is that you should not restrict yourself to drawing a quasi-realistic nose. Cartoon noses can be round, pointy, droopy, upturned, bent, sloping, etc. While the eyes are great conveyers of expression, the nose is often used to reflect personality type. For example, a haughty woman may have flared nostrils, while a sinister character will have a sharp nose.
THE STANDARD NOSE TYPE
I’ve introduced this diagram of a semi-realistic nose to show you the components of this most prominent feature of the face. Most cartoon characters, however, omit details such as the covers of the nostrils, and rarely shade the “sides” of the bridge. Notice how cartoonists simplify the look of the nose to create stylish variations.
Center Line shows contour of nose
SEMI-REALISTIC NOSE Too much definiton
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SIMPLIFIED NOSE Blend the details to create a simpler overall impression