Human ear drawn in black and gray fineliner on pale cream textured sketchbook paper, with a complete silhouette and open margins.
Drawing referenceAbout reference use

Human ear fine ink study

One human ear in side three-quarter view with a clear outer helix, inner folds and soft lobe, a small adjoining head plane only. Practice form, overlap and selective shading in fine ink.

PeopleMediumFineliner40 min, at your pace
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A way into the drawing

  1. Establish the main shapes

    Place the tilted outer ear and rounded lobe.

  2. Connect the structure

    Connect the inner folds back into the ear bowl.

  3. Develop the drawing

    Use selective interior marks and local shadow groups to explain the overlaps. Keep the lighter planes open rather than shading every surface.

A small thing to tryKeep the inner folds inside the outer ear boundary.