The Art of Nasal Anatomy
The nose is one of the most structurally complex and most misunderstood features in portrait drawing. Too often it gets reduced to two nostril dots and a vague shadow. This project is my attempt to fix that.
I've been quietly working on a dedicated nose anatomy series for artists, and these illustrations represent the first refined studies from what will eventually become a full chapter in my Human Anatomy for Artists handbook.
Every image in this series was built with one goal in mind: to show you exactly what's happening beneath the skin so you can make better decisions on the page.
This is still a work in progress, and I'm continuing to develop and refine each study. The end goal is a comprehensive, artist-focused nose anatomy reference, the kind of resource I wished I'd had early in my own practice.
What this series covers:
The cartilage structures and surface landmarks of the nose — from the nasal bone and lateral cartilage down to the alar fat and columella, mapped side by side so you can see how inner structure defines outer form
Nasal thirds and proportions — the nose divided into its bony, cartilaginous, and fatty thirds, giving you a reliable measurement system for accurate placement in any portrait
Nasal cartilage on the skull — a three-stage frontal progression showing how cartilage sits within the nasal cavity, building layer by layer from bare bone to full structure
Planes of the nose — both side and front views, pairing the organic surface form with a clean planar model so you can immediately see how to read and render light across this notoriously tricky feature
Side-by-side illustration of nose anatomy for artists showing nasal cartilage structures including alar cartilage, lateral cartilage, nasal septum, and alar fat alongside surface landmarks such as the root, dorsum, tip, ala, columella, and nostrils
Side view comparison of the nose for artists showing the organic surface form alongside a simplified planar model, illustrating how light and shadow map to the anatomical planes of the nose
Three-angle frontal planar breakdown of the nose for artists, showing simplified geometric planes from below, front, and three-quarter view to aid in understanding nose structure and form for portrait drawing
Anatomical illustration of the nose for artists showing cartilage layers alongside the three vertical nasal thirds — bony, cartilaginous, and fatty — with proportion measurements for portrait drawing
Three-stage frontal view illustration showing nasal cartilage anatomy built on the human skull's nasal cavity, progressing from bare skull to cartilage layers with alar fat, for artists studying facial anatomy