Loomis head construction for the classroom
A 3-session unit teaching Andrew Loomis's ball-and-plane head construction. Students build the head as a three-dimensional form they can rotate in their imagination, place the features on a reliable armature, then use the Loomis Head overlay to verify three-quarter and tilted views — the difference between drawing a head and copying an outline.
Learning objectives
By the end of the unit, students will:
- Construct the cranial sphere and slice the flattened side plane that defines head width
- Place the centre line, brow line, and the division of the face into thirds (hairline–brow, brow–nose, nose–chin)
- Locate the eyes, nose, mouth, and ear on the construction rather than guessing their position
- Rotate the construction to a three-quarter view, keeping features attached to the form as it turns
- Name the historical source — Andrew Loomis, Drawing the Head and Hands (1956) — and relate it to the Reilly and Asaro methods
Standards alignment
- VA:Cr2.1.HSIaEngage in making a work of art or design without having a preconceived plan.
- VA:Cr3.1.HSIaApply relevant criteria from traditional and contemporary cultural contexts to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for works of art and design in progress.
- VA:Cn11.1.HSIaDescribe how knowledge of culture, traditions, and history may influence personal responses to art.
Materials
- Pencils (HB and 2B), erasers, and scrap paper for each student
- Two sheets of drawing paper per student per session
- An internet-connected device per student or pair for session 3
- A pool of reference portrait photographs at varied angles (front, three-quarter, profile, tilted) for session 3
Lesson sequence
The ball and the side plane
45 minutesExplain the core idea: the head is not an oval, it is a sphere with the sides shaved flat. Demonstrate on the whiteboard — a circle for the cranium, a flat plane cut on each side (an oval drawn on the side of the ball), with the width between those planes setting the width of the head. Add the centre line over the top of the ball and down the face, and the brow line where the cranium meets the face.
- (22 min) Students draw five front-view balls with side planes, centre lines, and brow lines. Walk the room for the classic errors: an oval instead of a true sphere with a sliced plane; forgetting the side plane so the head ends up too narrow; the brow line set at the bottom of the ball rather than near its lower third.
- (3 min) Students label the parts on their best construction — cranial sphere, side plane, centre line, brow line — so session 2 moves faster.
- What does the side plane give the head that an oval cannot?
- Where did your brow line want to sit, and where does it actually belong?
- Why build the head from a sphere rather than drawing the outline first?
Features on the armature
45 minutesRecap the ball-and-plane, then demonstrate dividing the face below the brow into three roughly equal parts: brow to bottom of nose, nose to the lower-lip region, and on to the chin. Place the eyes on the brow line, the nose at its base third, the mouth about a third down from nose to chin, and the ear between the brow line and the nose base on the side plane.
- (22 min) Students take a clean front-view construction and place all features using the thirds. Walk the room for the classic errors: features floating free of the construction lines; eyes placed too high (the near-universal beginner error — the eyes sit near the vertical middle of the whole head); ears detached from the side plane.
- (3 min) Peer review in pairs: does your partner's face read as a believable head, and where do the features disagree with the construction? Each student marks one thing to fix.
- Where did your eyes want to go, and where do they actually belong on the head?
- Did any feature float free of the construction? How did you re-attach it?
- What is the one thing you marked to fix, and why?
Rotating the head
45 minutesDemonstrate the overlay on the projector. Show how rotating to a three-quarter view shifts the centre line off-centre and brings the far side plane into view. Load a three-quarter portrait photograph and align the Loomis Head overlay to it, so students see the abstract method mapped onto a real face.
- (22 min) Students construct a head in three-quarter view on paper, then load a matching reference photo into the tool and compare. The goal is not tracing but checking: does my centre line curve the right way? Are my features following the turn of the form? Students annotate where their drawing disagrees with the overlay.
- (3 min) Quick gallery — students hold up the three-quarter heads to see whose features stayed glued to the turning form.
- What changed when the head turned, and what stayed the same?
- Did your features follow the form around, or slide off it?
- Why is constructing the head better than copying its outline when the angle changes?
Point students to the Loomis Head tool page, the Loomis head overlay, and the facial proportions plan to keep building the head.
Assessment rubric
4-point scale per criterion:
| Criterion | 4 — Mastery | 3 — Proficient | 2 — Developing | 1 — Beginning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | Sphere, side plane, centre line, brow line all correct and proportioned | Mostly correct construction | Some parts missing | Construction not built |
| Feature placement | Features located on the thirds and attached to the construction | Mostly attached | Some floating features | Features guessed |
| Rotation | Three-quarter head reads as a turned 3D form | Mostly reads as turned | Reads as distorted front view | No sense of rotation |
| Vocabulary & context | Uses construction terms; names Loomis as the source | Mostly correct terms | Some terms | No vocabulary |
Extensions
- Shorter blocks: Combine sessions 1 and 2 into a single front-view session and use the remaining time for the overlay comparison; defer rotation to a follow-up.
- Advanced: Introduce tilt (pitch) as well as turn (yaw) — construct a head looking up and one looking down, watching the brow line arc.
- Remote teaching: Students construct on paper at home, photograph the result, and load it beside a reference in the tool for asynchronous self-check.
- Companion: Pair with the grid-method portrait plan to contrast construction with copying, and the profile proportions plan for the side view.
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