How to Draw Justin Bieber

When making a drawing of celebrities (or anyone else, for that matter), it’s helpful to look for characteristics in their features that stand out or make them unique. Noticing these characteristics and including them in your drawing will help you to create a closer, more accurate likeness. In this tutorial, we will use this reference photo to learn how to draw Justin Bieber. Justin is a very popular star, and his face is known all over the world. I will point out some key characteristics of Justin’s facial features along the way that will help us get a likeness that is close to his. So here we go… watch the video above, read the steps below, and try your hand at it too!

Step 1: Make a Grid and Guidelines

Make a grid of 3 squares by 5 squares. As you follow along with me, try to draw as accurately as possible what you see in each square to keep things in proportion. Next, draw some basic guidelines for the face. Our reference photo is a recent picture of the Biebs, so since he is growing older, our “oval” shape will reflect a longer and more narrow face than when Justin was a younger child. Also, notice the lightly-drawn guidelines that will serve as rough placement for the center of the face, eyes, nose, and mouth.

Step 2: Draw the Eyes

Notice in the previous step I said “rough placement”. Guidelines are meant to give you general guidance, but you don’t have to be tied to them. So, rather than drawing the eyes directly on the guideline, I drew them just below the line, with the eyebrows above the guideline. Justin has noticeable eyelashes, so I didn’t leave those out of the drawing. In addition, there is a tiny bit of foreshortening present since Justin’s head is slightly turned. Therefore, I decided to leave one eye looking a little smaller than the other.

Step 3: Make Justin’s Nose

Our reference photo shows a nose with a rather short bridge and round tip. You can almost see the “ball” of cartilage at the bottom. These are distinguishing features to include when drawing Justin Bieber’s nose. A not-so distinguishing feature (since it’s common to just about everyone) is how the outer part of the nostril is practically in line with the inside corner of the eye.

Step 4: Draw His Mouth

Use a combination of lines and shading to form some of the curves in Justin’s lips. The front teeth that are visible in our photo look very similar in size. Take your time with the teeth. They can be tricky to draw but go a long way with forming a likeness. Also, draw some of the subtle lines outside the corners of Justin’s mouth that form his smile and cheeks.

Step 5: Form the Ears and the Outline of the Face

Once again, because of foreshortening, one ear is clearly visible and the other is obstructed by Justin’s face and barely noticeable. Just try to draw the outer part of the lobe that can be seen. Be sure to draw the earrings that Justin likes to sport too. Notice as well the characteristic lines that connect the cheeks to the chin.

Step 6: Draw Justin’s Hair

Okay, so far we are doing good, but it looks like we have a bald Biebs. What would a drawing of Justin Bieber be without all of that hair? He’s got a lot of it that sits thick above the top of his skull. You are going to have to pay attention to how the hair is styled in different directions, and just “go with the flow”.  Draw lines that go in the direction of the hair growth. Use the reference photo to assist you. You can see how he has a lot of strands curving upward from the hairline. Use combinations of dark against light as shown here to build volume. Draw a few hairs that are loose and hang away from the mass.

Step 7: Draw the Neck and Jacket

There’s not too much to this part. We notice Justin wearing a t-shirt and jacket with a chain around his neck. We don’t see the whole chain, since it hangs down out of our view. Do draw a bit of a shadow that Justin’s chin casts on his neck.

Step 8: Erase and Add Final Details

Carefully erase your guidelines. This includes your square gridlines and any facial guidelines you no longer want. A kneaded eraser is useful for this part, as it helps you maneuver around what you want to keep. Add in some final details. These could include a few moles unique to Justin’s face, a few extra strands or highlights in the hair (again, great use for the kneaded eraser!), or just some other features you want to go back and better define. Add as much or as little shading as you want to make you satisfied with your final drawing.

There you have it, a few simple steps for how to draw Justin Bieber! Remember, even if your finished drawing doesn’t look completely like Justin, including facial characteristics that are unique to him will help with the resemblance. And of course, the more detail and shading you include, the more realistic your drawing of Justin Bieber will look. There’s no set rule as to how much detail to include. It all just depends on what level of realism you are trying to achieve!