Create a Human Face Illustration with HTML and CSS

Ever wondered how far CSS alone can go? In this tutorial, we'll recreate a human face illustration using only HTML and CSS—no SVGs, no images. Just pure styling magic.

🎯 Step 1: Basic Layout

We center the canvas using Flexbox and define the background color.

body {
  margin: 0;
  background: #f4f4f5;
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
  align-items: center;
  height: 100vh;
}

🧱 Step 2: Head Shape

We use a div with an oval shape using `border-radius: 50% / 40%` to simulate a human face outline.

<div class="face-container">
  <div class="skin"></div>
</div>

.face-container {
  position: relative;
  width: 300px;
  height: 400px;
}

.skin {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  background: #ffe0bd;
  border-radius: 50% / 40%;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
}

👀 Step 3: Eyes

The eyes are two white circles with black pupils centered using pseudo-elements.

<div class="eye left"></div>
<div class="eye right"></div>

.eye {
  width: 30px;
  height: 30px;
  background: #fff;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 100px;
}

.eye::after {
  content: '';
  width: 12px;
  height: 12px;
  background: #333;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
  top: 9px;
  left: 9px;
}

.eye.left { left: 70px; }
.eye.right { right: 70px; }

👃 Step 4: Nose

We use vertical and horizontal ovals to represent the bridge and base of the nose. Nostrils are added for realism.

<div class="nose">
  <div class="oval-vertical"></div>
  <div class="oval-horizontal"></div>
  <div class="nostrils">
    <div class="nostril"></div>
    <div class="nostril"></div>
  </div>
</div>

.nose {
  position: absolute;
  top: 150px;
  left: 50%;
  transform: translateX(-50%);
  width: 30px;
  height: 50px;
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  align-items: center;
}
.oval-vertical {
  width: 14px;
  height: 22px;
  background: #f1c27d;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: absolute;
}
.oval-horizontal {
  width: 24px;
  height: 14px;
  background: #f1c27d;
  border-radius: 50%;
}
.nostrils {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-around;
  width: 24px;
  margin-top: -10px;
}
.nostril {
  width: 4px;
  height: 7px;
  background: #cc9966;
  border-radius: 50%;
}

😄 Step 5: Mouth

The mouth is a simple semi-circle using `border-radius` only on the bottom corners.

<div class="mouth"></div>

.mouth {
  width: 80px;
  height: 40px;
  background: #d46a6a;
  position: absolute;
  top: 225px;
  left: 50%;
  transform: translateX(-50%);
  border-bottom-left-radius: 40px;
  border-bottom-right-radius: 40px;
  border-top-left-radius: 0;
  border-top-right-radius: 0;
}

✅ Recap

• Used only divs with CSS for a full face
• No SVG, canvas, or image needed
• Teaches CSS positioning, flex, radius, and layering

You can now try animating parts, adding eyebrows, hair, or expressions—all with pure CSS.

Download this project as a resource