Aligning the profile

Now that the side of the face is marked out and created as a 2D object, it can be aligned to create a rough 3D face. Going column by column with the vertices, they can be pulled out the create the 3D form by matching their position to where they should be in relation to the profile reference plate. By pressing alt+x with the object selected, the reference picture can be seen behind it. The images below show my progression through this procedure.

The eyes, nose and mouth are left unfinished as they require a little more detail and shaping. I will do these later. Now the basic shape has been made, adding a symmetry modifier will complete this stage. By using the 'make planar' option in the sub-object vertices parameters, the joining line of vertices will be welded to the new side, making it a tidy and complete mesh.

The image above highlights the issue I mentioned in a previous post. The front viewport shows how my face was facing slightly to the side in the photo, but the mesh is perfectly straight. It has given the effect of the mesh being wider than my face. This is not too problematic, but adjustments will need to be made to compensate. 

The face mesh is then improved further by adding a Turbosmooth modifier to the stack.

It doesn't look like me yet, but there's a way to go...