Portrait Drawing
A portrait is a picture of someone’s face which may include their shoulders or even their whole body. If you think of portraits of famous people from hundreds of years ago, they typically include their body.
When we speak of portrait drawing, we usually just concentrate on the face. Drawing a portrait, a self-portrait or a portrait of someone else, is a great opportunity to study the face in preparation to paint or use some other medium, but if you are a pencil artist, you can create beautiful portraits with just pencil as well.
Here I will give you some basic directions to drawing a face that you can use. Hopefully you can use it effectively and move on in your artistic style and talent.
First, begin with the shape of the head. As a beginner, you should use a straight on portrait, not a profile, because even the slightest turn of the head can be very difficult to master. Draw circles and ovals, erasing and fixing until it’s perfect. Make sure you include the hair on the head as part of the head, even thought it might look a little long. By this I mean don’t start with the top of the forehead, but the top of the head. You can always fix things later on, but it will be much easier if you get it right the first time.
Once you have your head, divide it in half both ways, side to side and top to bottom. Divide it by drawing a very light, almost invisible line because you will erase it later and you don’t want to see it.
Next, take the bottom half of the face and divide it into 3 sections, only making marks on the center line. You can use a ruler or just estimate. Take each long half section and divide it in half making light marks on the horizontal line.
What you see now might not seem like much of a face, but don’t worry, it will. To finish off the eyes, you will need to divide each of the four sections in half. These are the corners of the eyes. The nose will be about as wide as the center of the eyes. You can draw a light dotted line straight down to get it right.
The centers of the eyes are parallel to the corners of the mouth. Finish it off with the hairline. Start at either end of the halfway horizontal line. Draw it rounded across following the hairline of your subject.
Now you can fill it in. With the basic outline you’ve mapped out where everything should be. Each face is different so you will need to adjust some things. If you need to make the mouth a little wider or the eyes a little closer together, do it.
This is the point that is nearly impossible to teach. You draw a shade using your own instincts. Try to exaggerate your blacks and whites for a more 3 dimensional look. Fix mistakes early on to avoid having to undo too much.
My best advice is to keep trying and practice! You’ll see your work and skills transform before your eyes.
