BEGINNING PORTRAITURE
A good starting point for drawing people is the head and face. The shapes are fairly simple, and the proportions are easy to measure. And portraiture also is very rewarding. You'll feel a great sense of satisfaction when you look at a portrait you've drawn and see a true likeness of your subject, especially when the model is someone near and dear to you. So why not start with children?
DRAWING A CHILD'S PORTRAIT
Once you've practiced drawing features, you're ready for a full portrait. You'll probably want to draw from a photo, though, as children rarely sit still for very long! Study the features carefully, and try to draw what you truly see, and not what you think an eye or a nose should look like. But don't be discouraged if you don't get a perfect likeness right off the bat. Just keep practicing!
Starting with a Good Photo When working from photo· graphs, you may prefer candid, relaxed poses over
formal, "shoulders square" portraits. Also try to get a close·up shot of the face so you can really study the features. This photograph of 2·1/2·year·old Gage fits the bill perfectly!
Sketching the Guidelines First pencil an oval for the shape of the head, and lightly draw a vertical centerline. Then add horizontal guidelines according to the chart at the top of the page, and sketch in the general out· lines of the features. When you're happy with the overall sketch, carefully erase the guidelines.
Separating the Features Before you attempt a full portrait, try drawing the features separately to get a feel for the shapes and forms. Look at faces in books and magazines, and draw as many different features as you can.
Finishing the Portrait With the side of your pencil, start laying in the middle values of the shadow areas, increasing the pressure slightly around the eye, nose, and collar. For the darkest shadows and Gage's straight, black hair, use the side of a 2B and overlap your strokes, adding a few fine hairs along the forehead with the sharp· pointed tip of your pencil.
Child Proportions Draw guidelines to divide the head in half horizon· tally; then divide the lower half into fourths. Use the guidelines to place the eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, as shown.
COMMON PROPORTION FLAWS
Quite a few things are wrong with these drawings of Gage's head. Compare them with the photo at left, and see if you can spot the errors before reading the captions.
Thin Neck Gage has a slender neck, but not this slender. Refer to the photo to see where his neck appears to touch his face and ear.
Not Enough Forehead Children have proportionately larger foreheads than adults do. By drawing the forehead too small, you will add years to Gage's age.
Cheeks Too Round Children do have round faces, but don't make them look like chipmunks. And be sure to make the ears round, not pointed .
Sticks for Eyelashes Eyelashes should not stick straight out like spokes on a wheel. And draw the teeth as one shape; don't try to draw each tooth separately.
DRAWING THE ADULT HEAD
An adult's head has slightly different proportions than a child's head, but the drawing process is the same: Sketch in guidelines to place the features, and start with a sketch of basic shapes. And don't forget the profile view. Adults with interesting features are a lot of fun to draw from the side, where you can really see the shape of the brow, the outline of the nose, and the form of the lips.
A good starting point for drawing people is the head and face. The shapes are fairly simple, and the proportions are easy to measure. And portraiture also is very rewarding. You'll feel a great sense of satisfaction when you look at a portrait you've drawn and see a true likeness of your subject, especially when the model is someone near and dear to you. So why not start with children?
DRAWING A CHILD'S PORTRAIT
Once you've practiced drawing features, you're ready for a full portrait. You'll probably want to draw from a photo, though, as children rarely sit still for very long! Study the features carefully, and try to draw what you truly see, and not what you think an eye or a nose should look like. But don't be discouraged if you don't get a perfect likeness right off the bat. Just keep practicing!
Starting with a Good Photo When working from photo· graphs, you may prefer candid, relaxed poses over
formal, "shoulders square" portraits. Also try to get a close·up shot of the face so you can really study the features. This photograph of 2·1/2·year·old Gage fits the bill perfectly!
Sketching the Guidelines First pencil an oval for the shape of the head, and lightly draw a vertical centerline. Then add horizontal guidelines according to the chart at the top of the page, and sketch in the general out· lines of the features. When you're happy with the overall sketch, carefully erase the guidelines.
Finishing the Portrait With the side of your pencil, start laying in the middle values of the shadow areas, increasing the pressure slightly around the eye, nose, and collar. For the darkest shadows and Gage's straight, black hair, use the side of a 2B and overlap your strokes, adding a few fine hairs along the forehead with the sharp· pointed tip of your pencil.
COMMON PROPORTION FLAWS
Quite a few things are wrong with these drawings of Gage's head. Compare them with the photo at left, and see if you can spot the errors before reading the captions.
Thin Neck Gage has a slender neck, but not this slender. Refer to the photo to see where his neck appears to touch his face and ear.
Not Enough Forehead Children have proportionately larger foreheads than adults do. By drawing the forehead too small, you will add years to Gage's age.
Cheeks Too Round Children do have round faces, but don't make them look like chipmunks. And be sure to make the ears round, not pointed .
Sticks for Eyelashes Eyelashes should not stick straight out like spokes on a wheel. And draw the teeth as one shape; don't try to draw each tooth separately.
DRAWING THE ADULT HEAD
An adult's head has slightly different proportions than a child's head, but the drawing process is the same: Sketch in guidelines to place the features, and start with a sketch of basic shapes. And don't forget the profile view. Adults with interesting features are a lot of fun to draw from the side, where you can really see the shape of the brow, the outline of the nose, and the form of the lips.
EXPRESSING EMOTION
<III Adult Proportions Look for the proportions that make your adult subject unique; notice the distance from the top of the head to the eyes, from the eyes to the nose, and from the nose to the chin. Look at where the mouth falls between the nose and the chin and where the ears align with the eyes and the nose.
It's great fun to draw a wide range of differ ent facial expressions and emotions, especially ones that are extreme. Because these are just studies and not formal portraits, draw loosely to add energy and a look of spontaneity, as if a camera had captured the face at just that moment. You usually don't need to bother with a background-you don't want anything to detract from the expression-but you may want to draw the neck and shoulders so the head doesn't appear to be floating in space.
Happy Young children have smooth complexions, so make their smile lines fairly subtle. Use light shading with the side of your pencil to create creases around the mouth, and make the eyes slightly narrower to show how smiles pull up the cheek muscles.
II Shocked When you want to show an extreme expression, focus on the lines around the eyes and mouth. Exposing the whole, round shape of the iris conveys a sense of ) shock, just as the exposed eyelid and open mouth do.
Surprised Leave a lot of the face white to keep most of the attention on the eyes and mouth. Use the tip of the pencil for the loose expression lines and , the side for the mass of dark hair.
<III Portraying the Profile The artist liked this fellow's pronounced features, so he drew the subject in profile. He used the point and the side of an HB for this pose.
No comments:
Post a Comment