Portrait Drawing
Draw a likeness, from structure to light.
A week on the human head: its basic structure, the proportions that hold a face together, the features, and the light that models it. Each day adds one idea to the last.
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The head as a simple form Done
Start every head as a ball with the sides sliced off, then add the jaw. Sculpted busts are perfect for this: no distracting colour, just form turning in light.
+2 more
Proportions of the face Done
The eyes sit about halfway down the head. The nose ends halfway between the eyes and the chin, the mouth a third of the way from nose to chin. Mark these lines before drawing any feature.
+1 more
The profile Done
In profile the head is about as deep as it is tall, and the ear sits just behind the halfway line. Watch the angle of the brow, nose and chin: that zig-zag is most of the likeness.
+2 more
Features up close Done
Eyes are balls set into sockets, with the lids wrapping around them. Noses are wedges, lips are curved planes. Draw the form first and the lines that describe it second.
+4 more
Light and shadow Done
Squint until the face breaks into two shapes, light and shadow. Draw that boundary first and fill the shadow in one flat tone. Only then look for the halftones.
+2 more
Age and character Done
Older faces show the structure underneath: cheekbones, brow ridge, the tendons of the neck. Put wrinkles where the form folds, and draw fewer of them than you see.
+2 more
A master study Done
Ten minutes with a painted portrait. Copy the painter's decisions: where they put the sharpest edge, the darkest dark, and what they left out. Copying a master is how painters have always learned.
+1 more