If you've never painted a portrait before, do as Van Gogh did - paint yourself! Armed with a sketch pad or even office paper taped to a piece of hard cardboard, a Conte pencil, or a piece of grape charcoal (will also work). soft pencil) and a mirror, sit in front of the mirror and carefully examine the features of your face. Arrange your workplace so that the light falls from one side. If you are right-handed, the light source should be to your left and slightly above you.
Find a piece of paper larger than your head so that your drawing is the same size as the subject you are portraying. in this case- you yourself. Keep your head level while drawing. Use your eyes, not your head, to look down at the paper. Don't turn your head from side to side. There are several approaches that artists take. I'll start with the approach of my favorite portrait artist, Richard Schmid: look at one of your eyes. Study it carefully. You'll first draw the eye and work your way out from there, matching proportions and taking careful measurements.
Look how upper eyelid correlates with the bottom. Is there a noticeable crease above the eyeball or not? Are your eyebrows thick or sparse, arched, straight or sloping? Using very light pressure, draw an oval on the paper that roughly represents the proportions and shape of your left eye.
Don't worry about the rest of the head, hair or neck for now, but leave room for them on the paper for later.
Draw a very light vertical line down the center of the space between the eyes, down to the bottom of the chin, and up to the hairline.
This will help your drawing remain symmetrical. Measure a unit of the width of the eye and compare this distance with the distance between the inner corner of the eye and the lower edge of the nose. Make a short, light line at the edge of the nose. Match the width of the eye with the width of the nose. Make marks indicating the width of the nose on both sides of the nose. vertical line. Then match the distance between the edge of the nose and the dividing line of the lips. Watch these proportions! Their correct calculation ensures
nice portrait and similarity.
Find the width of your cheekbones and mark them with a light mark, then move towards your ears.
Ears are very difficult to draw; they are completely unique for each person. The top of the ear will usually be somewhere around the level of the eyebrows, but again, look carefully before drawing. Every person's face is unique!
Label the features of the chin and jawbone. Mark the height and width of the hair and carefully draw its outline, adding tone to indicate the lightness or darkness of the hair.
Don't worry about the details! When you look at someone's hair, you notice color and shape, not individual hairs. The same should be true in your drawing. Once you have your proportions outlined, look at the areas of light and shadow on your subject.
Lightly shade dark areas to create a sense of dimension. Work on the darkest areas first - usually the iris. Leave a white, curved spot of light on the iris. Notice that the eyeball is curved and that one side of the eyeball is somewhat shaded. Look carefully at the proportions and location of the light spots.
Pay attention to the shape and proportions of the upper and lower eyelids. Don't worry about the eyelashes - they can be outlined slightly with a darker line later. Define the shape of the skull and the curves of the flesh covering it, gradually shading the sides of the face and jaw, the eye sockets, the depression in the skull above the eyes, then highlight the lighter areas in the tone of the hair. Lightly shade the shadow side of the nose and try to grab it unique shape, especially the tip.
This is another one characteristic feature faces. Drawing a portrait - this is one of the most complex species, It will take you a lot of effort and time. The difficulty with such a drawing is that you will need to convey emotional condition a person, his depth of gaze, facial expressions, smile, thoughtfulness, etc. To do this, you need to very accurately and correctly draw the shape of the lips, eyes, nose and other features of his face.
How to draw a portrait of a person with a regular pencil?
Learn simple and ordinary drawing technique faces are possible independently. All you need to do is draw a face step by step with a simple pencil. Don't be upset if you can't draw a portrait the first time.
1. Construction of the face, general outline
In order for the portrait to come out correctly, you need to very accurately draw the contour of the face, the construction of the face. Try to repeat this oval of a person's face on your paper. If you don’t succeed, then try again and again until you get the contour of the correct shape.
2. Main parts of the face and their markings
Draw a straight line in the center horizontal line, which divides the portrait into two parts. Draw a little lower parallel line. From the center of the bottom line, you will need to draw a perpendicular line, and also mark where the tip of the nose will be on the person's face.
When you draw these lines Don't press too hard on the pencil and don't forget to draw the ears.
3. The main part of the portrait is the eyes
Drawing eyes is a very discreet and neat job. Sharpen the pencil sharper and draw smooth, oval lines for the eyes. Next, draw the line of the mouth, pupils and the initial contours of the hair.
4. Drawing the contours of the mouth, eyebrows and lips
First, try to draw the easiest thing - eyebrows and hair outline. Now let's draw a slightly more complex element- lips. Let's draw the lower lip, since it's easier to draw; you shouldn't draw too thick lips. Upper lip should be a mirror image of the bottom.
At the tip of the nose, draw a checkmark and two small arcs along the edges. Next, from the right eyebrow, draw a line that easily deviates to the right.
Now take an eraser and remove from your portrait extra contour lines. This is what you should get:
5. Final stage
At this stage you will need to make the drawing three-dimensional, that is add shadows and contrasts. On the hair and face most areas need to be shaded thickly and dark color- this will give the face depth and greater realism.
Now you know how easily and in several steps you can draw a portrait of a person. I wish you success!
If you've ever picked up a pencil and drawn people, then you most likely know how difficult it is to create a portrait of a person. After all, in addition to general outlines nessesary to use volumetric graphics, play of light and shadow. This must be done so that the flat image “comes to life” and looks more realistic. However, not everyone knows about the use of such technology. Therefore, we decided in our article to talk about how to draw portraits of people correctly.
What is a portrait of a person?
Before you start drawing, you need to find out what a portrait is. Basically this is an image of the head (from the crown to the shoulders). A little less often portraits depict people in full height. The purpose of such a drawing is to convey as accurately as possible the image that the artist sees in the model’s image. Portraits can be drawn with simple paints, crayons, or charcoal.
Every artist knows a person, regardless of the technique used and the tools at hand. In this case, the master performs a drawing using light and shadow. But in order to get a more or less realistic portrait that is close to the original, you need to practice. As practice shows, you need to make at least 50-100 drawings.
This is necessary in order to improve your skills and develop your own technique on the canvas.
What are portraits of people like?
Before you draw portraits of people, you need to find out what they are like. In this case, everything depends on the gender and age of the model with whom the portrait is taken. For example, images can be of women, men, or children. However, they differ from each other. In particular, the male pattern differs from the female one in that it is coarser by the presence of a massive chin; in men it is sharper and wider.
In addition to this for male portraits Characterized by the presence of protruding parts of the face: cheekbones and brow ridges. Women's designs contain more rounded shapes and smoothed corners in the forehead and chin.
Prepare all drawing supplies
At the first stage, it is recommended to prepare a sheet of paper, several simple pencils With different levels softness, erasing. Experienced Artists They also use a number of additional tools, for example, an electric eraser, which works more gently and does not leave such marks as a regular eraser. Before you draw portraits of people and make them realistic, you need to carefully follow our instructions step by step.
And, of course, take care of the model or find one from which you will draw a portrait.
Choose a simple pattern
If you are just starting to take your first steps in fine arts, then you should look for photos or pictures that depict not too complex portraits of people. For beginners, painting pictures made using complex techniques is not advisable. It's better to choose a simpler photo. As an example, we will tell you how to draw a female image.
Determining the top and bottom of the image
At the next stage, take a sheet of paper, carefully examine your model, study all the details and start drawing. Determine the top and bottom of the future sketch. Take visual measurements of the face parameters of the image. This must be done so that you get the most accurate picture possible. And so that everything fits on your worksheet: hair, forehead, chin, neck and, possibly, shoulders.
Next, we draw a portrait of a person step by step as follows: divide your sheet of paper exactly in half horizontally; repeat the same vertically; you should end up with four identical squares. At the same time, you should not put too much pressure on the pencil, since all these lines are auxiliary and will subsequently be erased.
Delimiting a plane on a sheet
Take your pencil and go to one of the nearest top squares. Divide it in half. Do the same with both squares on the bottom plane. Then divide the bottom squares in half again.
Outlining the oval of the face
Next, we draw a portrait of a person step by step, starting with a sketch. To do this, go to the horizontal demarcation line on the sheet, and then, stepping back a few centimeters from the beginning of the page, draw the lines of the face. Pull them all the way down and round them at the end. Moreover, the resulting facial lines should ideally be completely symmetrical. This way you will have an oval face, cheeks, cheekbones and chin.
We outline the lines of the nose, forehead and hair
At the next stage of drawing, in the middle of the oval of the face we outline the nose area with two lines. We outline the chin and the lines to the hair area more clearly. We make an indent in the forehead area. And then we draw the bangs and hair using wave-like movements.
We will talk further about how to draw a portrait of a person with a pencil using shading and an eraser.
Draw eyebrows and nose wings
The next step is to draw the eyebrows and wings of the nose. Move the pencil to the top plane of the drawing. Step back a little from the forehead and cheekbones. Draw eyebrows that resemble two identical and symmetrical, slightly raised arches. Then let's move on to drawing the nose. To do this, in the middle of two stripes (made in the previous step), draw the upper and lower parts of the nose. We make the remaining parts of the face more clear.
We’ll talk about how to draw a portrait of a person using light and shadow later, when our picture is completely ready.
Draw eyes and nostrils
The next step is to draw the outlines of the eyes and nostrils. To do this, draw two lines clearly under the eyebrows and draw slightly elongated ovals for the eyes. Then draw the pupils, eyelids and eyelashes inside them. Go down to your nose and line your nostrils.
Draw lips and ears
At the final stage of creating the sketch, we make a small drop-fold under the nose and draw the lips. Next we draw the ears and part of the neck. The sketch is ready. All that remains is to shade all parts of the face using more hard pencil and an eraser. At the same time, in those areas where you are a little overzealous with the shadow, you can make white areas using an eraser.
Now you know how to draw portraits of people with a regular pencil.
Creativity is influenced not only by the inspiring world around us, but also by the tools and technologies inherent in a particular time.
Photography is a tool that is most short time occupied since its invention the most important place in the art of painting, and had a huge influence on him. This is especially true for portrait painters.
When drawing from a photo, there is no need to force the model to pose for hours, and in addition, the camera allows you to capture fleeting facial expressions and the position of strands that cannot be maintained for a long time on a live model. Why, the model won’t even be able to hold a pose for hours - no, no, and she’ll bend over, turn around, and slouch. And if we're talking about O children's portrait, then the photo - and quite often the only way make the child freeze.
Of course, nothing can replace drawing from life, and the topic of using photographs by artists is still being debated, but even such recognized masters, like Picasso, Degas and Kahlo.
The advantages of drawing from a photo are obvious to almost everyone, but there are also traps in this method that it is better not to fall into. We will sort them out.
Spacing and Trimming
When shooting a portrait, you should always pay attention to the distance to the subject and proper framing. If you shoot from afar, there may be too much background in the photo, in which your face will simply get lost. In general, the photo can be cropped later, but when shooting from afar, the photo of the face may turn out illegible and details will be lost. You shouldn’t shoot too close either, because this way you will lose the balance between the background and the foreground, and adding the background on the computer is not always possible, and it’s not easy for everyone. And facial features are distorted when the lens is too close. In general, keep it in moderation.
The importance of lighting
Good lighting is great for studying the shape of an object. It is best to use daylight, or a single electric source of lighting. Really good lighting - the kind in which you see in a portrait maximum amount tonal transitions, no details are illuminated and at the same time do not disappear into the shadows. It will be easier to evaluate this black and white version picture. Ideally, in a black and white photo you will see a large number of gradations - from white to black.
Shooting technique
You shouldn't use flash as it will make the model's face look flat. Here's a simple one plain background will help you see your face in all details. Adjusting the white balance will help adjust the overall color temperature.
Use your own photos whenever possible
This will not only help avoid copyright problems: a work created by own photo, will be completely yours in every sense, because you take the photo in your own manner and exactly as you see it. But, of course, it is better to draw self-portraits not from “selfies” full of various distortions, so for a self-portrait, ask someone to take a photograph of you.
Don't copy one to one
If you are not a hyperrealist, you can omit some details, highlight some, “straighten” the model’s hair. Remember that the similarity in a portrait is achieved more by correctly conveyed light and shade than by small details.
Photo is not an exact copy of reality
Colors may be distorted, textures may be blurred, and shadows and dark areas may appear much darker than in reality, causing shadow detail to be lost. If you keep this in mind all the time, you will be able to correct all the shortcomings of the photo in your work.
Have fun with your painting!
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- Publication date: April 26, 2014
To correctly draw a person’s face, I recommend that you put a photograph in front of you, or sit in front of a mirror and draw a self-portrait. When you see the model's face in front of you, drawing becomes much easier. Since those around you are almost always busy with a lot of things and are not ready to pose for you, the most acceptable option is to draw your loved one. For example, I wrote great amount self-portraits in oil, as for a long time she was confined to her bed by illness, and there was a mirror hanging on the ceiling in which she could see her reflection.
How to draw a person's face correctly?
As a child, for a long time I believed that there were educational establishments, where future artists are taught to draw only people’s faces and, of course, I wanted to go there. But the art studio teacher told me that there are no such institutions and the artist must be able to draw everything. At that time I was only interested in portraits and nothing more. Therefore, this news upset me... Over time, I realized that knowledge of how to draw landscapes human body and much more are really very useful. But I have to say that the process of drawing a face still captivates me the most.
In this lesson we will draw a person's face step by step.
I want to say right away that the presence of a model in front of your eyes does not at all require that you convey the likeness. At least in the early stages. Just a careful study human face will open up a lot of new things. The more you watch, the better you will begin to understand exactly how to draw.
We begin to draw the eyes on the girl’s face. The inner corners of the eyes are slightly higher. The iris of the eye (the colored circle in the middle) is not entirely visible. Its upper part is slightly hidden under the upper eyelid, and the lower part lies on the lower eyelid.
If we draw eyes full of horror, then the iris may look like this:
How to draw a person's face with a pencil?
Now we draw the upper and lower eyelids on the eyes. They follow the contours of the girl's eyes. Let's work a little on the structure of the nose. First, we draw the wings of the nose using rounded lines. Secondly, we mark with a small circle the most prominent part of the nose – the tip.
How to draw a person's face step by step?
Now let's draw the bridge of the nose. At eye level or slightly above is the thinnest part of the nose. To the bottom and to the top of this line, the nose widens. This shape is somewhat reminiscent hourglass. We also draw the nostrils.
Draw a person's face with a pencil step by step.
