A portrait is a sweet reminder of a friend or pet. Learning how to paint portraits of people or animals is a skill that, if developed, can generate a nice extra income. Drawing portraits is also a challenge, even for the most experienced and talented artists. John Singer Sargent, the famous portrait artist of the Edwardian Era, is known for his sarcastic quote, "a portrait is a picture of a person with the wrong lips." This sentence he addressed to the audience who are always looking for weaknesses in his portrait paintings. Be patient and keep practicing every day.
Step
Step 1. If you've never drawn a portrait, just copy Van Gogh:
draw yourself. Use a drawing book or Xerox paper and glue it to a sturdy board. You can use Conte crayons or wine charcoal (a soft pencil works too) and a mirror. Sit in front of the mirror and observe your facial features. Define a work area with light coming from one side. If you're painting with your right hand, the light should come from the left and slightly from above.
Step 2. Find paper that is larger than your head so that the image is the same size as the subject being painted, in this case you
Keep your head straight while drawing. Use your eyes, not your head, to look at the paper. Don't move your head to and fro. There are several approaches commonly used by artists. I'll start with my favorite portrait artist, Richard Schmid's: pay attention to one eye. Study carefully. First, draw the eye and move on to the other parts in stages, comparing the proportions of the parts you drew and measuring them carefully.
Step 3. Notice how the upper eyelid meets the lower eyelid
Is there a prominent crease above the eyeball or not? Are your eyebrows thick or thin? Curved, straight, or slanted? Draw a thin oval shape that roughly matches the proportions and shape of the left eye.
Step 4. Don't mess with your whole head, hair, or neck right now, but leave some space on the paper to draw it later
Drawing a face for the first time will be easier to do while looking directly in the mirror. Most faces are fairly symmetrical, but not perfectly symmetrical. Pay attention to the distance from the right eye to the left. Using the width of the eye as the basic unit of measurement, measure the width of the space between the eyes, and carefully outline the outline. Then also draw the eyelid and iris of the left eye, then mark the space between the two eyes. After that, draw the outline and details of the right eye. Mark the direction and width of the eyebrows.
Step 5. Draw a thin perpendicular line, starting from the midpoint between the eyes to the bottom of the chin, then up to the hairline
This line will make you draw symmetrically.
Step 6. Measure in “eye width” units and compare the length to the distance from the inner corner of the eye to the base of the nose
Draw a short thin line at the base of the nose. Compare the width of the eyes to the width of the nose. Make a mark on both sides of the plumb line to indicate the width of the nose. Then compare the distance between the base of the nose and the space above the lips. Keep an eye on the proportions. A good portrait is one that is properly proportioned.
Step 7. Observe the width of the cheekbones and make thin marks to mark them, then draw both ears next to the face
Ears are quite a tricky part to draw and everyone has different characteristics. The tops of the ears are usually located at the level of the eyebrows. However, check again carefully before you draw it. Everyone's face is unique.
Step 8. Mark the character of the chin and jawbone
Step 9. Mark the height and width of the hair, and carefully outline the outline, adding the main color to define the light or dark sections of the hair
Don't worry about details. When you look at someone's hair, what you see is the color and shape of the hair, not the individual strands. The same is true in pictures.
Step 10. After marking the proportions, pay attention to the light and dark areas of the subject
Darken some of the denser areas for a sense of dimension. Paint the darkest areas first, usually starting with the iris. Let the white color persist as the curved light areas of the iris. Notice that the eyeball appears curved and one side of the eyeball is slightly shadowed. Observe the proportions and location of the lighted parts.
Step 11. Learn the shape and proportions of the upper and lower eyelids
Don't worry about the lashes, as they can later be drawn subtly with darker lines.
Step 12. Mark the shape of the skull and the curve of the flesh covering it by gradually darkening the sides of the face and jaw, the eye sockets, and the curve of the skull bone above the eyes
Then paint some of the lighter areas like a lighter color in your hair.
Step 13. Slowly, darken the shadow side of the nose and try to draw its unique shape, especially the tip of the nose
It is one of the characteristic points of a person's face.
Step 14. Pay attention to the curve between the left and right of the upper lip, then darken the shadow side in that part, also from the upper lip to the corner of the mouth
Step 15. Observe the light and dark areas of the mouth, then darken them and the area under the lower lip
The lower lip should be shaded, but not too much. Finally, mark the shadow side on the jaw. Draw the neck with a dark outline to make it realistic. Add a bit of light to the hair with the tip of your eraser. Finished! But don't stop here. Keep practicing, so you can draw better.
Step 16. Don't draw from photos
Keep drawing self-portraits until things get easier for you. Then ask a friend to sit down and draw for an hour or so. They can do it while watching a TV that can be positioned behind you as possible. Or have them read a book. But their eyes are so down on you and not on you. Drawing a subject directly is always better than drawing from a photo, especially for beginners. Photos cannot show all the details or subtle changes that are essential for a good portrait.
Tips
- You should not view a face as a collection of separate features, but as a whole. If you can draw the shape and proportions of the skull correctly, you're 75 percent correct.
- To create a nice skin tone when painting, mix red and white with a touch of green.
- Practice, practice, and keep practicing!
