How To Draw Portraits

Hello! Today we are going to learn how to draw a portrait. As it is something like a first lesson, we will draw a portrait with a pencil and divide the work into steps so that every aspect of portrait drawing has being covered. It is enough talking, a pencil, prepared paper, will of painter in a fist and let’s go to work!

1. Draw a line contour with a pencil (free, by hand). Rub off the unnecessary lines with a rubber.

2. With the help of a mechanical pencil 3B 0.5 we begin to make strokes in places of blackout of hair, moving on the main directions.

3. We continue to shade dark places. Watch attentively their direction: We! We are learning to draw a portrait! thoughtfully and accurately, not to get on drawing a straw sheaf instead of hair.

4. At this stage we still make strokes in the direction of hair growth, coming back and darkening sites. At the same time we extend lines, generating the style:

5. We work with hair style, again darkening sections of hair. At this stage of portrait drawing it is worth avoiding highlights and trying to hatch very accurately. A small piece of advice: to make hatching more convenient you can turn the paper:

6. We are finishing the work on a hairstyle. We come back, darken layers of hair:

7. Now, with the help of shading (dirty or pure - it is unimportant) we are going over hairstyle in the direction of growth of hair. The main thing is not to allow that strokes to cross; otherwise there will be ugly dirtying. We smooth only to the direction!

8. We learn to draw a portrait further. Now it is time to work over highlights. With a sharp rubber “we extend” lines (not parallel) in places of highlights so that they have mixed up with strokes of a pencil and have made the right places clear:

9. We come back and draw carefully with a pencil 3B (or softer) the dark sections. We add straight hair to borders of curls, the head, and the face. We don’t touch the face yet. Hitching separate hairspring, applying different pressings, we get the effect of individual hair.

10. We learn to draw a portrait eye step by step!

11. Here is the result:

12. Now we have to work hard on tones of face’s skin:

13. And now we have finished drawing of portrait step by step.