What are the steps to drawing a realistic portrait?

Question

So.
I've been doing cartoons basically all my life, and i'm trying to make the transition to more "serious" drawings. I thought i'd start with portraits. So if you could explain some tricks and tips for making a REALISTIC portrait, that would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

When drawing a face, most people draw an oval and then stick the nose in the middle. This is WRONG. If you actually measure your own face, you will find its actually your eyes that are in the middle. (You can quickly measure this yourself using the tip of your thumb and the tip of your little finger. Measure the distance between your chin and the middle of your eyes. Then keep your hand in the same position and move it so you are measuring from the middle of your eyes to the top of your head. Its the same distance!

What confuses people is that they don't realize that their eyebrows, forehead and hair takes up so much space. Depending on how puffy the hair is, it can be even more space. Once you get that problem solved, its only a matter of time before you realize the proportions of the rest of the face.

For example, the top of the eyes lines up with the top of the ears (you can see this better in a view from the side). The tip of the nose is even with the bottom of the ears. The corner of the mouth is even with the corner of the jaw.

Keep in mind also that these proportions are essentially "guidelines", not rules. If the face is tilted to the side, or tilted forwards or backwards, it will make a big difference.

When drawing hair, its best not to just draw lines in the direction that the hair is going. Instead, ignore the individual hairs and draw the shadows in the hair instead. Pay attention to the shadows and the overall shape and feeling of hair will emerge. Pay attention to what spots in the hair are dark, what spots reflect light, differences in colour and then shade accordingly. Pretend that you are drawing drapes or a crumpled up piece of cloth. Any stray hairs you can draw individually.

In some cases the hair will be so dark or contrasted that you can simply block out areas of colour. The contrast of the two in the final piece will be more realistic and people often won't realize that you've simplified it because it still looks realistic.

Pay attention to mood. Its not just a matter of whether the person LOOKS sad, scared, or happy... but whether you WANT them to look sad, scared or happy. If their mouth is open and there is a bit of lift in the corners of their mouth and their cheeks, they will look happy. Firmness of jaw, whiteness of face as if they have gone pale with fear (or even a worried look in their eyes) will make a person look afraid.

If you have problems drawing a particular part of the face, take a separate piece of paper and draw at least ten versions of it. Ten lips, ten eyes, ten ears, ten noses. Whatever it is you're having a problem with. Practice that until you feel comfortable at it.

Otherwise your main concern, once you have the proportions set should be shading. The shading around the nose, around the eyes, the mouth, the corners of the neck, creases or wrinkles. All these things are a matter of shading. If you're drawing with a pencil or charcoal, don't be afraid to smudge things with a dry finger.

Hatching and cross-hatching are but two ways to apply shading. You can also just scribble circles in spots you want it to be darker (and then smudge it with your thumb), apply dots or stippling (some people call it pointillism). Whatever method you feel is right for that location.

AND MAKE IT DARKER! If you stand back from your image and it still looks like a blank piece of paper from six meters away, then you haven't drawn it dark enough. Go back and create a stronger contrast between light and dark. Black places should be BLACK, not grey. Use a black pen if necessary.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

If you wish to learn how to bring an ideal picture all you want is time and Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide from here https://tr.im/3TMjS to stay the proper path.
The classes from Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide contain 208 pages and an overall total of 605 illustrations.  The fundamental approach used is that you start with a photo, pull a light outline of the feature, and then color it in.
Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery is an ideal allied to make the great draw.

Answer 4

You have a lot of great advise here. I don't think doing a self-portrait was mentioned here. If you don't have the time to take a college course just yet try doing a self-portrait. It is so much better than using a photo.

Take a large mirror and set up so you can get a view of yourself with some nice lighting either from a nearby window or artificial light that brings out the structure of you face.

What has also helped me is the DVD by Richard Schmid called The Captain's Portrait. He also has several new ones that I haven't seen yet that might be helpful to you. You can order it on his web site. His book Alla Prima which comes in paperback has some great sections on portraiture. I can't recommend a better artist who is living today to learn from.

I used to do cartoon characters then switched to Fine Art. His books and DVDs helped me immensely.

Richard Schmid web site: http://www.abstractfonts.com/alpha/s

Answer 5

Well, I used to think that my talent came naturally, but then I noticed that I pay more attention than most people to the minute details of people's faces...

I'm not talking about pore-size, or how many wrinkles, or other negative things, although I notice those things too...otherwise there'd be loads of pre-teen girls who were also fantastic portrait artists. :P

Here's an example of what I mean: I was eating dinner with my extended family at Thanksgiving, and all 3 of my cousins were sitting on the opposite side of the table. They have very blue eyes. The lights were dimmed, for whatever reason, and all of their pupils were so huge that they nearly blocked out the iris. Their eyes looked pitch black with the tiniest edge of blue (no, they weren't high).

I commented on it, and they thought I was weird for noticing it, but I realized that that was probably how I could draw like I do. I just...see more? Try concentrating more on people's faces, while you're talking to them.

A trick to not get them creeped out while your staring: don't stare at any one spot (or eye) for more than 3 seconds at a time. Especially their cheeks or mouth, because it's more obvious that you're not looking them in the eye, and they will naturally become self-conscious, wondering what you're looking at.

Answer 6

Why do you need this? Step 1. Get your model or picture out. If a picture, use grid technique. If a model, sketch out an oval that is similar to head, and basic where neck and shoulders are. Step 2. Start mapping out locations of shapes as you see them. Step 3. Keep mapping and readjusting until you get a likeness.

Answer 7

Here is the shortcut version. Sorry to all you purists, but if there is an easier way, I say take it.
Get one of those cheap art projectors, I think you can buy one for less than $20. Set it up to project onto your art paper or canvas. Put a really good quality photograph of your subject into it. Project it where you want it. You'll have to fiddle with getting the projector into just the right place. Easy.
Now, LIGHTLY sketch in the proportions of the subject. No heavy outlines, you're not making cartoons anymore. Easy smeasy you have the proportions without a lot of erasing and frustration.
From there take it to your drawing board and render it to completion. I am assuming here that you are already familiar with doing this.
Have fun and good luck.

Answer 8

Get yourself a how-to book....I've always loved drawing, and I actually improved with my portrait drawings after checking out a book from the library. Seriously....how-to book :op I use a kneaded eraser and a blending stump as well....they help with details like shading and highlights :o)

Oh, and ya gotta have the patience for it.

Answer 9

Shalom !

I study 16 years but I need more and more time for more professional portraits.
My sugestion are:

1) Try to work with anatomy very seriosly.
2) Make thousands of copys from old masters ( Michelangelo and Durer) for anatomical reasons.
3)Work with real models
4) do not work with photo - only with real people

I invite you to see my colection of Portrets at www.ghenador.com

Respect
GHENADOR GALLERY

Answer 10

Firstly, take an intense course in human portraiture. Most colleges allow a student to take only one course, not the community or adult students courses...the real thing! and these are the best. Why take years to learn the secrets when you can do it in less than one year. Oh, yes, been there done that...and never regretted the decision ....it is so exciting to be thrown into a room with 20+ artistic people all drawing the same model yet presenting 20+ unique perceptions and styles...very inspiring...we won't even discuss the teaching artist...these are very intelligent talented people.
However, if this is not your path...then i recommend that you begin to study all people, discreetly of course, in a new manner. Your perception of humanity is exaggerated, often grotesquely so and this is part and parcel of cartooning ....so, you need to become intimately familiar with the natural planes of human faces.
I live in Vancouver, Canada, so i have the wondrous privilage of having many races of peoples to sketch.
Real humans are roundish, with contours, curves, bone structures, amounts and shapes of cartilage in the nose and ears, the shape of a living orb...the human eye...and how the lower lid shows paler around the eye,...the dot of moisture that is always collected somewhere on the inside edge of that lower lid...it tends to glisten and when combined with the other, more obvious light in the eye, it becomes very believable.
Each face is different, individual, yet i have discovered from a lifetime of studying humanit, that all races share certain body types and facial structures ... no matter what race...truly amazing.
Studying skull shapes is very helpful as this indicates race often as well. We are accustomed to the various Asian cultures here, so any moderatedly observant Vancouverite should be able to recognise the Japanese skull shape from behind. It is flatter on the back and a give away to those who pay attention.
The other, most important tip is this: you must draw every day...draw, draw, draw...whenever you have a moment you must practice the shadows and highlights cast by the shape of that person's head. Then the eyes....liquid pools of deep knowledge...so important to portray realistically...
Be aware of your "light source" in the artwork. Realistic portraits have consistant highlights on forehead, nose bridge, cheek bones, for instance...these shadows and highlights must be consistant with the source or sources.
Practice drawing yourself in the mirror in true fine art portraiture style. Any occasion you have a willing live model to sit for you...take advantage of it for you can only learn to do portraiture convincingly if you have living subjects.
The proportion of the subjects face must be accurately assessed and sketched in before the actual drawing commences...otherwise you put in 3 hours of intense feverish drawing only to discover that the nose is at the wrong angle, the eyes' highlights are inconsistant, with each other; or the shadows are in the wrong places too because the proportions are off...not easy to do...portraiture is very chanllenging.
Also discovered that perception is so individual and unique that no-one perceives the same thing at the same time. this is uncanny. The model, or sitter, looks in the mirror and perceives a different looking person than the one that is taking shape on your drawing surface. You look at her and your concept of her likeness is altered as this perception of her is sifted through your own personality, likes/dislikes and accrued knowledge. The husband takes a look and sees an entirely different person as well...his concept of what his wife looks like is influenced by his true relationship with her...and she perceives him through her own personal filters and experience...it is endless....perception..that is!
So, what am i saying? If you want do draw people's faces more realistically then you have to be with them and drawing, painting them constantly..., and studying faces throughout one's daily life. one begins to get an extra sense after awhile ...you will be able to push your own personality aside, one day, and allow the sitters true essence enter the artwork. This is intuitive and requires much disciplined effort.
You may just wish to dabble in portraiture, if so, please just follow the basics of continual people watching and people sketching. Please enjoy every mark you make!
Good luck and happy creating!!