how do i start off a portrait drawing?

Question

shading starting off a picture

Answer 1

You can get how to books that will tell you to start with an oval, mark off lines for the eyes, nose, lips etc. You can even go to college and pay some professor to teach you to draw / paint all types of things. You can start anywhere you choose but I learned an exercise years ago that allows most anyone to draw anything to the best of their ability. When working from a photo, turn the photo upside down and draw what you see upside down on the paper / canvass. It sounds odd, but the human mind makes us draw things how we think they are supposed to look many times instead of how they actually are. By turning the picture upside down you are forcing yourself to draw the actual shapes your eyes see, not what your mind thinks you should see. Everything we see is composed of various shapes added together, learning to see things broken down into smaller pieces is the trick to drawing. Not making your hand do what it is supposed to do.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Make grids to draw from and then when the outline drawing is complete start with the eyes. I am a portrait artist and if I can't get the eyes I will start all over or toss the project.

Answer 4

I've been told to start with an oval- the basic shape of the human head/face... Then do the midline (between the eyes and down the ridge of the nose, through the middle of the mouth), and a second line that goes across the eyes, it determines where the eyes will be...

But that's all just general face-drawing.

Once you've got all the features on paper, keep your pencil light, don't be afraid of the eraser, and continue refining.

Good luck.

Answer 5

If you intend to discover ways to bring the right picture all you want is time and Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide from here https://tr.im/KsB97 to be in the proper path.
The lessons from Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide contain 208 pages and a complete of 605 illustrations.  The essential technique applied is that you begin with a picture, draw a mild outline of the function, and then shade it in.
Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery is the right allied to make the perfect draw.

Answer 6

Did you know that a lot of the old masters used a kind of shadow/light camera and traced round the images!? Why not photocopy and enlarge a photo and do the same? If it's good enough for the masters why struggle with trying to get it just right? If you don't like that idea, there are some good books on the market (and probably web sites) to help you.

Answer 7

go to your library and look up Betty Edwards's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Kimon Nikolaides's The Natural Way to Draw. Some of the exercises should be natural, practice them then practice practice practice until you learn proportion. Proportion isn't easy but that is what you need to learn. If one or the other book suits your fancy, save your pennies and buy it. If one or the other is unavailable, ask about inter-library loan.

Answer 8

first you want to do a general jesture, with light marks. a line down the middle indicating the nose and center of the face, then the shape of the head. some marks to indicate eyes, mouth, hairlines etc. then go back and look, and correct all of your mistakes. get the measurements down in the first bit, so you're not dealing with that later. then draw the general shapes of things. lips, eyes. really look though, again, get it all down as accuratley as you can. go from using light marks to darker marks. keep it fresh, always LOOK. add details last. work on the whole drawing together. don't get to detailed on just one thing. think of balance here.

Answer 9

I always start off with the nose, I dunno if that's what you're supposed to do since i'm not really trained. Someone once told me you should'nt start with the eyes though.

As far as shading goes, just think about where the light is coming from and what parts of the face it's gonna hit. use a model and it will be easier.

Answer 10

I have been told to get all the proportions correct on an egg shape before starting anything, then make the outline of the face perfect, then make the outline of the nose, eyes and mouth, then shade the now, then usually go to the eyes, then where ever you want. every one will say a different thing. its just preference.