Tag: portrait

More Pencil Portraits

Last year I started a pencil portrait class, and since have continued with it when offered. It used to be through the local adult school, but with Pandemia, that was quickly shut down. Thus, the teacher offered it to us outdoors at a local park, and I jumped on it, as did others.

The above portrait is the first one I did this year. I was determined to do it within the two hours we have for the outdoor class, rather than the 10 hours I took for the little boy below last summer. The style is rough and quick, but important in the sense of working to get proportions and shadings correct.

This little boy is from a photograph from the mid 1950s. He is really sweet and I think I managed to catch his character. He looks older in the drawing than he did in the photograph.

I think I may have posted this drawing here or on another blog, but this one I was determined to catch a different position of the head. Proportions change when the head position changes, and I was rather pleased with this one!

This profile I completed last week. The photo I used as reference came from Pixabay, a great resource for royalty-free photos. I decided to print out the photo on my laser, forcing black and white, and then using it taped upside down on my drawing board, as suggested by Betty Edwards in her book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”. It worked! At the end, I turned it right side up to put in the eyelashes . . .

This is my current WIP. I started it last Wednesday. As with its predecessor, this one is also being done with the portrait upside down, and from a photo on Pixabay. It’s about 75% done I think. I need to work on the lights / darks and shadows a bit more, as well as make the hair more distinctive.

I got a few others in my class turning their reference photos upside down! The one thing they noticed, as did I, is that the shadows and shapes become dominant – you aren’t drawing a person any longer, but you are copying light and dark, shape and shadow. It’s amazing how well it works.

Well, time to wander off. The day has been spent reorganizing my life, meaning the garage, the closet, the studio, and the bedroom. Cocktail or whisky, anyone?

A Pencilly Afternoon

As you may recall, my Pencil Portraits class will begin again, on 2/17/21. It’s a lovely class with a great instructor, social distancing, real people! None of this virtual stuff, which has its place, but doesn’t cut it for me. However, that is another story.

For my previous two Pencil Portrait classes, I spent the entire time – 2 hours a day in class for 5 weeks to do one portrait in each session. I learned a lot and got some good results. This time around, though, I am actually “prepping” for the class. I want to be able to render a likeness that is recognizable, but I want to try to do a portrait in each session. That means a portrait in two hours, for a total of 4 portraits (we are meeting for 4 weeks this time, with a possible 5th depending on what the class wants).

Thus, I have decided to refer to various how-to books in my library, as well as work with other resources, such as YouTube. With as many resources at hand, I just need to sit down and work on things. Today’s focus is on proportions and positions of the eye, nose, ears, and mouth in a frontal view and in profile, as well as some practice with shading – as I’ve noted, my ability to render shadows and contrast gets lost when I work with color.

Above are studies from the book Drawing Portraits for the Absolute Beginner by Mark and Mary Willenbrink.

More from the Willenbrink’s book as well as a face I drew the other day. 

Shading studies with a look at where light hits a sphere from different directions.  Not too sure how realistic my results are, but in a way, just doing it and thinking about it is perhaps more important.  Being conscious of shadows is the whole point.  I learned a lot from a video by Xabio Arts, which is below:

Solving the problems of drawing means putting tools in your art supplies – mental ones for reference with a pencil (or pen, or brush!).

More shading, and a face.  Per the Willenbrinks, the face is about 5 eyes wide – which I know – and 7 eye-widths high – which I never learned.  Now that is a good trick.  From there – a couple of faces and shadows.

A face on a singe sheet of paper, using guides from the Willenbrink’s book as well as from a video on YouTube from Xabio Arts on drawing the face straight-on.

Now, profiles.  I really did not get the Willenbrink’s proportions very well.  Something eluded me.  The heads just don’t seem in proportion.  Thus, some YouTube videos on drawing the head in profile.  Not much hit me until . . .

. . . I came across a profile video done in 2015 by Liron Yanconsky on YouTube.  These are his proportions, and they work a lot better for me and how I want to set up proportions.  You can see his video below.

And the final drawing of the day is below.

Art is personal and we all have our own way of doing things.  It’s so interesting that, although we are taught the same thing, how our minds and bodies put it out on paper can be so different.

I’ve also realized that I never have had a drawing course, or read a book, that says “Do it this way!”  Technical mastery is not just in knowing how your medium works, but also how to render the real world around you.  This mastery becomes a jumping-off point to your own adventrues.

Atilt

We had only a 2-week session of out pencil portrait class. We met in a park behind the local library for a couple of hours for the past two Wednesdays, and I will miss them so much! Perhaps next year? I hope so.

Our teacher, Steve, is a lovely man, encouraging with a sharp eye and pithy, simple suggestions. I know I have improved a great deal in the few sessions we have had.

So, for today’s portrait, I chose to use the photo below, found on Pixabay. I love the expression in this photo, as well as the challenges it posed – the tilt of the head, the odd angles, the contrast. My own drawing failed to catch this beautiful face, but it did work as far as placement of eyes, nose, mouth, ear. It was really a tough study!

The pencil portrait class has gotten me interested in drawing faces. I’ve done three so far. Maybe something to schedule every Wednesday morning to keep my hand in it, and hope Steve will honor us with another series next year.

A Beautiful Face

During the spring, before the coronavirus stopped in-person classes, I started a pencil portrait class. Then the virus hit, and some of the best classroom instruction came to a screeching halt after 2 classes. Come summer, an email came around – the teacher was offering in-person classes outside of the school, with the drawing group to meet in a park behind the local library, one equipped with tables, bathrooms, shade, sidewalks, ponds and ducks. Perfect! We met for 5 sessions. Yesterday and next Wednesday we will meet again. In-person teaching is so much better for a lot of things, and with our talented teacher, a lot is learned. The company of those with similar interests adds to a bit of quality of life. We sit 6 feet apart, wear our masks, and enjoy a wonderful few hours together outdoors.

Above is my drawing from yesterday. I focused on the eyes and nose of the photograph below. My drawing is not perfect, but definitely one which works fairly well, I think. The man below caught my eye on Pixabay (searced for “portrait man”). He has such a wonderful face, filled with what I see as character and kindness. The teacher agreed and said he looks like he could be a great friend.

For me, a portrait of a person needs to convey something of their personality. I don’t tend to photograph people or draw them. Drawing people is detail-oriented and rather in opposition to my splashy, messy style, but it is good discipline and actually very relaxing. In a congenial environment, with like-minded people, a lot can be learned and accomplished.