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Pencil portrait of Eleanor (free-hand drawing)
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Message
Posted
I am starting some new pencil portraits and wondered whether one should draw a grid first in faint line before drawing the facial features and eyes. I usually start with the eyes and then focus on the nose and lips, as proportion matters a lot. Sometimes the cheekbones, forehead and chin seem to be the last area and don't always fit the symmetry, even though the central septum is in alignment. Does a grid help us to form facial symmetry better? I know it works for figure drawing but what about portraiture? This pencil drawing was free hand.
Posted
The way that I was taught portrait painting/drawing at college (and portrait and figure drawing was top of the agenda), and is how I still work today, is to draw in the outer framework of the head first. Then start dividing it all up into the appropriate sections, all very loosely at this stage using multiple working lines which as I mentioned in a previous post, should stay and not be erased.
Starting with the eyes and other features are more difficult to place in isolation, they need to be drawn and positioned within the whole framework of the head.
Whilst I do know of artists that start with the features, you won’t generally find any art books that recommend this method of starting a portrait.
As for using a grid, well of course this can help if you’re working from a photograph, but if you’re working from life model, including a self portrait, it won’t help you as you’ve nothing to relate the grid to.
There’s a wealth of good books on the market to learn from, I’d definitely recommend that you buy one and start off on the right footing, by learning from a professional artist.l
Posted
When drawing from life, I sketch in the main vague outline and check if the subject complies with the standard proportions (chin to nose to eyes to forehead) first, then check other pointers. Firstly What angle are the eyes at? This gives you the tilt of the head, so that you can draw in lines at the same angle for the chin nose, eyes, forehead. Are the corners of the lips on a line at right angles from the middle of the eyes? Is there gap between the eyes, the same size as the width of one eye? This gives you a framework in which to draw.
Drawing from photographs is a different kettle of fish. The grid method works fine or if you are really lazy then carbon paper (different colours are available) can be used, but the resulting lines can be a bit waxy and therefore hard to cover. However you can get coloured pencil spray (from Jacksons) to give texture over waxy pencils so you can keep adding layers.
Posted
If you start with individual features, rather than establish the shape of the head, the big danger is that they float in an ectoplasmic blob - they won't relate to each other within a broadly defined whole. Study that overall shape - really look at it, judge the amount of space it takes on your board, how it relates to the neck and shoulders. In painting generally, it's the big shapes that matter - you can worry about refining them as you work on.
The grid method has never appealed to me in drawing anything - because it doesn't encourage you to look at the big shapes, it just helps you to map out a drawing with - perhaps - total, deadening accuracy; though I've seen plenty of grid-based portraits where accuracy was the last thing achieved: useless from life, because people and animals move (and then what use is your grid?), of some use if slavishly copying a photograph - but why on earth do that, if you've got the photograph? What is one trying to do here - to mimic a copying machine, or produce a portrait which has life in it?
Many painters have used grids, but usually on large, ambitious canvases where the inter-relation of objects had to be carefully planned. I doubt however that many used a grid to paint portraits - it'd be interesting to research that.
Posted
Hi Angela i'm with Linda I was taught to start with one eye then use that eye to measure all other features so you build the face out instead of trying to fit it into an oval, i also use this method when drawing from photos as i think you can tell when a grid has been used. but whatever works for you enjoy..
Posted
Definitely not the way to construct a face by starting with a single eye!
The initial ‘outline’ is there to serve as a guide and will be adjusted throughout the construction of the face, in tandem with the features, carefully observing and adjusting proportions along the way.
There’s been some excellent portrait demonstrations in The Artist recently, learn from the professionals and you won’t go far wrong!
Posted
So was I Bari, hundreds of hours in life classes being taught by professional college tutors with degrees!
The end result is what really matters, however you achieve that is largely irrelevant, but in general it makes more sense not to draw individual features in isolation, but work on them as a whole entity.
Hockney also works in this way so I don’t need to elaborate further.
The Artist magazine has some great features and demos on portrait and figure painting by professional artists as I said previously, I would recommend any aspiring artist who is looking to improve their skills or technique, to start subscribing if they don’t already!
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