Shea Portrait – Drawing The Mouth

Shea Portrait – Drawing The Mouth

by | Oct 2, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 2 comments

In this portrait drawing lesson I share with you how to carefully lay in the mouth. By using a series of targets you can make sure you get proper placement of the lips. Simply put targets are little marks you place on paper. They help you to place the features of the face without fully committing to using super dark line.

In this video tutorial you will learn how to place the corner of the mouth with little light targets. You will also see how to map out the ear and edge of the head. Unfortunately a lot of artists press down hard on their pencil immediately with out using targets. I know I was one of them. My best friend was the eraser.

This style of drawing is a light to dark style of drawing. It’s very different than say completing a gesture drawing. In that case you want to press down on your pencil immediately in order to create a confident powerful gesture.

If this style of drawing interests you definitely consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. You will gain access to multiple drawing courses just like the one up above. Plus you can post your portrait drawing up for a critique ensuring that you receive timely feedback on your work.

 

 

 
 
Improve your portrait drawing skills to today with a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. Select from a monthly or annual plan, cancel anytime.
 
 

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Four

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Four

by | Aug 31, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 1 comment

Okay great you have made it to lesson four. Once you have taken the time to get the basic shape of the head with a light middle tone it’s now time to dive in deeper. In essence you have basically drawn big shapes, then drawn smaller shapes within the big shapes.

Start progressing into refining the features of the face, getting a bit more aggressive with a darker middle tone.

You can accomplish this by looking more at the photo reference than you look at your drawing. You also will want to have a value scale nearby to ensure that you are using the proper value structure. Not too dark, not too light.

You will also want to start adding more value to the shape of the hair as well. This will really start to balance your drawing out.

 

 

Thank you so much for watching. I appreciate you taking the time to watch these portrait drawing tutorials

If you like this style of drawing definitely consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. My main goal for the website is to help members create better art, period. Learning through well thought out courses as well as getting your portrait drawings critiqued will help you to improve in a much faster way.

 

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Three

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Three

by | Aug 28, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 3 comments

In this lesson three I share with you the importance of adding shapes within shapes and refining edges.

One you have established some basic shapes it’s then time to add smaller shapes within the big shapes. For instance once you have drawn the eye socket shape it’s time to place the eye within the eye socket shape.

You will want to see the eye not as an eye but as a series of shapes. For instance the white of the eye is a triangle. The iris is a rectangular shape etc.

Work on refining the edges of each shape. It’s the edge of each shape that will enable you to get a likeness

I see too many artists ignore the quality of the edges in their drawings. Trust me I know, I was one of those artists. I used to have way too many inconsistencies in my edge quality. In this particular portrait drawing the model’s profile edge is a major component in achieving a likeness. Draw the edges correctly and you will most certainly achieve likeness.

 

 

I want to thank you for taking the time for watching the portrait drawing tutorial above. I will be creating many new portrait drawing courses this Fall. If that sounds interesting to you definitely take a moment to check out Drawing Tutorials Online.

Now get out there and draw something that you love.

 

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Two

Portrait Drawing – Lesson Two

by | Aug 28, 2018 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog

In this sped up drawing tutorial world that we see on YouTube and Instagram we tend to forget that a good drawing takes time. It really takes time for me. A fourteen minute video clip up is basically a nano second in my drawing world.

It’s really important that you figure out what about drawing makes you happy. For me it’s all about sitting in my studio and creating something worth while. I love rendering for hours with a pencil while listening to music and drinking good coffee. I also get satisfaction from doing a five minute gesture drawing from life.

However long drawings are where my passion is. What about you, what part of drawing makes you happy? Once you figure that out you are on your way to drawing success.

 

 

I want to thank you for taking the time for watching the portrait drawing tutorial above. I will be creating many new portrait drawing courses this Fall. If that sounds interesting to you definitely take a moment to check out Drawing Tutorials Online.

Now get out there and draw something that you love.

 

Drawing From The Wrong Photo Reference

Drawing From The Wrong Photo Reference

by | May 27, 2017 | Video Critiques

Have you ever tried to draw a portrait for a friend that didn’t go so well? You had a great photo of a friend or family member and when you tried to draw from it, it was not a good experience.

It’s most likely the photo had front lighting from flash photography. Your friends looked great, but the photo had no shadow shapes to cling onto. Drawing a portrait from front lighting is super difficult. Of course it can be done, however you have to be well versed in seeing subtle value shifts.

The key to drawing from flat front light is practicing matching values. It’s also all about understanding form. Once you understand form and can match values you can pretty much draw from any photograph.

I see many new members of Drawing Tutorials Online struggle when trying to draw a portrait from front light. I get it, you might have a photo of a dear friend and you want to draw a portrait for them.

My suggestion is that you invite them to your studio in order to take a new picture of them. Make it fun, have a drink, relax and definitely use form light. Turn the flash off. Form light will provide you with shadow shapes that you can actually use. Drawing shadow shapes accurately is the key to drawing a likeness.

Take a moment to check out the video below. It will definitely help you if you have to draw from a flat photo.

If you would like a critique of your artwork definitely consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online!

Thanks for watching:)