How To Draw The Structure Of The Eye

How To Draw The Structure Of The Eye

by | Aug 20, 2019 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 2 comments

I recently completed a portrait drawing course that focuses on how to draw the features of the face. In this particular drawing lesson, I share with you two different ways to think about drawing the eye.

The first way to think about the eye is basically drawing a ball in a socket. Do your best to visualize light hitting a sphere. That sphere is sitting in a socket, the eye socket of the skull. I love drawing with outlines, however, too many artists focus on the linear aspect of the eye’s lashes.

Instead, try drawing shapes of light and dark. Those shapes of light and dark with be dictated by which direction the light is hitting the ball in the socket.

Another way to think about the eye is with surface planes. The master of surface planes is certainly George Bridgeman. I never like my surface plane type drawings. However, they are a necessary evil when learning how to draw the eye. Try your hand at completing a surface plane drawing of the eye.

Lastly, in this short lesson, I also share with you what not to do when drawing the eye. You do not want to draw the eye in the form of an almond shape. You do not want to draw super sharp eyelashes, instead, think of grouping the lashes together in a soft shape.

Lastly do not draw the iris as a full-round circle. The round iris is usually covered up by both eyelids making it look more like a rounded rectangle.

This drawing lesson basically provides you with two exercises to complete. These exercises will help you to think about how to draw the structure of the eye.

Thank you so much for watching.

 

 

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How To Draw The Eye

How To Draw The Eye

by | Jul 10, 2019 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog

I recently completed a course titled How To Draw The Features Of The Face. In this new course, I break down the features of the face in a step by step process. I cover how to draw the eyes, nose, and lips.

I wanted to share this particular lesson with you because it is short and to the point. You really want to draw the eye in a loose, curvy organic sort of way. You do not want to incorporate any straight lines when drawing the eye, everything about the eye should look rough and organic.

As you can see in this rough sketch of the eye I did not really focus too much of my time on the lashes. Do your very best to draw along with me, avoiding the lashes for now. Think more about the structure of the eye, not the lashes.

When drawing the lashes do not draw them with straight lines, instead, try to group all of the lashes into a shape.

I’m really happy with the way this course turned out. It’s really helping people improve their portrait drawings.

Download the Photo reference.

 

 

Thank you so much for watching the drawing lesson above. If you are interested in seeing the rest of the course consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. Not only will you gain access to this course and many more, but, you will also be able to get feedback on your portrait drawings in our member critique gallery.

 

Drawing A Small Portrait

Drawing A Small Portrait

by | Mar 24, 2019 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog

Have you ever worked on a figure drawing where the head was really small? Did you ask yourself, how am I supposed to draw so small? The eye is the size of my pencil point.

I’ve been there too, many times. What I have learned over the years of painting smaller portraits on book covers is that shadow shapes are your best friend. 

You really do not want to start outlining little details like the bottom of the nose or say the eye lashes. You first want to block in shapes of shadow. Then you can gradually build up some softer tonal shifts to resolve the features. As you progress you can then start to use some crisper line.

Now I completely understand not every artist works with tone. If this is the case you’ll still want to draw shapes first, not features. If you work with line only you do not have to shade in these shapes.

The key takeaway from this short video, use light and shade to your advantage when drawing small. Also less is best. With a smaller portrait you have to know when to stop. Adding too much detail can take you down a road of heartache.

 

If you are interesting in learning more, you can check out the full course within the members area of Drawing Tutorials Online. Consider signing up to DTO. You will immediately gain access to all of our comprehensive course listing.

 

Drawing Facial Features In An Impressionistic Way

Drawing Facial Features In An Impressionistic Way

by | Feb 23, 2019 | Drawing Tutorials, The Blog | 5 comments

Drawing a small head on a figure it can be pretty daunting. However when it comes to drawing facial features that are mainly on the shadow side of the head, that can be even more daunting.

The key to drawing facial features that are mainly on the shadow side of the face is to draw them in an impressionistic way. I’m a big believer of drawing shadow shapes, not facial features. Think of them as one in the same. Getting a likeness is about seeing the shadow shapes within the features, then drawing them accurately.

You also want to think and draw in layers. Start off with blocking in light tone. Feel your way through the facial features with very soft light tone. This is where you want to practice your light touch. Diving into drawing the features with heavy dark tone at first will only create a mess.

Especially if you are struggling with measurements.

There are three key takeaways from this lesson. First, work from light to dark when applying tone. Second, don’t draw facial features, draw soft accurate shadow shapes. Third, think layers, build up the dark tone and detail gradually.

These initial soft layers of tone are a foundation for the detail that will come later.

 

 

To watch the course in it’s entirety consider a membership to Drawing Tutorials Online. Not only will you learn many new drawing techniques, you can also get your figure drawings critiqued weekly.

 

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.

 

 

 
 
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