PORTRAITURE
Essential Observations
THE DELICACY OF SILVER POINT (see pp. 140-41) is perfect for
small, detailed drawings. The drawings below and opposite
show useful observations of the head and neck, which are
explained in the captions below. Each drawing was made
with a silver wire held in a large-gauge mechanical pencil.
Newly clipped wires are sharp and cut rather than draw.
Before use, they need to be rubbed and smoothed on a stone
such as a beach pebble. Here, I stretched drawing
paper and laid a wash of white gouache (see pp.140-41).
As you can see, the line and tone of silver point varies
with pressure, but only slightly. Too much pressure cuts
the ground. Silver point erases, but so does ground. Erased
ground can be repaired gently with extra gouache. You can
also use gouache to paint over mistakes and make corrections.
Contours
Here I imagined placing my silver point wire against the skin of each head and neck and, working in
parallel bands from the crown downward, I traced the undulation of surfaces. Linear bands imagined
around the head and neck can help you to clearly see the tilt of the head and relative levels of the
features. Ask a friend to model for you and try this exercise life-size using a pencil and eraserTilted forward Tilted backward Three-quarter viewSeeing that the face is never flat
Drawings below left and center are summaries of the generalizations given on p.143. Far
right is an image to remind us that the face is never flat. It slopes back to varying degrees
among individuals, from the tip of the nose to the ears. For example, note that the
innermost corners of the eyes are farther forward in space than the outermost corners.General measurements, side General measurements, front View from above