Sketch Book for the Artist

PORTRAITURE

Drawing Portraits

USING A SHARP 3B PENCIL, I drew this head quickly from

imagination, evolving its character and expression from the

scheme of four parts: cranium, face, neck, and throat (see

p. 142). Here, five steps show you how to practice doing the

same. This approach can be used to draw from imagination

or from life. Keep your wrist loose and hold your pencil away

from its point (see pp.22-23). Build the layers of your drawing

from pale to dark, and from general balance and form to

specific detail. Remember that successful drawings are built on

foundations of "seeing the whole," then dividing the whole into

smaller parts, with details brought in last of all. Phrased tonal

marks modeling this girls skin and hair follow the technique

demonstrated by Goya in his self-portrait on p. 130. Turn to

Goya's drawing and study how, in a circle beginning across his

hat, moving down his hair, and around his coat, he flows lines

over surfaces to describe their contour. As you build from

steps 1 to 5, bring phrased groups of lines across the surfaces

of your form, using their directions to capture the expression

of the head and neck. If unsure, copy my steps until you gain

the confidence to make your own decisions.

BALANCED POSE

This drawing is the final stage

of the four steps opposite.

Here, I have enlarged the eye,

and moved it back into the

head by trimming the length

of the upper lid and adding a

more pronounced lower lid.

It is important to set eyes

far enough back from the

relatively prominent nose; too

close to it and the face flattens.

Hair swept back and extended

behind the cranium balances

the regal pose. Lines shaping

the hair echo those marking

the cranium in step 1. Here, the

lower part of step 1 comes

through as wisps of hair across

her face and ear

Portrait of a Young Girl