Guidelines For Pencil Portrait Drawing - Sculpture In Portrait Drawing

Most people have the set concept that the head is more or less shaped like an egg. Actually, the head is much squarer than we think. The egg ideas is one of those simplified predetermined symbols the mind uses as a means for quick identification.

Most beginning students will usually sketch the face on paper as a flat disk or oval which it is not. Also, compared to the full head, the face is quite petite particularly in babies. Your hand can fit the whole face. Place that same hand on top of your skull and you will know right away how big your head really is.

To grasp planes and thus obtain a sculptural sensibility in your drawing you must appreciate and use simple geometric shapes.

Generally, the skull can be framed within a square box. More correctly, this square box should be adapted to a phalanx-like box with the face on the smallest side. The skull tapers towards the front which is the face. This is the basic shape of the head in the front view.

In the profile view the head is in general a cube. The difference is the facial angle (the “muzzle”) that slopes somewhat forward at the chin. In the 7/8 profile, the cube has simply been rotated in space.

Again, it is very significant to think about the skull in terms of simple geometric shapes. Once you have located the big plain shapes you can start situating the smaller shapes inside the big ones. Pretty soon that group of simple forms becomes quite intricate and starts resembling a head.

Keeping the above in mind you can start with drawing the complete arabesque which is the entire outside outline of the head, hair included. Then you break down the complete arabesque into its different sections such as the hair, ear, jaw and neck.

As you hatch-in the darks and think of the head as an assortment of simple geometric solids you will by now begin to see the three-dimensional outcome, even at this early time.

The key is to think simply and large. At this early time, do not pay attention to the details - they tend to delude your sense of distance and direction.

Once the important items are established placing the features (eyes, nose, etc.) becomes relatively easy. However, if you do not establish those elements correctly you will never be successful.

The front view of the portrait poses a exceptional test. If you are not cautious you can end up with a flat, two-dimensional face. In this view, the plane changes are often quite subtle and difficult to locate.

Be sure to notice all plane changes in this frontal view and render them carefully in your sketch:

- Showing the forward tapering of the sides of the head is major to reaching a subtle three-dimensional result in this frontal view.

- The front of the face lies approximately in one plane.

- The plane of the foreskull changes bearing as you move towards the top of the skull.

- The plane along the cheek has a different direction than the neighboring one along the temple.

The idea is to carefully note the directions of all the different planes that make up the skull and take these differences into account when you sketch. If you do, your sketches will possess a sculptural, 3-dimensional sensibility. It is not necessary to draw out the geometry of the actual planes, but the differences in direction must be clearly drawn.

In closing, it is very critical that you are aware of the fact that a model’s skull consists of planes with different bearings and is not just an oval. This sculptural structure should be reflected in your drawing because it is important to the likeness and to the illusion of three-dimensionality.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait sketching? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing tutorial here: portrait drawing tutorial.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert sketching teacher. See his work at graphite pencil portraits.

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