Helpful tips from
the professional artist-teachers

First of all, it is important to decide on what technique you want to create a portrait, whether you will draw from life or using your imagination (and possibly a photo of the model).
For example, the American artist Joseph Lee works in the genre of abstraction, applying bold large strokes. His portraits are emotional but lack detailed. And the Spanish pastel painter Vicente Romero Redondo, on the contrary, creates emphatically realistic portraits, similar to photographs. Therefore, the desired technique will depend on how you create the portrait.

When creating a portrait, always go from general to specific. First, study the proportions and draw an oval of the head. It is important to pay close attention to the general structure of the head and determine its main characteristics, because in many respects the degree of similarity of the drawing with the original depends on this.

Moving on to the facial features, you can use a tool such as a grid. A grid is applied to the image to be enlarged (drawing or photograph). The same number of squares, but enlarged, must be transferred to the surface for drawing a larger size. After that, you can easily transfer the strokes to the desired cell, observing the proportions. Once you have thoroughly studied the general structure of the head, you can move on to analyzing the features of the details of the face: nose, mouth, eyes and ears.

Take a close look at the model, determine the correlation between maximum height and maximum width, placing points on the most prominent parts of the face (both horizontal and vertical). Draw an oval of the head and, according to the rule of perspective, draw a central axis (it bends in three quarters in the image) and horizontal lines dividing the face into several parts.

Place the details of the face precisely: eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Note that dividing the face into three parts is arbitrary. Try to define individual proportions and stick to them to achieve similarity. This stage is very important, it lays the foundation for the subsequent development of the drawing. Look at and try to sketch the basic anatomical details (bones, muscles, etc.).

Imagine the head as a collection of planes that form its surface. This makes it easier to distinguish which areas are the darkest and which are the lightest. Clearly outline both the lit and the shadowed ones, and you get a three-dimensional image. Try not to make too straight strokes, so that the drawing does not come out hard.

Now we are dealing with shadows, which we have already thought about in the previous step. Now we highlight the largest, deepest and most important ones. You will notice that the shadows on the face vary greatly in depth and form a complex pattern. To simplify the image as required by this step of work, close your eyes to a state in which you see only two tones: highlights and areas in shadow.

At this point and, if necessary, in the next steps, continue to work out the shapes of the face, paying attention to the halftones (which we omitted in the previous stage and included in the general shadow). Bring out the most significant details, such as eyes and lips, by darkening or lightening them. Change the intensity of the stroke by increasing or decreasing the pressure on the paper.

At this step, the drawing retains the lines made in the previous stages. Don't wash them, it's better to just soften and blend the tones. It is impossible (and useless) to reproduce all the shades that you see in life in a drawing. Therefore, do not overdo it when doing the final touches and drawing in minor details. A good drawing is always the result of thoughtful selection and judicious simplification.