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Stage 1
At the first stage I used a hard 2Н pencil to create outlines of the future portrait, to place the image
on a sheet of paper and to mark position of the main details of the face (mouth, nose, eyes, ear). I
also made rough hatching to preliminary mark shape of the shaded parts of the portrait. I marked
borders of future highlights on the eyes, nose and lips.
At the second stage I put cross-hatching on each midtone area enhancing shadings where
necessary and accentuating some details. It is advisable to choose direction of hatchings which
corresponds to the form of the area you are working on to make the image more vivid. The
highlighted areas remain untouched.
How I draw a realistic portrait. Stage 3
At the third stage I used a 2B pencil for elaborating shadings and enhancing contrast where
necessary in order to create volume of the portrait. I deliberately focused attention on highlights on
eyes, lips, a hair curl and jewelry to strengthen feeling of glamorous glitter. At the end I used a hard
eraser to lighten small highlights and to create jewelry shimmer.
Drawing the Eye
Step 1 - The Initial Line Drawing
There are two things that you should carefully observe when starting your drawing of an eye:
2 - How the upper eyelid covers the top of the iris. (mouse over the image)
1. A bright glint of reflected light should be left as unshaded paper at the start of the tonal
drawing. This will become the brightest element in the eye. This reflection is further enhanced by
its contrast with the pupil - the darkest element in the eye.
2. The iris contains a variety of tones and flecks which radiate to the centre of the pupil. It is
usually darker around its outside edge and lightens towards its centre creating a translucent
effect.
Step 3 - The Eye Socket
The final step is to render the solidity of the eye socket and surrounding area using graduated
tone.
The upper eyelid casts a shadow which forms a dark curve across the top of the eyeball. This
gradually softens into the shaded areas at each corner of the eye.
Graduated shading is used to cover the outline detail and build up the tone of the eyelids and
surrounding area.
Eyebrows and eyelashes are formed by soft, delicate hairs, so draw these lightly and pay
particular attention to the direction of their growth.
Start by drawing what you can see, namely the inside and outside edges of the nostrils. Then try
to outline the main areas of tone that define the planes of the nose.
Draw these lightly as you want them to disappear under your shading at a later stage in the
drawing.
Step 2 - The Initial Tones
Simplify your shading into three basic tonal areas - dark, medium and light (the white of the
paper).
Block in each plane of the nose with its appropriate tone. This should begin to render its three-
dimensional form.
Step 3 - The Final Tones
Carefully refine the strength and subtlety of the tone, softening the lines that join each plane with
graduated areas of shading.
You must look more closely at this stage to try to discern the faint variations of shading within
each area of tone. It is this close observation that will take your drawing to the next level.
In this step, you will learn how to select a fitting reference picture. The best part is, you
will draw more quickly and with less frustration once you know what type of pictures
to draw. I will also provide you a reference picture of Halle Berry so that you can just
print it out immediately.
Indeed, the eyes are often the first part of a portrait that people
notice. For this reason, most of the artists pay special
emphasis to eyes.
What I found when I read art books is that most of them skip
the part on teaching ears drawing by covering the ears with
long hair. And even if they did mention the ears, it’s very quick and doesn’t go into
details.
Ears come in many shapes and sizes and are unique to each individual. For drawing
ears, you will need to get the spacing between the parts right.