How to draw a portrait of a person with a pencil for beginners. How to learn to draw portraits with a pencil

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  • Publication date: July 1, 2014

In one of the previous lessons we learned to draw. Now I will show you how to draw a portrait of a man with a pencil. We will draw a charismatic Dane named Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Most likely, you are familiar with this actor for his role as Jaime Lannister in the famous epic “Game of Thrones,” although he has starred in many other films and TV series. In the first season, the actor appears before us as a villain and extremely unpleasant person. However, we soon begin to sympathize with Jaime rather than condemn his actions. Apparently this is the director's idea.

So, what's the difference? male portrait from a woman? Typically, men have a wider chin. A man's lower jaw has enough sharp corners. Typically masculine facial features include prominent cheekbones and brow ridges. In women, on the contrary, the lines of the chin and cheekbones are smoother and more rounded. Let's imagine that we are all sculptures made of clay. What techniques would a master use when working with clay so that sculptures of men could be easily distinguished from sculptures of women? He would have sculpted the women’s facial features with fine tools and worked more carefully. And the master would have processed the men’s faces more roughly, in a “cutting” manner. However, there are exceptions to all rules.

In this lesson we look at the topic of how to draw a portrait of a person. However, remember that it is very useful for artists to practice sculpture from time to time. When you sculpt the volume of your head with your hands - all the bulges and depressions, be it cheekbones, eye sockets - it becomes much easier for you. Be sure to try creating a sculptural portrait of a person when you get the chance. Not everything can be seen with your eyes, big role touch plays.

In addition, as often as possible I recommend drawing from life, and not from photographs. What is the difference? When we see in front of us voluminous objects(people), and not pictures, we have the opportunity to bypass our nature and choose the angle that seems most interesting. This option is not shown in the photo. , we often encounter difficulties, since we cannot always consider the structure of any elements. In reality, you can get closer to the object and study it in more detail.

Be prepared for the fact that a perfect likeness in a portrait will not appear immediately. You may need to draw 50-100 portraits before you see that the drawing resembles the subject. So don't expect great results right away. Work can be frustrating. But your next drawings will get better and better. Exercise as often as possible and, over time, the results will definitely please you.

How to draw a portrait of a man step by step?

Let's take a closer look at the person we are going to draw. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has typically masculine facial features - a massive lower jaw, wide cheekbones, a fairly large nose (the actor admitted that he broke it in childhood), and a powerful neck. His face has the shape of an almost regular rectangle, which narrows towards the bottom and forms a sharply defined chin.

Let's start drawing a portrait with an oval face. Be sure to leave enough space around the edges of the sheet for your hair, neck, and shoulders.

Drawing a portrait For a beginning artist it seems an incredibly difficult undertaking. Often, beginners rush to create a portrait without studying its basic principles and techniques. Each face drawing ends in disappointment, which can lead to a complete loss of interest. You shouldn’t give up, because every portrait painter started by studying the basic rules, practiced them, made dozens of mistakes and eventually achieved positive results. Now we'll figure it out drawing a portrait with a pencil, its features and rules. They will help you achieve correctness, and most importantly, realism and High Quality portrait.

There are three main positions in which a face can be positioned in a portrait

1. Full face– a straight position of the head, in which the entire face and its features are visible. The head is not tilted, so the ears are not completely visible.

2. Profile– lateral position of the head, in which only half of the face is visible. This is the left or right part on which the eye, ear, half of the nose and mouth are located.

3. Three quarters– this is the position between the full face and the profile. Usually one side of the face is completely visible, while the other side is only slightly visible.

Features of the position in profile and full face, their standard parameters

Full face:

  1. The pupils are located strictly in the middle of the face. If you divide the face horizontally into two parts, you can see that the eyes, or rather the pupils, will be at the level of the line.
  2. The tip of the nose is located in the middle of the face, between the eyebrows and chin.
  3. The mouth line is located between the tip of the nose and the chin.
  4. The height from the hairline to the edge of the top of the head is equal to the height from the pupils to the tip of the nose.
  5. The width of the face is measured by the horizontal width of five eyes. The height from the chin to the lower lip is one eye (vertically rotated).
  6. The upper part of the ear is located at eye level, and the lower part is the tip of the nose.

Profile:

  1. The ear is on midline, which splits the head in half.
  2. The base of the nose is located in the middle of the face.

Let's discuss the parts of the face. Each person has their own individual uniform and size, but everyone’s build is similar. Let's figure out what structure certain parts have and how to do it correctly.

Eye:

  1. Its angles have different heights. Usually the outer part is located higher than the inner one.
  2. The iris of the eye is not completely visible when a person looks straight ahead. It is only fully visible when a person looks down.
  3. The eyelashes that are located on top are longer than the bottom ones.
  4. Always draw the iris and pupil. The eye looks quite artificial and cartoonish when one of these parts is missing.

Nose:

  1. From the front view, the tip and wings of the nose are clearly visible, and the trunk is only depicted using shadows.
  2. If you depict the nose in profile, you can only see the outline of one side and the nostril.
  3. A difficult angle is considered to be three quarters. Here you need to be careful so that the nose looks natural. This angle combines “full face” and “profile”, so it is important to evenly highlight the contour, wings and tip.

Lips:

  1. The mouth line that is in the middle will have a clearer appearance than the lip lines.
  2. Draw the lips starting with the upper lip because the lower lip has a more simplified appearance. It won't be difficult to outline it in the end.
  3. Usually the upper lip is thinner than the lower lip.
  4. The midline of the mouth will drop slightly towards the edge. Even if a person is depicted with a smile, the corners still first lower slightly, and then rise again.

Probably every child loves to draw. This is an exciting, exciting activity in which children can express themselves and reveal themselves as individuals. As they grow older, the drawings of little artists also change.

They become meaningful, childish carelessness is replaced by realistic images. Perhaps it's time to teach children how to draw a portrait. The right approach will give a good result, because drawing a portrait step by step is not at all difficult.

Step-by-step instructions

Once you are sure that the children are in the right mood, you can start creating. To do this, you will need to prepare a sheet of paper, a well-sharpened pencil and an eraser, with which you can eliminate minor errors in the future masterpiece, completed in stages.

Let's draw a portrait step by step:

  • To begin, take a sheet of paper and mark its center. Then we draw an oval of the future face. It should resemble an inverted egg. After this, the oval will need to be divided with dotted lines so that children have the opportunity to orient themselves when depicting parts of the face.

Therefore, we put one on the drawing vertical line and 2 horizontal lines. Using a vertical line, we delimit the left and right parts of the face, and horizontal marks divide the face into 3 parts: forehead and eyebrows, eyes and nose, mouth and chin.

  • Let's move on to the next stage, where we draw the eyebrows and eyes. Eyebrows are two arches located parallel to each other. They are depicted above the top horizontal line. At the next stage, the eyebrows can be given any shape.

Under the same line we draw eyes, the shape of which can be chosen arbitrarily. The eyes are depicted as two mirrored arcs, between which there is a round iris and pupil.

In order for children to have a realistic drawing, it is necessary to draw eyelashes on the lower and upper eyelids. The length of the eyelashes on the upper eyelid should be greater than on the lower eyelid.

  • Draw the nose. This stage needs to be given Special attention, since it is the nose that most children fail to do. In order to give it the correct shape, make it proportional, it is recommended to start drawing the nose from inside eyebrows A thin arc is drawn down, indicating the crown of the nose.

After this, the wings of the nose and nostrils are drawn, all excess is erased with an eraser, and the lines are drawn in with a pencil.

  • At the very bottom of the face we draw a mouth. It will be depicted as a lower arcuate line and two arcuate lines located on top. The upper and lower parts of the mouth are connected and outlined with a pencil. Using a slightly curved horizontal line, draw a line dividing the upper and lower lip.

  • The stage at which the portrait, depicted in stages, will be supplemented with finishing touches, involves the depiction of ears, shoulders and hair. In order for the drawing to be correct and all parts of the face to be proportional, it is necessary to follow the recommendations for their depiction.

So, the ears should be at the same level as the nose. After finishing the shoulders, you can move on to the hair. If the portrait depicts a man, then the hair will be short; if it is a woman, then you can come up with any haircut, hairstyle, hair length.

Having drawn the portrait step by step, use an eraser to erase minor errors, with a simple pencil lines are aligned, and all marks that were placed on initial stage drawing. If desired, the portrait can be supplemented with elements such as freckles and birthmarks.

Given step-by-step instruction easy for children. It allows you to master the basic skills of depicting a person’s face, learn to draw its parts correctly, observing the recommended proportions. The portrait turns out realistic, because it is made according to all the rules.

It is not difficult to instill in children a love of creativity if you approach this issue correctly. If you share the desire young artists to drawing, to support their endeavors, they will certainly master their favorite pastime, because the support and understanding of their parents in this matter comes first.

Drawing a human face is one of the most difficult tasks to complete. It is very difficult to keep all the proportions correctly. But using simple rules, draw human face Almost everyone can.

Before you start working on a portrait, it is recommended to prepare everything you need:

Paper;
- eraser;
- a simple pencil.

When everything you need is prepared, you can start drawing:

1. Draw a vertical line on a piece of paper, dividing it into two equal parts. Then draw the outline of the head, which is shaped like an upside-down egg. Keep in mind that the widest part of the face is the forehead, not the cheeks;

2. Divide the oval into four equal parts by drawing a horizontal line, as shown in the figure;

4. The width of the segment is equal to the size of one eye. On the second and fourth segments, outline the outlines of the eyes. Mark the place on your face where the tip of your nose will be located. As a rule, the tip of the nose is located at a distance equal to one and a half eyes from the center of the oval. The width of the nose at the bottom is equal to the length of the eye;

6. Mark the location of the mouth. From the tip of the nose, step back a distance equal to half the length of the eye - this is where the upper lip will begin. The width of the mouth is also equal to half the length of the eye, and the width of the upper lip is approximately a third of the entire width of the mouth. The corners of the mouth are located under the pupils of the eyes, as shown in the figure;

8. Now you need to check the correctness of the face oval. The distance from the bottom line of the mouth to the tip of the chin should be equal to the length of one eye. The distance from the corners of the mouth to the sides of the chin should also be equal to the length of the eye;

9. The distance from the chin to the middle of the eye should be equal to the distance from the top of the head to the middle of the eye. The distance from the chin to the tip of the nose should be equal to the distance from the tip of the nose to the middle of the eye. The end of the forehead and the hairline are located at the same distance. In accordance with these parameters, adjust the oval of the face and erase excess pencil lines;

10. Draw the ears. Their upper part is flush with upper eyelids, and the lower one is at the same level with the tip of the nose;

13. Draw the pupils. Remember that in bright light the pupils constrict, but in the dark, on the contrary, they dilate. Don't forget that there should be a slight glare on the pupil. Use light strokes to outline the hair;

15. Light movements start shading right side faces. In this case, the light falls on the face from the left, which means that the right side will be slightly darker than the left. You should not outline any parts of the face with a pencil; it is better to outline their outlines with strokes;

17. Left side Shade the faces less intensely, since that is where the light falls. Using light strokes, begin to depict the hair. Remember that hair casts a shadow on the face;

The portrait is completely ready. If desired, a person’s face can be drawn with any paints, as well as with a pen, pastel or colored pencils. When drawing a portrait from life or from a photograph, remember that each person may have his own anatomical features of the facial structure. For example, his eyes may be close-set. Therefore, when drawing people, in order to achieve external resemblance, you need to not only follow general rules, but also be extremely attentive to details.

Hello, dear readers of my blog. I’m in touch with you, Timur Mustaev. Quite recently, I started to get interested in pencil drawing. My friend is so good at it that I asked him for a couple of lessons. I also asked him to write an article specifically for beginners in drawing, like me, where all the stages of drawing are described in detail. Today, in this article, he shares his tips and secrets.

Before I start, I want to tell you the secret of how my friend learned to draw. He took the video course" Drawing a portrait from a photograph"and the result is obvious. Moreover, the author of the course promises a full refund if you don’t learn how to draw. But as my friend says, this is simply not possible! The course is very clear and everything is shown with examples.

Drawing something is not easy, but the process of mastering the technique of creating a portrait will go much faster if you take a few tips from this article.

After all, as it happens, you seem to draw, erase, draw again, waste “tons” of paper, but there are no results. What is the reason for such failures?


The thing is that, when trying to draw the eyes, nose or other parts of the model, beginners lose sight of the fact that the picture should be painted from the whole to the particular.

How to draw a portrait with a pencil step by step for beginners? Moving from simple to complex. Let me give you an example. Remember how a man emerges from the fog? At first, vague outlines appear. As the haze disappears, facial features become clearer. It should also be on paper.

There are three angles: profile, full face and half-turn - the so-called three-quarters.

Beginners can be advised to try painting a portrait of a person sitting in three-quarter or side view. Then, when the technique of creating a face in a half-turn has been perfected, it will be possible to do more complex techniques, write the face from the front.

However, if you believe in your abilities, you can try to draw a person sitting upright from life.

Where to start?

The frame or basis of the portrait is the oval of the head and the location of the eyes, ears, chin, nose, eyebrows. To make it clearer, I’ll show you how to mark the contours of the face. Let's take, for example, a portrait of a girl.

What head shape does she have? Ovoid? Round? Oval with a square chin?


Stretch the pencil in your hand, pointing it towards the model. Mark the distance between the top of your head and your chin on paper. We also mark the width. Now put all these values ​​on paper using dots, not forgetting about proportions and scale.

To draw from a photo, measure the parameters with a ruler, mark the expected width and height of the head. Write the shape of the head.

Remember that the width of the head is ¾ of the height. In reality, there may be deviations of 1-2 cm. So, carefully measure the height and width, check their ratio.

The outlines should be light and delicate, barely noticeable. An HB pencil is suitable for this. Now you are ready for the next step.

Many people try to master the art of drawing a portrait, but they fail. Either the nose is swollen, like a pig's, or the eyes are too small. It is important at this stage to compare the standard with the original (model or photo).

Each person has his own characteristics. These could be wide cheekbones, a large bulbous nose, and deep-set eyes. Look closely and notice. How do you usually draw? Where do you start your work?


Reference

The golden rule of portrait painters is the so-called standard. A unique masterpiece, that is, a face, is subsequently sculpted from it.

It incorporated the following components:

  1. The segment exactly halfway between the crown of the head and the chin marks the eye line.
  2. The next line runs halfway between the eyebrow line and the end of the chin. This is the nose line.
  3. Divide the section between the nose and chin into three parts. The lower border of the upper third is where the lips are located. It may be slightly higher or lower, it all depends on the characteristics of the person.
  4. To find your eyebrow line, divide your head height by three and a half. Half of the three parts indicate the hairline. The second feature behind it is the eyebrow line. The third feature is the line of the nose.

After you have outlined the oval, mark the protruding elements:

  • cheekbones;
  • chin.

Divide your face in half vertically. In the case of a half turn, look at the example.

The line goes through and divides the “egg” in half. One half should be smaller than the other, as it is further away.

Chopping head

In professional art schools Beginning portrait painters study the so-called “stumping.” This is a human head presented in a simplified version.

We will try to draw a kind of stump of our model in a simple design.

This is the second stage.

Note the person's characteristics:

  • the thickness of the cheekbones, the falling and protruding parts of the face, a kind of relief;
  • thickness of the bridge of the nose, base of the nose;
  • the width and height of the eyes, their location;
  • thickness and width of lips;
  • eyebrows, their bend, direction, thickness;
  • chin shape: triangular, square, etc.

Now, let me show you how to draw eyes.

Spherical mirrors

The eyes are a round sphere. This roundness must be conveyed on the sheet. At the same time, the white of the eye is never left white, but is shaded, adding more color. To make it clear that the eye has a spherical shape.

Finding the eye is quite easy. Divide the width of the head into five parts. The 2nd and 4th parts represent the eyes. But these are the proportions for the front view. How to draw eyes in a half-turn?

In this case, you simply mark the same eye socket, notch or temporal part of the head and dance from it. Measure the farthest eye; it is smaller in size than the second one. Measure the distance between the eyes and mark it on paper. Repeat for the other eye as well.

Outline the eye with a quadrangle, marking the width and height with notches.

Take a close look at the model or photo. What eye shape does the original have? How do the width and height of the eye relate?

Sketch line segments showing the position of the eyelids.

At the same time, the lower eyelid is never made dark. Take a closer look at how to depict the thickness of the lower eyelid. It is a shade darker than the whites of the eyes.

Nose

Now let's start creating the plane of the nose. To do this, you need to know several relationships:

  1. Draw lines parallel to each other from the corners of the inner eyelid down. Mark the location of the wings of the nose.
  2. When creating a face in a half turn, the second line coming from the far eye will disappear behind the bridge of the nose.

Construct a trapezoid at the base of the nose, first drawing the lines of the back of the nose. To do this, place a pencil parallel to the vertical axis and remember the angle between the back of the nose and the axis, transfer it to paper.

Lips

The location of the lips can be found like this. If you divide the height of the head into 8 parts, then the fifth line down from the top of the head will be the line of the lips.

Write the mouth as if it were drawn on a cylinder.

The upper lip should be 1/3 of the height of the lips. The width of the lips is equal to the distance between the center of the pupils. Measure in a half turn in the photo and adjust to your scale.

There is another measure of the width of the lips: it is equal to a segment of one and a half eyes.

Ears

Look at the pictures to see how to draw ears. The ear is located between the brow and nasal lines.

In the ¾ portrait the man is depicted with one ear, the other ear is “hidden”. Remember, the ear should be tilted towards the head.

It can be determined by drawing a straight line connecting the jugular cavity and the ear. Or simply attach a pencil to the photo and measure the angle of inclination by eye.

Memo

And some more rules:

  1. If you are painting a portrait of a person from the waist up, identify the axis that bisects the face so that you can determine the location of the eyes, nose and ears, eyebrows, etc. It passes through the jugular cavity or between the collarbones in the center;
  2. The width of the head along the eye line is 2/3 of its height;
  3. The widest part of the head is the basis for finding the width of the lower jaw (¾ of the larger value).

Detailing

The third stage of creating a portrait includes detailed drawing. Remove unnecessary lines, start to achieve similarity with the photo. At the same time, measure the width of the eyes, nose and other parts and compare them with the width of the face. Draw smooth lines and roundness.

The last final stage is shading.

Shade from the dark areas gradually moving to the lightest ones. Lastly, lighten and add highlights to the pupils, tip of the nose and other parts.

The picture is ready.

Finally, I want to tell you that portraits can be without shading. For example, a linear portrait uses visual medium line.

See how to draw a girl.

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