Avoiding Common Drawing Mistakes With Tips On Pencil Portrait Drawing
Nowadays, teaching oneself how to draw can be done with the help of tutorials either from the Internet or books. Whether the medium is watercolour, acrylic or pencil, it becomes difficult to gauge the progress of the student who is self-studying to become an artist because there is no instructor to give life to the lessons. Oftentimes it becomes discouraging just by looking at the flaws. However, these mistakes can help the budding artist to learn and with the use of some tips on pencil portrait drawing, the defects can be possibly avoided.
In trying to get a picture of one’s drawing progress, it is best to compare some completed art works. Be a critic of your own work by looking for imperfections and focus on how to improve them. A masterpiece does not happen overnight. It took Michaelangelo four years to complete the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; Leonardo da Vinci lingered on finishing the Mona Lisa portrait also for four year. In short, take your time to acquire the skill. As a beginner, these tips on pencil portrait drawing can be useful in educating yourself while at the same time enjoying the art of producing images from the tip of your pencil.
Use the Right Pencil
When the drawing is pale or lacking in dark shadows, do not blame the lightings. It is in your pencil. Check the grade of the pencil which ideally must be a B, 2B or 4B type to achieve the desired dark tones. Avoid using the Number 2 (HB) pencil because it is too hard to use as a drawing medium.
Get the Right Angle for Flash Portrait Photography
Most beginners find it difficult to work with a photo that used a flash to capture it. With a flash, it is near to impossible to see the perspective of the whole picture because it vanishes behind the focal subject. When you are taking a snapshot that requires the use of flash, make the person tilt to one side to show the face silhouette and to capture any available natural light to provide the right skin tone and expression.
Learn to Proportion and Align Facial Features
In pencil portraiture, an artist tends to focus on a particular facial attribute that he ends up drawing the part in bigger proportion compared to the rest of the head. Sometimes, the nose is too small because the sketcher is too centered on the eyes. Another common mistake is to draw the face at the same eye level of the artist. This results to distorted representation of the facial features. Make a draft sketch to establish the right alignment and the correct proportion of all the head parts in relation to the rest of the face.
Use the Right Paper
One of the foremost tips on pencil portrait drawing is to use the right type of paper. Using just any kind of paper can spoil your effort regardless of how good the drawing turns out. Cheap papers do not have the ability to grab the pencil particles while thick drawing materials can require you to put too much pressure with the pencil. Use the right paper for sketching and support it with a firm board underneath. Bristol board or similar materials are good for portraits with shading effect. Know the type of drawing paper for the particular drawing project.
Pencil portrait drawing is considered one of the most challenging yet exciting branches of art. Without the passion for it, an artist cannot achieve perfection but can only be dabbling with lines and figures that remain flat on a canvas. However, if the true artist has the creative talent to begin with, all tips on pencil portrait drawing that he comes across with can be put together to come up with an epic masterwork.
