How to Draw a man portraits with graphite

Man - is the strong half of humankind.
There is so nice to study how to draw a man portraits using graphite.
At first, you need to draw the face. So you need pay attention to eyes, nose, hair.

Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Nose

The nose is crucial in relation to the overall scale of all other facial features of your pencil portrait subject. An incorrectly drawn nose will very much affect the likeness of your subject. The nose is also a study in shading and blending.
Here are some issues you should keep in mind when drawing a nose:
* Shape
When drawing a nose, you should be thinking of spheres and cylinders. The shading and blending is very much related to that of a sphere and a cylinder. Be sure you first determine the location of the light source in your photograph. This is crucial to make everything look real and natural.
* Planes
A nose has many planes and protrusions which all have a certain angle with respect to each other. It is important to judge these angles correctly to obtain a good likeness. Also, squint your eyes to determine the type of shadow you are dealing with (hard edge, halftone, soft edge, highlight, or reflected light).
* Darkest Area
Invariably, the darkest area will be found inside each nostril. These areas are always cast shadows and therefore very dark. Remember that cast shadows become lighter as they approach the light source. Also, the edges of cast shadows are the sharpest near the object that throws the cast shadow. The edges get softer as they approach the light source.
* Reflected Light
Showing reflected light is very important to model three-dimensionality. It is usually found around the edges of the nostrils. In general, any surface that has a lip or a rim will show reflected light. Reflected light is also found where you have a shadow edge. A shadow edge is an area that is receding from the light source and usually turns into a cast shadow. In between this shadow edge and the cast shadow you will find a thin layer of reflected light.
* Blending
As always, blending should proceed from the darker areas towards the lighter areas and should be done parallel to the edges of the areas and always follow the natural flow of the subject. This will promote the illusion of depth and form and therefore realism.
* Size
Although everybody's nose is different, you should memorize the average size and placement of the nose, so you can always refer to this while you are drawing an actual nose.
The nose is measured from the bridge between the eyes to the bottom of the nostrils. This distance, on average, is equal to the distance from the bottom of the chin up to the bottom of the nostrils.
The bottom of the nostrils is, again on average, at the same height of the bottom of the earlobes. The space between the eyes is one eye-width and also gives you the distance between the outside edges of the nostrils. Of course, all these measurements are with reference to a frontal view.
* Flow
Remember that the nose is part of the face. In other words, the edges should be flowing into the face and not separate the nose from the rest of the face. So the edges should blend into the surrounding cheek areas.
In conclusion, it should be said that the nose is very important to the likeness of your subject. Pay close attention to the deviations from the standard measurements and location because these are important elements in what makes a good likeness. The above guidelines together with practice will make you an expert nose drawer.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert teacher. Check out his Pencil Portrait Course and his Portrait Print Package Special

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Remi_Engels 

 

Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Six Elements of Portrait Drawing

Drawing in general entails four distinct elements: line, value, texture, and form. In the special case of pencil portrait drawing we can refine the list of elements to six: form, proportion, anatomy, texture, value, and planes.
In this article we will give a detailed description of each of those pencil portrait drawing elements.
(1) Form or Shape - The illusion of three-dimensionality in drawing and art in general has been central to Western art for centuries. The carving out of form using line, structure, and value was a vital component of almost all Renaissance art.
On the other hand, oriental and lots of contemporary art emphasize flatness of form although this period in contemporary art is drawing to a close.
All form in drawing can initially be reduced to 4 basic 3-dimensional solids: bricks, cones, cylinders, and spheres. The proper use of these forms together with perspective and value leads to the illusion of 3-dimensionality even though the drawing is, in actuality, located on a 2-dimensional sheet of drawing paper.
In portrait drawing, the arabesque of the head, the square structure of the head, and all components within the head (nose, eyes, etc.) are all 2- and 3-dimensional forms that contribute to the overall illusion of 3-dimensionality
(2) Proportion - includes all sizing and placements of form. Proportion refers to the concept of relative length and angle size.
Proportion gives answers to these two questions:
1. Given a defined unit of length, how many units is a particular length?
2. How large is this particular angle? Answering these two questions consistently correctly will yield a drawing with the correct proportions and placements of all form.
(3) Anatomy - refers essentially to the underlying structures of bone and muscle of the head.
It is important to learn as much as you can about anatomy. There are many books available on anatomy for artists. For a portrait artist it is particularly important to understand the anatomy of the head, neck, and shoulders.
Anatomy studies unfortunately include a lot of Latin terms which makes it somewhat difficult to grasp. The idea is to study slowly and a little bit at a time because it can be quite frustrating.
(4) Texture - in portrait drawing expresses the range of roughness or smoothness of the forms. The rough texture of a concrete walk way, for example, is quite different from the smoothness of a window.
There exist several techniques and tricks to help you with the creation of the correct textures. Creating textures is an area in drawing that gives you the opportunity to be very creative and to use every possible type of mark you can make with a pencil. In portrait drawing textures occur in places such as hair, clothing, and skin.
(5) Value - refers to the variations in light or dark of the pencil marks and hatchings. Powerful portrait drawings employ the full palette of contrasting lights and darks. Beginning artists often fail to achieve this full "stretch" of value, resulting in timid, washed-out drawings.
(6) Planes - produce the sculptural sensibility of a portrait. The head has numerous planes each with a different direction and therefore with a different value.
The idea is to think of the surface of the head as a collection of discrete planes with a certain direction relative to the light source. You should try to identify each of the planes and draw its correct shape and value.
The correct handling of planes contributes very much to the likeness of your subject as well as the illusion of 3-dimensionality.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert teacher. Check out his Pencil Portrait Course and his Portrait Print Package Special

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Remi_Engels