Drawing Chloe

As in all of my drawings, the first thing to do is get a photo reference that is clear and shows plenty of detail. So many want a portrait done, but the photo they have is blurry, or doesn't show a lot of detail. If I had my way, I would ask all reference photos to be from a professional photographer. Their photos are always so crisp and detailed. Unfortunately that isn't always possible, so make sure you get the best you can and go from there.

An outline is the first step. There are a number of ways to complete this step. You can simply free hand it. Most seasoned artists can do this with some practice. Free handing a portrait outline can be difficult. To me the trick to capturing the spirit of the photo is to get the eyes correct. As they say, "the eyes are the windows to the soul."

Some of the other ways are flip method, grid, measuring, and using shapes. The flip method is something I learned a few years back from an artist in Knoxville, Tn. He was always drawing and painting in the lobby of one of the local malls. I befriended him and learned a lot. He sizes the reference photo to be the same size as the actual drawing. He then tapes the reference photo on top of the drawing paper. Once in place, he flips the photo up and down quickly, just like they did when they made an old fashioned cartoon. The trick is for your eye to still see the image on your drawing paper even though you have raised it up. So it takes many times doing this to get a good outline.

A grid is used by me whenever I am making the drawing a different size than the reference photo. Look at some of my other drawing blogs where I go into detail about a grid. Measuring to me is the best way to go. I use my free hand and then my handy dandy see through ruler to make sure the positioning, such as the eyes, are correct. Some artist will use shapes, like a series of circles. I can do this, but to me, the other methods are better.

Once you are happy with the outline, begin. I always start at the left side of the drawing. I do this because pencil marks can smear easily when you lay the palm of your hand down. So if you start with the opposite side of the hand you are using, you will minimize this from happening. On this drawing I decided to start with the hair. You can see how I begin by shading the hair area to the correct darkness. While in the middle of shading in the hair I had to deal with the ear and a little barrette at the top of her head. Just get these as close as you can. Remember, you can always go back and add value to the drawing. To me this is like painting a car. You start with a thin coat and go back later and add more paint. It's the same with drawing.

The next picture, you can see where I began to shade in the area of the eye. To me, this is simple, if you see dark areas on the reference photo, just make it the same way on the paper. Shade your drawing using shapes. The little shadows on the reference photo appear like small shapes.

Next I began to detail the beads around Chloe's neck and add some value to other areas of the face. Once you get some of the darker values down on the paper, use a tortillion to blend the pencil marks. There are other ways to shade, but since this is my hub, I will talk about the way I do it. A tortillion is a rolled up piece of paper that looks like a gray pencil. It is sharpened on one or two of the ends. You hold it in your hand, just like a pencil and push the tip down on your pencil marks and then you can blend!

The next couple of pictures shows how I worked my way down the page. I finished up with most of the face area and moved down to the body. Chloe has some wrinkles in her skin because her body is twisted. So I made these lines visible, just like in the reference photo. The shading is critical here, so take your time and get it right. Once there I moved on down to the little ballerina dress and outlined the edges a little darker. I use a tortillion to do a lot of my work. Sometimes I actually draw with the tortillion, since a lot of the pencil lead is still on the tip. This technique takes a lot of practice, so be patient and have fun!

If you enjoy my artwork, you can check out more of it at www.soulreflectionsbyjeff.com

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