Drawing Heather and Ben

The most critical step of drawing a portrait is to get a good outline! This is absolutely critical. The shading will make the drawing come to life, but if you don't have all of the features in the correct location and proportion, the finished drawing won't look like the reference photo. Read through some of my other hubs to find out the best way to create an outline.

Once outlined, begin on one side or the other. Always start with the opposite side of which hand you are using. I am right handed, so I begin on the left side. If you do it like this, you will minimize the possibility of smudging your drawing.

The easiest way to explain how this works is to imagine your drawing in two different parts. First you have the outside shape; secondly you have inside shapes that will ultimately be your shadows or values. So take a good look at the reference photo and notice the shapes or shadows inside of Ben's arm. Now put these shapes on your drawing, at first lightly and then gradually adding more shadowing.

Now that you have the arm finished, you can begin to move to the right. If you will notice I finished his arm, hand and then moved to his shirt and eventually up to his face.

Once you have the shapes inside of the outline, it's time to blend the pencil marks. I use a tortillion, which is a tightly wrapped piece of paper that resembles a pencil. You hold it exactly like a pencil and place the tip on the pencil marks and with a swirling action you can blend the lines together. Take your time because this is where the true magic begins.

Now that I have a good bit of Ben completed I can move over and begin on Heather. The steps are the same, taking your time to get all of the shapes correct. As I blend with my tortillion I often refer back to the reference photo to make sure everything is correct. I can go back as needed and make changes. The other critical part of drawing a portrait is the eraser. I use a gummy kind, or kneaded as some call it. This eraser works well when using a dark pencil. It doesn't leave any residue and does a great job of removing unwanted pencil marks.

Below is a slide show of the remaining pictures. Click on the left button and you will watch the drawing come to life. If you have any comments, please leave them below. I take requests and have a personal website where you can get a hand drawn portrait of your own. http://www.soulreflectionsbyjeff.com/