Portrait Drawing

I had two or three sessions to do a portrait drawing of a friend. I sat with my friend in front of me and studied the features to try to draw them accurately and draw my first proper portrait drawing. I started by learning how to draw certain features of the face step by step from my tutor. This gradually built up the face. I started off by drawing the eyes, as the eyes are a good point to start from when drawing a portrait because almost all the other features can be drawn in comparison and using measurements from the eyes. I then drew the nose, lips, and outline of the head, all using specific steps from my tutor which helped to draw them accurately and in proportion to the eyes. I then drew in the chin and jaw line, and then the ears. Next was the hair and eyebrows, and finally the shading and tone of the face. I used a 2B pencil for the whole drawing as this meant the outlines were quite light and I could also get a good range of tones in my shading from dark to light. The shading was the part that made the portrait look realistic, as the face is 3D and is defined by shadows and light hitting it in different places. When I added the shading, I was pleased with how realistic the portrait looked. 

Techniques I used to create my piece of work were shading, sketching, measuring, shape, and tonal study. I concentrated on accuracy and proportion, measurements and scale to make sure my drawing looked correct.

Areas of my work that I thought worked well were the shading, because I'm pleased with how realistic it looks and I think normally I'm not very good at shading but it turned out really well in my portrait. I'm really pleased with the whole drawing, and I think my use of proportion, scale and measuring are pretty accurate. Areas of my work that could have worked a little better were making sure the eyes were both the same size because one is slightly larger than the other. Apart from this and adding more tone to the hair, I don't think anything else needed to be changed. I like how realistic my portrait looks aswell. This portrait is the first piece of the life drawing project, and I'm pleased with how it's turned out, as the weeks go on I can improve my skills in drawing people figures so hopefully this has made a good start and I will be able to develop my skills and techniques more .

To extend on my skills I looked at my classmates portraits of each other, and compared them with my own to help me identify my strengths and weaknesses, and similarities and differences.