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Posted: June 25, 2012

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Portrait Help

~Caylyngasm Jun 25, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

For all of you portrait artists out there, how did you go about making such realistic pieces? Does it just come natural to you or did you learn it? What advice can you give those of us who wish to become more skilled in this art? Also, do you use graphs to help with the proportions?

Any other advice on the topic of portraits/realistic works would be very appreciated!

thank you,

Caylyn

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*HyperionDreams Jul 30, 2012

I have been reading all the responses, and I think most of it has been said.
For me these are the most important ones:

Materials : Use good materials, portraits I do are done using graphite, using about 12 different pencils. Erasers, also very importants (kneadable gum, gum pencil,...)
Paper: Your media reacts different on the used paper, also make sure you use the correct one for the job.

Reference : Print it out, I always use colour ones, even for my graphite portraits, but that depends on the artist, you can also make it BW
Use a grid for getting extreme details on paper

Technique: Try testing different ways of getting texture on paper. You can use normal blending, circular pattern, scribbles, just test, experiment.

For me, drawing a portrait is a process of a lot of hours. Last 2 portraits I have done (Ian Mckellen/David Lynch) were drawings of +50 hours. That is a lot of time, but for me, needed. Drawing is more then just taking a pencil and putting something on paper. Try to envision the object in 3D and translate it to paper. Think about lightning, shadows, ... When you do realistic portraits, even the smallest details are important.

Good luck

~Astropeak Jul 28, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Practice using graphing paper...it will help you a lot if you have a problem with proportions. It came to naturally when I was young but once I stopped drawing portraits my proportions were jacked up so I used graphing paper to help me get my confidence back.

~M0NY11 Jul 28, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Everybody starts from the bottom, for me I was slowly very slowly climbing, then I realized artists are waaaay better than me every where so I started to push, one of the things very important in drawing that you need to push very hard, similar when your making a jogging work out, you push very hard for you to come fitter, In drawing all the push is mental, make drawing addictive don't let a day past whithout learning or drawing something take a break from time to time, try not to be affected by art blocks and lack of motivation, just open deviantart and see, as, yourself when shall I become like this? For me I think I have the ability but all the mental problems from depression to sadness to family problems effect, in just a year I made it in a good position see my gallery for it

~Retep1994 Jul 28, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

For all of you portrait artists out there, how did you go about making such realistic pieces?
I was just interested to try it and inspired to keep trying to draw portraits by seeing portraits produced on youtube vids.

Does it just come natural to you or did you learn it?
It definitely didn't come natural,I use to be much worse at drawing in general when i didn't use to draw but when i got interested in drawing i started improving.

What advice can you give those of us who wish to become more skilled in this art? Also, do you use graphs to help with the proportions?
At first it seemed really hard to draw a portrait but as i did more i improved and found easier ways to draw better portraits. Now, just recently, it seems much easier than it has been before for me to draw a portraits simply cause i understand the facial structure a bit more so im able to draw portraits freehand (not v neat ones though) without much problem now except i need to work on proportions but i think understanding how proportions change in 3d might help me. I dont really use any graphs but i use some guide lines sometimes.

~ChalmersArtwork Jul 7, 2012 Hobbyist Traditional Artist

Doing realism in general is about learning how to see and then how to translate that into your drawing method.
This tutorial helps with learning how to see shapes of a body [link] however i often find that people have more trouble seing the shadows they need to draw or their exact proportions. There is no one fix on how to learn these things, as people learn in diff ways. Personally i spent years obsessivly following peoples artworks online, trying to find any tips or videos that showed how they did it. Still do lol.

A couple of things:
Eyes and mouth, along with facial structure are what make a portrait look more like them. Get those as close as you can.
ALWAYS have a reference picture beside you to look at when your not sure.
No hard lines, blend out any lines.
If you cant draw perfect circles, or straight lines where needed, use a ruler or template.
Change your reference picture to darker and lighter and this well help show up the shading beter.
Nose, around the eyes, facial structure like cheekbones are all shading, not drawing.
The darker you go the more realistic it looks.
Practise, and try diff types of blending, or drawing, this helps you know how to create a texture when you strike it.
Details. they mater. Know each part of a a face. eg eyes. they have a water line and then a lash line, rather than just lashes straight under the eye.

So much more,

Hope i could be of any help.
Also, crit helps hugly with learning. I generally post my WIPS in #ArtistTree chatroom [link] as im working on it and they will tell me if anything is off and needs fixing. Your welcome anytime

~ArtbySterl Jul 6, 2012 Professional General Artist

HEY EVERYBODY!!! This is real unrelated, but I need votes fro the Deviant Design challenge!!! [link] Vote, Share, Tell your friends; If nothing else just click the link. The online community is strong and I know with you guys as a foundation I got this W!!!!!

~simone4390 Jul 6, 2012 Student

It did not come natural to me. I learned it slowly by doing much drawing from life. That's a good way to train the observation and the eye-hand coordination. I studied at a semi professional art academy (1 day per week for 7 years), starting with still lifes, then portrait and figure. These days I join life drawing sessions every week, also make photo's of the models, and sometimes finish my work on account of them. Wish you success and fun with it

~jigokuone Jul 6, 2012 Hobbyist General Artist

Very nice ,but i really also need/advice every time i draw young people turns to an old man/woman ,so how to fix this ?

~simone4390 Jul 6, 2012 Student

I could not find realistic portraits in your gallery so I cannot give a proper answer to your question. But a general mistake, which many people make, is that they draw their lines too clear in a portrait. This makes a person look older.

!eagleacz Jul 6, 2012 Student General Artist

There are basic guidelines of the facial structure and the details just come with practice

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