Program(s): Pencils and Paper :)

A short tutorial on drawing.

Before I was trained in the arts, I did not see myself as an artist. In fact, I was the total opposite of an artist. I studied programming and excelled in math! So I was kind of intimidated when I started going to school that was for artists. Well, first thing they teach you is that drawing is a learned skill. You can have the talent to begin with, but you can also be taught to learn and develop it.

For the most part, its just training your eye to see things differently. Now the following drawings were done over many hours, they're not just simple sketches, although thats how they started. Lucky for you, I had scanned these as I progressed :)

You can see the faint lines from which the drawing started from. I almost always start from the eyes when doing a close up face like this. Rough in the basic proportions lightly - I used a 2H pencil for that. Once the proportions and light outlines look good, then you can start your basic shading. The trick is to get as little 'line' as you can. If you look on a face, you'll see that theres little to no lines. Features are formed by shades. Take a look at the corner of the nose.

Also take notice of the bottom lip. The only lines on the lips are on the inside. The top and bottom is formed by shading. Notice in this second picture, I started forming the cheek. I do admit, I used my fingers on this one to shade. Some say thats a no-no, some say go for it. Its a style decision that you can make for yourself.

Detail, detail, detail :)

Hair is tough, I believe this was one of my first attempts at decent hair. Came out alright. At the bottom of the page, you can see one of my works where hair came out great. After the face was nearly finished, I started from the top of the page down, adjusting the values of shading as i went. I tend to drag my hand across the page, so i wanted to get the top done before the bottom.

And now, the final....

Looking back at it (this was done awhile ago), I could definitely go in and refine the hand and elbow a bit. Probably the hair too. The arm is lacking a range of values. You could say I slacked at the end of this peice :o

Now below is a half-way scan and a final rendering of another drawing. I still think its one of my best drawings to date - full peice is 11x14 and under glass right now :) ....

Practice, practice, practice. Study form, lighting, shading, etc. For the above drawings, I used 2H, 2B, and 6B pencils. I tend to draw light, so the darker pencils help. I dont get to draw finished peices like these like i used to, but when I do, it is an enjoyable experience. Definitely a learned skill.

Feel free to email me any questions/comments :)

Written by Ice