Art Fun Cheap

By Remi Engels, guest blogger

Presuppose that we have a profile where the head, arm, and fingers are visible and are in contact. Very often, the starting artist will endeavor to sketch each of these elements independently. The approach will invariably lead to frustration and in the end often to failure.

Instead of drawing each element independently, the first step in your sketching should be to draw the “whole” arabesque, i.e., the full contour of the figure. The inclusive arabesque which includes parts other than the head (in this case the skull, fingers, and arms) is called the “construct”.

For the beginner it is best to reduce the complete arabesque to its simplest shape thereby ignoring all the details such as the bumps in the fingers and the hair. With experience, you will be able to add all these bumps without much difficulty as you go along.

A good construct (also known as a complete arabesque) also contains a singular gestural rhythm that subordinates all details. In other words, this rhythmic gesture exists free of the minutia.

When you are drawing a single entity or head the checking of the height/width proportion is fairly straightforward. As a universal rule the width of the skull is checked against its length employing the base of the chin as the chief landmark.

If, for some reason the chin is conceiled (e.g., behind the arm or fingers), an other landmark must be found. The arm, the jaw, or the lines of the fingers are good places to find a new signpost.

Once you have drawn an adequate construct it must be examined for accuracy. To do so, we can, for instance, look for vertical and/or horizontal lengths that are supposed to be equal and see if they in fact are the same. Use all your acquired knowledge of sighting. Also use your general knowledge of anatomical placing of the ears, eyes, etc.

Once you are pleased that the construct is appropriately drawn you can proceed to block-in the prime light/dark blueprint and take your first tentative stab at drawing the facial area, i.e., the placing of the brow, the eyes, the nose and the mouth. Again, if the usual landmarks for those entities can for some reason not be made use of you should be imaginative enough to determine suitable substitutes.

Keep blocking-in all entities as soon as you draw them. This includes the fingers, arms, and hair if any of them are visible in the given profile you are sketching. Remember to always work from the general to the specific.

Also, be sure to use a sharp pencil, take into account your knowledge of anatomy, and always look for errors and, of course, correct them.

Next, the pencil portrait sketch must now be worked-up tonally by cross-hatching with 8B, 2H, and 4H pencils, by stumping down the pencil dust with your fingers or a stump, and by using your putty eraser to characterize the lights. All this should be done in a sculpturally manner.

Lastly, you can decide how much details you want to put into your sketch or how uncompleted you may leave the drawing. For example, you can leave some parts of the fingers or the arm unfinished. Or, if you want to emphasize a certain part of the portrait, you can increase the munitia in that region and leave the other parts slightly uncompleted.

These are a few of many considerations that go into drawing a more intricate portrait that has a construct. One critical thing to memorize is to draw the construct first so you do not end up sketching one entity after another without maintaining harmony. Following these rules will surely put you on the proper path of sketching more complicated portraits.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing tutorial here: portrait drawing course.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced drawing teacher. See his work at pencil portraits.