In this article we imagine that you draw directly from life or from a suitable photo. In other words, we imagine that you do not use the so-called grid method. This technique relies on a grid drawn both on the photo of your subject as well as your sketching paper.
If this is the case, the first thing you will do is to produce a line-drawing. And the very first part of your line-drawing will consist of sketching the so-called arabesque.
In pencil portrait sketching, the arabesque is defined as the complete positive shape of your subject’s head. In other words the arabesque is the outer contour of the skull.
The arabesque includes the proportions, the form, and the symmetry of the skull. This means that the arabesque communicates pretty much an overall likeness of your model and often a great deal of emotional content.
In trying to realize the arabesque we meet our first challenge as a draftsperson. That is, the test of “seeing the reality”. Indeed, when we note an entity a complex mental process is started which in part falls short of the level of accuracy necessary to create an adequate portrait.
The mind, for good reasons (one is to maintain our sanity), instantly replace the very complex object with the an icon it has stored since childhood. For instance, we all know how a child sketches a house. It really is more like a symbol of a house. But this is what the mind tends to bring up and often even adults sketch a house like they did as a child.
Evidently, it is these iconic preconceptions (a left brain phenomenon) that are the enemy of the artist. You must train yourself to ignore those icons and really see what the reality of, for example, a house is.
In general, learning to sketch is about the reprogramming of the mind’s eye. To this end, there is a skill-set that has been developed over the ages since the Renaissance.
Applying this new found technique to the arabesque is particularly significant. “Drawing” the arabesque is maybe the most essential element in the creation of a superior likeness. Once you have this technique down path all the rest will follow comparatively effortlessly.
The first step in drawing a correct arabesque is to force your eyes a bit out-of-focus. This condition is called observing with a “soft eye”. With a soft eye proportions and shape are more easily seen. It also helps you to avoid the invocation of the symbolic preconceptions we mentioned.
To train your eye to improve your powers of seeing you must always draw first and correct second. There is not much to gain from pre-measuring. The habit of pre-measuring of the height and width of your model’s head will hold you back in the long run.
When drawing the initial arabesque always use short straight, i.e., architectonic lines. This will impart a sense of the skull’s structure and the form of the underlying bones and tissues. Note that round or curving lines are iconic preconceptions.
Also keep in mind the symmetry of the head. The term “symmetry” in the context of sketching and painting does not so much refer to the similarity of two parts but more to the beauty that results from accurate proportioning and rhythm.
After striking the arabesque (without doing any sizing) you can check the proportions. Take a measure of the largest width (i.e., the width of the arabesque across the brow line) and set it off vertically beginning at the bottom of the chin. The end point of the width almost always ends up somewhere close to the middle of the hair.
The idea is to establish exactly where that end point is situated. Best is to judge the shorter of the following two lengths: (1) the vertical distance from the brow line up to the end point of the measure; (2) the vertical length from the end point of the measure up to the arabesque. The shortest length is likely to be the most right. Do not forget, the arabesque encompasses the entirety of the skull including the hair.
With practice your eyes will develop this critical technique. Then, once the proportion and form of the arabesque have been established you are set to continue with locating the so-called landmarks.
Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing course here: portrait drawing course.
Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled drawing teacher. See his work at pencil portraits.
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