 |
Edgar Degas, Giulia Bellelli, a study for "Bellelli Family" |
How to Draw the Nose and Mouth In this stage of portrait drawing, let us name it the middle stage portrait drawing, we shall discuss how to progress on the face where the eyes are already located and nearly drawn. Thereafter the drawing of the nose and mouth would be our next agenda.
NOSE If we look at the nose of a person, we can see that it looks like a series of curves. Thus there will be less straight-line work. You can proceed by drawing two nostrils as they look from a distance. Marking of the main nose-line would define the shape of the nose helping to make the whole face identifiable. Here the nose lines should be drawn by giving less pressure on tip of the pencil, as you would require these lines to wither away while doing the final shading.
MOUTH The next step will be to mark the space for the mouth. This feature,
the drawing of the mouth, would make the whole face immediately identifiable.
So it would be prudent to concentrate while drawing the lines for the mouth.
You can begin by drawing a delicate line where two lips meet. The
mouth comprises two lips. Not required to be told. But what is required to
be told is that the upper lip tends to be very different, from person to person.
Look out for the exact shape of the upper lip of the model.
 |
| Suzanne Valadon Self-portrait Charcoal and pastel on paper National Museum of Modern Art, Paris |
The lower one would be easier then. It would be slightly bigger in size
than the upper lip. Keenly observe the creases and the stretches visible on the
lower lip; draw the same giving slight pressure on the tip of your pencil. Here
you should not worry about the detailed texture of the mouth, as you can take
care of it in the final stage of shading.
How to Draw Face, Ears, Chin and Hair Now you can proceed on to draw the
whole portrait. The residual features of the portrait are to be inserted into
the frame. Here you will consider the shape of the ears, the chin, and the
hair.
Drawing The Hair Style Starting from the hair you can slip down up to the shoulders.
If the person portrayed has long hair; then make sure about the position of the
hair. It would be advisable to decide whether you are to arrange some hair on
one of the shoulders or not.
It depends upon the choice of the person whose portrait you are making. The
hairlines can be straight or curly, as the case may be. If some hair is drawn
on one of the shoulders, especially the right one, it would create a strong
visual effect.
 |
| Emperor Sigismund's Portrait by Pisanello Albertina, Museum of First District, Vienna, Austria |
Here you are to take care of the
measurements of all the features of the face. This stage would finalize the
outer boundaries of the portrait. without doing that it would be difficult to
change a major part of the face. Once you have done the complete outline of the
portrait, just try putting some line drawing work on the head area and the hair
falling on the shoulder. From this stage, you are going to the final drawing of
the portrait. Now onward you would require making the portrait more
identifiable and more realistic.
Here in this final stage, you are can rectify whatever you find
correction-worthy. You can alter some of the linings or add a patch of shading
here or one more stroke there. Be careful. This is the stage that can make or
break your whole portrait. It may render your entire labour till the moment a
gone case. So to be extra careful here is the mantra.
In an ordinary sense, the drawing is over here. But an artist would not
stop thinking ahead. For an artist, it is important to know when and where to
stop drawing.
An experienced artist would apply here his or her intuition. You can
proceed further, guided by your intuition. There are no guidelines in the
intuition part. However, here you can think about giving more effects to the
light falling on the face or shoulders or anywhere in the portrayed area. In
enthusiasm, one might make the edges of the face harder or the nostrils more
darkish. So beware of overworking.
Cleanliness: When you start shading the portrait, take care of some practical matters. You will have to look at your hands, as there is every possibility of the lead powder making your hands or fingers stained, or blackened. If by mistake this stained finger is put on the drawing, it can spoil your whole work. Care should be also taken to not to allow the lead power on the face of the paper while doing the actual work, especially the shading work. You can avoid this with extra care. Better would be to start shading work from the top and go downwards.
Portrait drawing is a low-cost hobby; anyone can afford it, as it does not
put much weight on your purse. But it can be an exciting and rewarding career
if you want to convert it in that way. It is very much interesting because it
gives a budding artist the freedom to draw anybody’s face, may it be your close
friend or a celebrity. You can draw with the help of photographs, too. Though portrait drawing or painting is not an easy venture, the level of patience,
time allocated to it and constant effort will pay a rich dividend.
Tip for Portrait Making While making a portrait of a
person sitting before us or from his or her photograph, you should keep big
mirrors behind you and the subject, so that you can see the person being
portrayed and the portrait you are making at the same time. It is good for comparing
the work every moment. [All the drawings are in Public Domain, taken from
Wikimedia Commons]
