How to Draw a Girl, Little_girl

Little_girl, originally uploaded by paintlife7.

For accomplished artists, it would be an easy assignment to make a portrait of a man or a woman. He or she would not find many difficulties if the person to be painted is the age of more than five. But to make out a portrait of a boy or a very little girl is a challenging job. Here the artist has accepted that challenge. And the surprising result is before our eyes.

The most attractive aspect of the face of a child is innocence here the artists have succeeded in depicting the element of innocence very artistically embedded in the portrait. Look at the innocent smile lurking on the tiny lips of the girl. Only an artist claiming a huge experience in his or her curriculum vitae can do this magic. The main aspect is the creativity that is infused in an artist's soul. That creativity is the capital that is beyond depreciation or loss. Because the more you use creativity, it develops in strength and sharpness.

A Young Henrietta Anne

Portraits of Children by Master Artists:      There are few things more appealing than a child's face. However, many artists struggle with trying to create portraits of children. Some techniques can make learning how to draw a child's face more manageable.

A young Henrietta Anne (1644-1670), daughter of Charles I of England. Portrait by Van Dyke.

And the artist would find many appealing aspects while drawing a portrait of a child. It is because the face of a child would simply differ from the adults’. 

Those who know the right technique can do wonderful artwork by drawing or painting a child. When an artist like Anthony Van Dyke draws a pencil portrait of a child, it would be a masterpiece. Graphite was mined in abundance from the seventeenth century. before that time, artists mainly used charcoal for their preparatory drawings. Charcoal was also wonderful material. With the advent of graphite, and then the technical invention of the pencil, artists have got excellent help in creating objects on paper.

Look at the portrait that is given here. Here we can see the eyes full of innocence and playfulness. Though the size of the eyes is almost equal to an adult’s eyes, all other proportions of the child's face are different. If we look at the pencil shading part of the portrait, we can see that all other forms of the face are fully shaded. No part of the face is kept untouched. 

Mary Stevenson Cassatt, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons

Learn Portrait Drawing  There are artists who prefer two traditions of making a portrait: drawing live getting the person before the eyes and taking the help of photographs of the person.

To a portrait painter, working face-to-face with the model is a challenge. And when the model is a child or a small baby, it becomes much more difficult for the artists to maintain consistency in the portrait. But level-headed artists would certainly do their best. He or she can meet the challenge of art and efficiency.  

Here in this art piece, look at how the master artist Marry Cassatt has made a colour portrait of a girl. The girl is wearing a hat. This is a colour sketch prepared by the artist. It is an oil on canvas painting and was painted in the year 1910. 

Photographs, black and white preferably, can help. While using the photographs as a base for the portrait, one must try to understand what the photographs of the person reveal. The visible characteristics of a person who appears in the photo should be incorporated while drawing his or her portrait. 

Before doing shading work, or putting some advanced features onto the portrait, the artist must ensure that proportions of all the aspects of the face are incorporated. When the model is before your eyes, take care of the level of the light falling on your face. That will make the portrait a memorable one.

In this portrait making, the artist Marry Cassatt has maintained a fine balance of proportions that is crucial while drawing faces, eyes, noses and lips. Moreover, the artist has not failed to trace the element of innocence in the eyes of the little girl. We can surely say that the eyes reflect the inner simplicity of the girl's mind. The fast blackness of the eyes depicts the youthfulness of the girl.

Here is a small video taken from YouTube. It will be very useful to learn about drawing faces.

How to Draw a Girl, Little_girlSocialTwist Tell-a-Friend