The Art: This
pencil drawing of the eyes is like the symbol of eye power, depicting
the beauty of the drawing. The visual description in such a way helps to sum up
the personality of the person so portrayed. The positioning of the eyes and the
nose and the size of the lips drawn makes the whole portrait look lively and
balanced. It makes the whole portrait look genuinely similar to the natural
face of a person.
Look at this pencil drawing. If we observe
the sliding curves and the soft and bold and precise strokes of the pencil, we
can surely see a definite rhythm in this spectacular pencil drawing. Here the
artist had excellently moved the tip of his pencil all around the portrait. And
the tip had done excellent work.
Though a pencil drawing was generally done
for transforming it into a watercolour painting or oil colour art piece. But
this pencil drawing does not look like a preparatory drawing; it is a
full-fledged portrait itself.
The most attractive part of this pencil
portrait is the drawing of the eyes. The eyes can make or break a portrait, as
it must resemble the original. If you are drawing a portrait like this one, while
drawing lips, make sure that it does not go much darker. It can be so dark
only case the colour of the lips of the person being portrayed is like
that. You are to put just the darker shading on the outline of lips only.
Ensure that the lower lip is slightly lighter than the upper lip.
You will take care to highlight the lips
accurately, as the lips are the first place where the viewers' eyes would be
moved. Eyes and lips are the focal points in a portrait. The puffy part of the
lower lips would give you ample opportunity to highlight it nicely. You can add
here some vertical strokes of B2 pencil or of the shade that the overall scheme
of the portrait permits. (Image Courtesy Photobucket)
The Art of Drawing: The most important aspect of
drawing a face is to arrive at the true alignment of the eyes, nose, and mouth.
While drawing the teeth, the internal part of the mouth, please notice the
effect of light carefully. The teeth lines might be pearly white but they would
be shadowed by lips. In drawing teeth, some lighter shading on the shadow part
and keeping the whiteness of the paper as it is would be a good idea. Do
carefully some shading work at the corner of the mouth where both lips
meet. In addition to this, the colour of the lips would always remain darker
than the other part of the face. Thus following the natural aspect, an artist
would be able to complete the drawing of the mouth.
How to Draw Mouth: With some
prior practising, it becomes easier to paint the mouth. However, you would find
drawing a closed mouth of a person a little bit easier. While drawing the open
mouth will be a test of abilities, meaning it could be difficult, as it requires constant practice. Here it would be necessary to draw the inner side
of the mouth, too, including the teeth, the gums, and even the tongue in
addition to the pair of lips. Drawing the mouth requires extra care because it
expresses the moods of the person portrayed. Drawing of the mouth and nose could
make or break the making of the entire portrait.
Draw in this sequence:
·
First the Eyes, then the Nose,
·
Thereafter the Ears.
· After locating eyes, ears and mouth, the drawing of Hair
and Lips.
·
And finally comes the shoulder and the clothes part.
Here is one of the most wonderful
drawings of eyes I have seen. Here in this pencil drawing, the artist has
made a very fine-tuned exploration of the lips and eyes of the person whose
portrait is made. The artist has tried capturing everything that we can observe
by looking at the eyes. The position of the eyes is apparently looking
very pleased. It is obvious that when the eyes look happily widened, the person
looks in a joyful mood.
This portrait is of the renowned painter Salvador Dali. The paintings done
in a revolutionary style are like a trademark of Dali's artwork. Here the
artists have done their best and depicted their artistic prowess beautifully. Look
at how the eyes and the eyelashes were drawn. When doing a pencil portrait, an
artist first draws the eyes, as it marks out the important expression. This
helps in putting precise measurements of the nose, mouth and forehead of a
person to be portrayed.
While doing portrait drawing, we have to perform several tasks: the
drawings of eyes, nose, cheeks, and lips, in addition to the outline of the
face. For beginners or for an artist of experience, it would be advisable
to start by drawing the eyes. This sets a basic foundation about how the person
looks, as we recognize a person mainly from his or her eyes. So drawing the
eyes is so crucial.
 |
| Pencil portrait of Duke François de Guise charcoal and sanguine on paper National Library of France, Paris Bibliothèque nationale de France |
Drawing Outlines of Pupil and
Eyeball of Eyes In the initial phase, you just draw the outline of the eyes keeping in mind the
shape of the eyes. Some markings of eyebrows and the darker places on the
eyelids would be the essential features to draw here, as they might not be left
out afterwards. Once the areas of the eyes are drawn, you can use a 3B or 4B
pencil for shading the eyelids and the surrounding parts. It would give you a
clear idea about the shape of drawing the entire face, too. While putting the iris
and pupil, you should rely on reference material, as it would be crucial for
the final look. You can refer to photos of the person if he or she is not
sitting before you.
While drawing the eyes, it should be kept in mind that the areas of the eyes
that are wet would take a different shine than the other areas. This can be
done by lighter using shading. it can be done by giving lesser weight to the
tip of your pencil. When the inner parts of the eyes are done with, you
can concentrate on the eyebrows, adding bristle-like hair or straight-lining as
the case may be. Finally, the lower eyelids and parts of the skin surrounding
the eyes would be important.
The constant practice would guide you on where to do lighter or darker
shading. It is simply like following the pattern of the light falling on the
different parts of the eyes. About the material to be used, ensure that the
best art materials are with you. The pencils of different shades from the
stores selling artist-grade materials; the drawing papers of different sizes;
three good erasers; half a dozen paper stumps: these would be sufficient
weaponry.
You can also try it by drawing your self-portrait or portraits of your
friends. If you are trying a self-portrait, it is very easy. Only you have to
spare an hour and a room with its doors shut! Try it today. In the
beginning, a pencil drawing is a visual thought in the mind of an artist. When
this thought takes the help of the tip of a pencil or a charcoal stick and gets
drawn on the face of a fine paper, it becomes an artwork.
There are times, especially during holidays when I feel like experimenting
with pencils. I take a printout of any photo of one of my friends. Help would
be taken from the regular weaponry: the 3B and 4B pencil, eraser, and a fresh
bunch of A4 papers.
(Image courtesy Flicker: Uploaded by joseboa ) (Images courtesy Wikimedia commons) (Image courtesy By Michael2266 (Template: Michael Trujillo)[see page for license], from Wikimedia Commons)
