Advice for beginner artists: how to draw people in stages with a pencil?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Drawing is one of the most interesting and exciting activities. It can be creativity for oneself or a favorite profession that brings income. Drawing classes are open to everyone, because in childhood everyone draws. Unfortunately, growing up, many people forget about it.

Pencil drawing is one of the basic techniques. Academic drawing, i.e. pencil drawing following all the rules of construction and anatomy, is the best place to start.

How to draw people step by step with a pencil: sketches

Sketches are short sketches of people in different poses, respecting the proportions of their body parts. The main purpose of sketching is to learn how the human body works, how to depict the lines of arms, hips, waists, etc. The best advice for those who want to know how to draw people step by step with a pencil is to sketch. Usually students of 1-2 courses of art educational institutions do this, as it helps to quickly learn what you need to know about the humantele.

Details do not matter in sketches: facial features, hundreds of folds in clothes, decorations on nature - we will leave all this for later. If you want, you can emphasize something important: the most pronounced crease or the frown of a person's eyebrows.

Fulcrum in drawing people

The main thing in sketching people is to make sure that the figures do not "fall". Answering the question of how to draw people in stages with a pencil, it is impossible not to say about the fulcrum. To determine it, it is necessary to draw a perpendicular from the middle of his head to the floor on which the figure stands. In a standing position (if a person leans on two legs), the fulcrum will be in the middle between the feet. If the support is only on one leg, the line should go to the middle of the heel.

The situation is different with sitting figures: the line goes to the buttocks.

How to start a portrait

Quick sketches of human figures is the first step in learning to draw. Having mastered it, you can proceed to the next - the study of details.

The best details can be conveyed in a portrait. A portrait is a special art that is not accessible to everyone. Unlike a sketch, the mood, the atmosphere is important in a portrait. The expression of the eyes, the lines of the mouth, the direction of the hair - all these nuances create the overall impression of the picture. A skilled artist always keeps this in mind, as well as the anatomy of the face. The construction rules must be followed, otherwise the drawing will turn out to be illiterate.

How to draw people step by step with a pencil:

• Draw an oval (head) and neck fromhim.
• Divide your face into two halves. Pay attention to perspective. According to the rules of perspective, what is closer to us is always larger than what is further away. If the head is turned, the eye, part of the nose and lips on the far side of the face will be smaller. Don't make the difference in the size of the two halves too big: it should be distinguishable, but not conspicuous.
• Mark the person's facial features: eyes, nose, mouth. You should do this schematically, trying them on your drawing. Do not immediately seek similarities with nature. Hair can be defined abstractly without drawing the hairstyle thoroughly.

Correction of errors in the drawing

It's rare to get a person's face right the first time. Edit those parts that interfere with the resemblance to nature. Drawing a portrait of a person in stages with a pencil is not an easy task, before reaching the result, every artist faces setbacks. If it is difficult to determine what exactly is wrong, measure the ratios in the face. For example, the distance from the nose to the lips, from the eyes to the nostrils. And also the distance between the eyes, compare the edges of the nostrils and the edges of the lips, the width of the cheeks and the height of the entire face, etc. Nature analysis helps to achieve maximum accuracy in the image on paper.

Working on details

To draw a person's face with a pencil in stages, you must follow the rules of light and shadow.

Schematically mark the shadow and light parts of the face. These areas can be circled on the shape so you don't forget about them.

If the light fallson the right, the shadow will be on the left, and vice versa. With the help of light and shadows, it is easy to emphasize facial features and make the drawing more realistic. It is best to make a shadow near the nose, above the lip, on the chin and shade those parts of the forehead on which the hair falls. If the head is turned, then one half will be in partial shade.

Slowly refine every detail of the face. It is not recommended to fully work out the eyes, and then deal with other parts of the face. This will break the harmony: by the end, every detail should be worked out equally. Gradually filling in the shadows, separating the illuminated areas from the dark ones is the best solution for anyone who undertakes to draw a person's face with a pencil in stages. Here are some tips for using pencils in drawing a portrait:

• For drawing shadows, soft pencils B or M are best suited. If there are particularly contrasting places on the face where the shadow is completely black, it is good to use a pencil from 3B to 5B. With pencils of this softness, it is easy to emphasize especially bright lines of the face, but they should be few.
• For penumbra, a medium HB pencil is suitable.
• The areas where the light falls can be shaded with hard H pencils, and the brightest places can be left with paper colors.

Practicing hard in the image of ordinary people, a novice artist can even draw an iron man. You can draw anything with a pencil in stages, this technique is simple if you understand the principle of working with shadow and light. Constant review of whatdepicts the artist, will help him better convey nature, various materials and atmosphere in his paintings.