Pencil Drawings of People: What to Consider pdf

Pencil Drawings of People: What to Consider... There are a few things to consider when creating pencil drawings of people.. Taking photographs can help capture that initial and genuine p

Pencil Drawings of People: What

to Consider

There are a few things to consider when creating pencil

drawings of people

1 Will you draw from a live model or photograph?

Personally, I find it easier and definitely more convenient if I can draw from a photograph It is also cheaper Drawing from a live model can and is very helpful when learning how to "see." However, keeping a model to pose for a few hours can be pricey and they can sometimes lose the genuine look of the initial

expression or pose

Imagine someone telling you to smile for two hours straight Eventually you would start to look like one of those creepy clown dolls Nobody wants that

Taking photographs can help capture that initial and genuine pose or

expression that you just can't quite examine drawing the subject live

Normal Rockwell, famous for his work with the Saturday Evening Post, knew this all too well His initial rejection of photography as an aid was like many

illustrators of his day It somehow seemed like cheating, and he was ashamed Then once he embraced it, his work flourished far greater than he could have ever imagined

Drawing from a photograph can also allow you to get detail that you would

normally not be able to achieve otherwise when doing quick pencil sketches of people

2 Do You Know Basic Proportions of the Head and Body?

The most commonly taught proportion of the male human body is 7 1/2 heads tall

To simplify this, you can make it an even eight, which is the ideal proportion that most artists accept It is more pleasing as the body is more elongated Fashion designers often use this proportion when doing pencil drawings of people to figure out designs

The key to remembering the proportions is easy if you break the body down into segments

By drawing a top line for the head and a bottom line for the heel and dividing this area into eight equal parts, you should be able to draw the body at any distance and perspective from the viewer with accurate proportions

Tip: The anatomy at this point is not as important as remembering the divisions of the body itself

The body width will be roughly 2 heads wide The taller you stretch the body, obviously, the higher this proportion will be Even at its biggest, however, the body will not exceed 2 2/3 head wide That is with the body being 9 heads tall This is just a very small tip of the entire world that is figure drawing

I will create more material on this subject in the future, as I am sure you are aware each part of the body can be broken down and studied For help with the

proportions of the head and face, click Here For now, let's get a solid overview of things to consider when creating pencil drawings of people

3 What Drives You?

What interest you the most? What is your background? Is it drawing portraits, nude drawing (which if you want to do any sort of figure drawing you must know

how to do successfully), or depicting a specific type of image such as farm life or urban hipsters? Drawing what you know is often the best way to go as you have more insight into the actual subjects you are drawing

I love creating pencil drawings of people So naturally, drawing portraits of friends

is close to the top of my list of interests I draw them from pictures, as getting them to stay still for any length of time would be impossible

I use the pictures that I find best depict their style, their look, and basically their personality I have quite a few eccentric friends, so finding interesting subject matter is not too hard It is finding the most expressive pictures and moments!

In Closing

The best piece of advice I could give when choosing to do pencil drawings of people is to:

Really get to know or study your subject just as an actor would do for a

character in a movie

The more in tune you are with the subject, the better you will be able to depict it and capture its sense and mood It will not even matter if your drawing is exactly perfect if you pick up on the subtleties of the subject you are drawing

The perfect test subject is often the self-portrait What subject do you know better than yourself? The subject of drawing people is a book that has no end There are fundamental drawing skills that everyone must possess to produce a convincing illustration, whether it is of people or objects These are of line, contour, and tone All of these essentially are ways of depicting light If you can learn to use these effectively, then you will be on your way to becoming one of the greats

Hopefully, this has given you a little insight in to what to consider when creating pencil drawings of people or any objects, for that matter But nothing can make up for sheer repetition As the old saying goes: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice Practice as much as you can and study your subjects You WILL get better Don't get caught up with the detail of the subject Capture its essence and rhythm