Good teaching is like finding gold; it's a treasure. And, it can save you years of searching and trial and error. This, after all, is the genius of civilization and the foundation of progress: We build on the struggles, insights and discoveries of those who succeeded in the past. To anyone who is serious about art and artwork, who wants to get better and is willing to work (that's a mouthful, I now, but an important one): I highly recommend Michael Britton 's teaching materials.
Bill Polm
Murrieta,California
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Learn How to Draw - Portrait Drawing
Step by Step
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Portrait drawing is, in my estimate, the highest endeavor an artist can aim for as they learn to draw. Learning how to draw portraits is a step by step process of developing new and apply new skills.
Learn How to Draw Portraits Step by Step - the arabesque
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The first rule in drawing is to always work from the general overall impression to the specific. Your first step as you begin to learn how to draw the portrait is to acquire the ability to strike the arabesque.
The arabesque is the entire outside shape of the portrait drawing - the arabesque entails both the overall height/width proportion and the shape. Once you can consistently strike the arabesque accurately in your portrait drawing then you will find that you will progress rapidly as you learn how to draw.
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A very common mistake that the self-taught artist makes is to begin a portrait drawing from the inside of the face, usually beginning with an eye, and then proceeding to work outwards. This may seem the easier approach but it is a seriously flawed method to adopt when you begin to learn how to draw portraits.
A Portrait Drawing Lesson: Learn how to draw the arabesque
Once the arabesque of your portrait drawing is drawn correctly the next step is to place the landmarks of the face: in portrait drawing this is, in order of importance, the browline and the base of the nose. All you need are these two landmarks. However they need to be placed correctly and that is the caveat that you must address as you learn to draw portraits. Developing your eye to accurately gauge and fix the landmarks of the face is an acquired skill that is taught in both my Beginning to Draw and Mastering Portrait Drawing DVD Workshops.
Learn how to Draw Portraits step by step - blocking-in
In my conte portrait drawing of Verna I blocked in the primary light/dark values with the side of my conte crayon.
Once the primary dark pattern was laid in I stumped it down using my fingers to obtain a single, even tone in my portrait drawing. Admittedly, this is not a pretty stage in the drawing but it is a necessary one.
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Understanding value and tone is the next step in your endeavor to learn how to draw portraits. The pushing and pulling of tone is an additive/ subtractive process of applying, or shading in, tone and then lifting it out with a kneaded eraser.
A Portrait Drawing Lesson: Learn to draw - tone & value
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Back Issues of the Drawing E-Zine
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