Here is a recent testimonial of how understanding the principles of drawing has propelled a new artist forward and overcame her fear of drawing portraits:
I just had to let you know how much the portrait drawing workshop has helped me overcome my fear of drawing and painting people. With your clear measuring instructions, I feel confident my portrait will look like a real person with all the facial proportions right. I have been painting for about 4 years and taking classes on and off. I have noticed all of us (the students) floundering around the face, trying to make them look “human”. You actually explain how to do it right. No teacher or book I have seen has ever done that. The closest instruction I received was - “draw an egg shape, divide it in half for the eyes, divide in half for the nose, divide in half for the mouth, etc.” This simply does not work most of the time especially if you start off with the wrong size egg! Your systematic approach, approach, including the explanation and images of the bone and muscle structures underneath make drawing a pleasure, producing confidence that it will come out right.
This has changed my thinking completely. I was feeling I was too old to start portrait drawing, that it must take years to perfect a human likeness and I better stick to still life. I see now that it is a skill that can be learned. Shapes are shapes whether on an object or a person. Same thing for developing form.
Thank you for expanding my art horizon and giving me confidence to continue with the human portrait.
Regards and best wishes,
Sandra P.,
Hanover, MA
March 2010
Acquiring a solid foundational skill-set for drawing takes about three to six months of study and drawing practice. Before embarking on painting though, you should first learn how to draw - 90% of painting problems are drawing problems.
When you begin to learn to draw the first and most important skill to develop is the ability to strike the arabesque with a consistent accuracy of shape and proportion. Everything else builds upon and is a refinement of this one all-important skill.
And this drawing skill is easily learned.
Learn to draw portraits and faces
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The traditional, and surest, approach to learning how to draw is a logical progression of assessing proportion, shape and tone (generally called shading).
In this sanguine conte portrait drawing the arabesque, the entire outside shape of the head, is first struck. This all-important drawing skill is the first thing that I teach you.
The next step is to block in the initial light/dark pattern. Simplicity is the key, particularly with portrait drawing. You should always work from the overall general impression towards the specific.
Once the general arrangement of shape and proportion is satisfied then the form can be built vis-a-vis an additive/ subtractive process of applying pigment and manipulating form (this is called Modeling).
The finishing of a portrait drawing relies heavily on one's knowledge of facial structure and anatomy and, of course, the drawing medium.
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Other terms for striking the arabesque are contour, mise en trait, and outline. I prefer the term arabesque as it implies a dynamic gestural rhythm that imparts a sense of life into one's portrait drawing.
Learn How to Draw - step by step
The next step in learning to draw is how to accurately gauge the internal proportions of your subject, whether it be a still life drawing, a landscape or a portrait drawing. This is called placing the landmarks.
Placing the landmarks within the arabesque greatly eases the process of drawing - of course acquiring the skill of accurately adjuding proportions requires training (which is what we do with our learn to draw at-home DVD workshops).
Using an easy to learn series of exercises your eye/hand coordination can be developed to a high level. For the beginner this is exactly what the first section of my three DVD (6 hours) Beginning to Draw Workshop does.
In portrait drawing your major landmarks are: the browridge (not the eyes - this is important!), the base of the nose and the width of the face (usually from cheek to cheek - the zygomatic processes). The above portrait drawing of an elderly Balinese woman demonstrates the placement of the landmarks at a fairly early stage in the drawing.
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In portrait drawing a knowledge of anatomy is a requisite skill. But anatomy is also best left for later study; your first step is to acquire the foundational drawing skills.
But having said that the most effective way to learn anatomy for portrait drawing is to draw directly from the skull. Plastic skulls are available in most art stores although they vary significantly in terms of price and quality. Suffice it say that having a skull in your studio gives you an excellent teaching tool but also a ready model to draw.
Knowing the anatomical terminology is also important. Quite often just being able to put a name to a vague form enables you to draw it accurately.
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Once you have a working competency in striking the arabesque and placing landmarks the next drawing skill to be developed is rendering tone. Rendering tone, more commonly known as shading, is what creates the illusion of 3-dimensional reality in your drawings and portraits.
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Drawing with tone convincingly requires the skills of blocking in, cross-hatching, edging (soft & hard), understanding the effects of light, lifting out and stumping in.
The illusion of 3-dimensional reality in drawing is called plasticity. Plasticity is defined as giving form to an object or portrait drawing.
Learning to draw is a cumulative process of acquiring and honing new skills. In time and with practice you will develop a strong foundation upon which you can grow. Suffice it to say that without a solid foundation in drawing most artists will founder and stall sooner or later.
As a teacher of drawing, with over 20 years of experience teaching artists how to draw, I have developed a series of DVD drawing workshops that will train you in the fundamentals of drawing.
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Learn to Draw - A Testimonial
Over the three years in which I attended Michael Britton's art classes, a whole new world of art has been presented and opened to me by Michael and his team of resident artists. Michael has developed an excellent structure of classes teaching essential skills and developing a meaningful, rich artistic context in the work of his students.
In Michael's classes I gained an invaluable skill set - all aspects of art basics have been thoroughly taught - from art materials, preparation of supports, developing ideas, compositions and color harmonies, to methods of actually creating a work of art, and presenting it.
Equally, if not more valuable was Michael's utmost attention to the context of our art - it's place in the overall world of art, considering works created centuries ago till the modern days. Students have been encouraged to learn their craft, research the world of art, and finally find their own voice.
Michael's emphasis on the long, but rewarding process of turning student's potentials into skills is unique, and it proved invaluable for me. Michael doesn't allow for shortcuts and shortfalls - he demands his students to follow the process and always reach for their best, just the way he does - teaching by his own example.
Tatjana Mirkov Popovicki
Vancouver, Canada
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Resilience, Watercolor, Tatjana Mirkov Popovicki
Tatjana's career has blossomed since the time she began to learn to draw with Michael Britton. Tatjana is now a Senior Member of both the Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists and the Federation of Canadian Artists of which she has been elected President of in 2008.
Read more about Tatjana in Michael's April 2009 critique of her work. This article is in PDF format and you will need Adobe Reader.
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For the absolute beginner my Beginning to Draw DVD Workshop is where you build the solid foundation of drawing skills from which you will grow and develop as an artist.
In this intensive six hour, 3 DVD's, workshop you are trained how to see as an artist, how to prepare and use your drawing materials, and most importantly how to draw what you see whether it is the portrait, still life or landscape.
And to get you started on building your solid foundation my Beginning to Draw DVD Workshop is ON SALE FOR ONLY $97!! (Orig. $267)
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Plus you get ...
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Bonus 1 - My 70 page Beginning to Draw Workbook in PDF is included on CDrom free.
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Bonus 2 - Plus you will receive my exclusive complete Drawing Drapery Workshop and four special Foundation in Drawing exercises to further improve your drawing skills on CD rom as my special bonus.
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Bonus 3 - Plus Free Worldwide Shipping by USPS Priority Mail
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One year money back guarantee on all our DVD programs.
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That's five jam-packed disks (3 DVD's and 2 CD-r's) equivalent to 4 months of classroom instruction for only $177. And you can do it again and again and have a lifetime study reference. Get all the info here!
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MASTERING PORTRAIT DRAWING
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Once you have built your foundational drawing skills you will then be ready for portrait drawing.
Portrait drawing has since time immemorial been considered the highest endeavor of drawing. Many people, however, feel that portrait drawing is beyond them. Remember Sandra P. who, earlier in this page, talked about her fear of learning how to draw portraits? Portrait drawing can indeed be learned and this is what my Mastering Portrait Drawing: the frontal pose does. Beginning with the simple act of striking the arabesque I take you hand-in-hand through the entire process of rendering the portrait in graphite pencil.
Mastering Portrait Drawing: the frontal pose is a four hour training program. It is not just another watch me draw DVD. And this is an important distinction.
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Included in Mastering Portrait Drawing: the frontal pose is my comprehensive Atas of Facial Anatomy for the frontal view (anatomy is important!) and since drawings can go awry I have also devoted an entire chapter on how to analyze and correct your portrait drawings.
Mastering Portrait Drawing: the frontal pose is regularly priced at $157. But for a limited time it is only $127 plus I will also include ...
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Plus Free Worldwide Shipping by USPS Priority Mail
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One year money back guarantee on all our DVD programs.
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That's two jam-packed DVD's for only $127. And you can do it again and again and have a lifetime study reference. Get all the info here!
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AND IT GETS EVEN BETTER!!
Order both my Beginning to Draw and Mastering Portrait Drawing: the frontal pose DVD Workshops together (and also get all of the bonuses) for only $247! You SAVE an additional $57 on top of these already discounted workshops. Plus I will also include my Drawing Hands DVD workshop FREE! That's a $77 bonus!
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That's a total of six jam-packed DVD's - three complete workshops! - Beginning to Draw, Mastering Portrait Drawing and Drawing Hands! for only $247.
And you can do these workshops again and again and have a lifetime study reference.
This collection of SAVINGS is my Foundation in Drawing Suite! Get all the info here!
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Our mailing address:
Artacademy.com
93 S. Jackson Street
#23940
Seattle, WA 98104-2818
Call us toll-free at 1-800-427-2468
In Seattle: 206-219-9096
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