Exercise 1 - Facial Features
When considering the task of drawing people, it can’t be understated how important the head is. For most, if not all viewers, the head will be the focal point and be the most scrutinised. As with figure drawing, understanding the how the head is built, its underlying structures, and their relationships is vitally important. But let’s not run before we can walk; every head is constructed with the same basic features. I’ve spent some time doing studies of these features and a selection of them can be found here.
Ears
The ear is a complicated arrangement of ripples and folds of flesh. The sheer volume of planes and plane changes make them difficult to render. I’ve found that ensuring that the contrast between light and shadow, is the key to making them feel real. A narrow tonal range can make the drawings feel flat, like pieces of bacon stapled on the side of the head. Another complication is that the ear isn’t in isolation. Hair, jewellery, glasses, even hats are present which adds to the shadows and half tones making them all the more difficult to draw well.
Eyes
The eyes are the window to the soul or so they say. So, if the head is the focal point of an artwork, the eyes are the focal point of the head. We read so much emotional context from the eyes and as such need to be treated with care and respect when drawing. Again, understanding the structure of the eye ball and the socket in which they sit is important. As this can drastically affect how the eyes are not only drawn but also read by the viewer.
Noses
I’m a bit at a loss of what to say here. Noses and the sticky out bit right in the middle, the come in all shapes and sizes. It’s the one facial feature I struggle the most to capture accurately, because it sticks out. Making a drawing of a nose feel real and 3D is really challenging. Not only do you need to capture its inherent shape but also the shadows it casts.
Drawing the whole head
Exercise 2 - Your Own Head
Mirror Studies
These are some of the quick studies I have drawn of my own head. I’ve used a variety of materials and have tried not to worry too much about likeness. Going through the process of producing these drawings, has been hugely informative. While taking the lessons I’ve learned from the previous exercise forward, I feel I’ve also gained a better understanding of how the features interact with each other.
This self-portrait was executed in soft chalk pastel on A3 grey toned paper. Although to some this piece may look unfinished, to me this is a finished work. When I reached this point, I had the overwhelming feeling of finality. The fully rendered eye in the middle screaming for attention, the solid emptiness of the right-hand side contrasting with sketched in vacancy of the left side. In a way it reflects how I’ve been feeling throughout lockdown. At times I’ve felt empty and vague, whilst at other times black and hopeless, whilst trying at all times to remain engaged and focused on what’s right in front of me. From a technical perspective I can’t decide if I should crop the bottom of the image like this.
Does that make it feel more coherent? I’m not sure.
This was done in alcohol markers, A3 on marker paper. I’d set myself the challenge of producing a drawing with a much brighter palette. I’d recently bought a new selection of pens and whilst playing around with them, I liked the marks they made, and thought they’d produce an interesting portrait. I feel this image, although a less convincing likeness does demonstrate a very different emotion than the first. This me is annoyed. I’m not sure why he’s annoyed but he’s definitely not happy about something.
I think the first portrait is the more successful. The pastels allow for a much more gradual transition of tone, which helps with accurate depiction of light and shadow. Along with a flexibility that the markers don’t, you can work on top of them building up in layers. Where with the markers once it’s down on the paper it’s very difficult to adjust. Of all the drawings I’ve done of myself in this exercise I don’t think I’ve quite nailed the likeness in any of them. But what I will say is, that in each of them there is some inherent Ian-ness. Drawing a full portrait is difficult, and significantly more challenging than producing studies of individual features. It’s the spaces between the features that create the likeness, no amount of reading tips and tricks can substitute for practise and concentrated observation.
Exercise 3 – Portrait from memory or imagination.
When producing an image of a known person, it’s very easy to get wrapped up in capturing an accurate likeness. But as we know, this is so much easier to produce with a camera, that’s what photography is best at. What a drawn or painted portrait should do is tell us a story. Who is the sitter? What are they thinking? Why has a portrait been produced in the first place? I’m reminded of the Five Ws method of information gathering. Who? What? When? Where? Why? I’m not suggesting that every portrait should answer all these questions. But keeping them in mind can’t do any harm when producing a portrait with a good story.
My portrait is from imagination, before I began, I thought about who I was going to paint.
I’d didn’t overly concern myself with specifics of the face, I allowed my imagination to create it as I went along. But I did continue to refer back to the few key things I wanted to depict.
To make matters a little bit more challenging I decided I would paint this portrait. I have very little experience painting and thought this was a great opportunity to see what I was capable of. It’s painted in acrylics on canvas. I tried to keep in mind all the things I’d learnt and practised earlier in the course. Working slowly to build a believable face one layer at a time.
Overall, I don’t think I’ve done too bad of a job, could it hang in the National Portrait Gallery? Hell no, it’s a bit of a mess. But there is a real person in there trying to get out, I’m especially happy with the nose, the asymmetry helps add to the feeling of disjointed, unease.
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