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| Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Drawing - Using Strong Lights and Shadows |
By:
Remi Engels |
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Value is one of the most difficult entities of portraiture. Most artists are very reluctant about tone and do not push the darks far enough. This is often because:
1. Their eyes are not yet taught to see the subtle variations.
2. The fear of messing up a sketch.
Beginning artists can see big lights and big darks and halftones easily enough but it takes eye-training to see the finer variations in value.
In this article we will focus on the interplay of strong unconventional lights and darks that are cast upon the subject's head, i.e., light-dappled patterns.
As always, we first strike the arabesque and locate the facial features (brow line and base of the nose).
When dealing with a complicated tonal pattern the main task is striving to simplify the patterns. Drawing, in general, is invariably an exercise in simplification, i.e., making choices.
The next step consists of blocking-in the overall dark/light pattern with simple tones. At this stage do not yet refine the values because doing so will surely lead to failure.
Using a stump or your fingers, blend the graphite. If you use a paper stump be careful not to dull the values. The lights can be added, improved, and refined with your putty eraser.
The facial area and the hair are now carefully plotted in.
Keep these structural lines very light. Also, proceed constructing the tonal shapes|forms keeping in mind that, except for the sun-dappled pattern, the tone must be kept down, i.e., nothing in the shadows must pop out.
This is a subtle balancing act. Value must be added and then subtly modeled and/or removed. This requires you to constantly going back and forth.
Also, do not yet want to finish the facial features but be sure that the likeness is already there and that the sizes are right. That is, at this stage, your sketch should look like an under-painting.
Like color, tone is affected by the surrounding value. You can see, for example, that once the hair is blocked-in and somewhat refined that the facial area now appears lighter than before.
Next, you can return to the facial area and break down the big value masses into their various shapes and relationships by employing hatching, stumping and delicate eraser work.
The challenge with dappled light is to make the delicate patterns while still maintaining a coherent complete. As a general rule, cast shadows have hard edges while form shadows have soft edges of varying degrees. When using a stump, you should barely tap the paper. This allows you to keep the tiny lights that reflect off the paper thereby maintaining the image alive and vibrating with light.
To lay down the most subtle values use the blackest, hardest pieces of putty eraser you can find.
As is the case with the facial area, the values of the hair must be subordinated to the overall light and must harmonize with the face both physically and emotionally.
Finally, at this stage you can leave the sketch as is or you can push it further by adding more detail. That is an creative decision left to you.About Author:Download my brand new Complementary Pencil Portrait Sketching Course here: Pencil Portrait Sketching Course. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled sketching teacher. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: http://www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Using Strong Illumination and Shadows. |
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