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Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Discrete Flat Areas in Portrait Sketching

Published by Remi | January 5th 2009 | Views:

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Most people have the fixed concept that the head is more or less shaped like an oval. Actually, the head is much more rectangular than we think. The oval concept is one of those simplified fixed icons the brain uses as a means for quick identification.

Most beginning students will usually render the face on paper as a flat disk or oval which it is not. Also, compared to the complete head, the face is quite petite particularly in babies. Your hand can fit the complete face. Place that same hand on top of your head and you will know at once how large your head really is.

To appreciate planes and thus obtain a sculptural sensibility in your drawing you must appreciate and use simple geometric shapes.

In general, the head can be framed within a square box. More accurately, this square box should be adapted to a phalanx-like box with the face on the smallest side. The head tapers towards the front which is the face. This is the crucial form of the head in the front view.

In the profile view the head is generally a cube. The difference is the facial angle (the "muzzle") that slopes a bit forward at the chin. In the 7/8 profile, the cube has simply been turned in space.

Again, it is very essential to think about the head in terms of simple geometric shapes. Once you have established the large simple shapes you can start establishing the smaller shapes inside the large ones. Pretty soon that collection of simp the three-dimensional result, even at this early stage.


The key is to think simply and large. At this early stage, do not pay attention to the minutia - they tend to mislead your sense of distance and direction.

Once the important elements are established, establishing the features (eyes, nose, etc.) becomes relatively easy. However, if you do not place those elements properly you will never be successful.

The front view of the portrait poses a unique test. If you are not careful you can end up with a flat, two-dimensional face. In this view, the plane changes are often quite subtle and difficult to place.

Be sure to note all plane changes in this front view and render them carefully in your sketch:

- Showing the forward tapering of the sides of the face is important to reaching a subtle three-dimensional result in this front view.

- The front of the face lies approximately in one plane.

- The plane of the forehead changes bearing as you move towards the top of the head.

- The plane along the cheek has a different bearing than the adjacent one along the temple.

The idea is to carefully note the directions of all the various planes that make up the head and take these differences into account when you draw. If you do, your sketches will possess a sculptural, three-dimensional sensibility. It is not necessary to draw out the geometry of the actual planes, but the differences in bearing must be plainly rendered.

In closing, it is very important that you are aware of the fact that a model's head consists of planes of changing directions and is not just an oval. This sculptural structure should be reflected in your sketch because it is important to the likeness and to the illusion of three-dimensionality.
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