Introduction for Portrait Drawing Tutorial

Most people seemed amazed when someone posted a picture of a portrait drawing.

“Wow! You're good”

“Wow! I want to draw a portrait too”

“I wanna learn how to do a portrait drawing” and lastly

“Wow! You're improving, can you draw my face?” (Artist, face palm)

Sometimes people tend to ask artist to draw their face or draw their crush's face but little did they know, they can draw their face by their own HANDS! Yes, you can do it!

From the last article I published I entitled it “Unexpected talent" because I really didn't expect it. I was just bored and I just tried it. Watched some tutorials and applied it in every drawing and that's it, I can now draw someone's face. And I know you can do it also, just watched some tutorials or you can read this first to know some things that you should know before drawing a portrait. And read the next article.

Things you should know before drawing a portrait

Things listed below are my opinions only and base from my experience! Also, these are not to discourage you but I listed all of these for you to know if you really want to do this despite of difficulties.

1. Portrait drawing is not easy! Not because I/someone told you that you can draw a portrait it doesn't mean that it is easy. Of course it's difficult to make one portrait. But I didn't include this to make you feel discourage but to encourage you more. I included this for you know that every art deserved appreciation and you also deserved it. It may not be easy but once you learned to do it, everything will be worth it! If you really want to learn, you'll spend time on it. “True creativity does not come easily; creativity is born of risk and refined from failure.” -Wassily Kandinsky

2. It takes a lot of time to learn! Other people tried drawing a portrait and after trying it for the first time, they'll tell “I don't want to do it anymore, I can't” Are you kidding? It's your first time and that's your reaction? Did you really expect that your first drawing would be perfect? If you want a perfect drawing, do not be discourage just because you didn't made it for the first time. Every artist started with those kind of drawing! Aren't perfect, aren't good, they just practiced and spent a lot of time. So if you really wanna learn, don't expect a perfect art for the first time, instead spend a lot of time, draw more and see the improvement until you make it perfect.

3. You Need PATIENCE! In every drawing that you'll do, be PATIENT! Sometimes you'll encounter that you did it wrong, it doesn't look like the reference but the best thing to do is to erase it or if you can't fix it, you can just draw a new one. Yes! That's the life of artist. I actually experienced that and I almost stop making a portrait drawing because I always do it wrong but my friend told me that it's normal. You'll not always get the result you want. If you're not satisfied, fixed it or draw a new one and try to figure out which part of the drawing is wrong.

SOME TIPS IN MAKING A PORTRAIT DRAWING

These are some tips that I wanna share with you! Always Remember this when you're making a portrait drawing.

1. You should not draw if you're not in the mood, if you feel lazy or if you're tired! Never try to draw if you didn't feel like you want to do it. I swear, you'll just get a bad result. And if you're currently making a portrait then you suddenly feel being lazy or tired, rest first. You may go outside first, feel the nature or you may also listen to music for 30 minutes until you feel productive again. Don't force yourself!

2. Do it for yourself and not for others! In everything you do, just do it for yourself because if you do it for others, you'll not get the result you want and you will always have a thought of you're not good and you just want to stop because others did not noticed your art. You'll not improve if you always think that you need to finish it quickly so others may see it, you need to draw instantly so others will be amazed. That's a biggest mistake of an artist. Making art for others! It's not bad to show your art to others but just remember that you should not depend on them! If they liked it, then it's good. But if they didn't liked it, do not be discourage and do not stop making an artwork. Just continue doing it because that's what you love and not because that's what others love.

3. Take time in making your portrait drawing! Do not set a timer if you're making your artwork. It will also be a reason for a bad result. Just do it slowly but surely. If you do it quickly, you might make mistakes. You should already pay attention and do it slowly from the very beginning until the end. Especially in eyes, nose and lips because those are the most important part of the drawing. If you made mistake from those three, you might not be satisfied from the result at the end.

If you're still reading this, then congratulations, you're interested in drawing and thanks for reading those reminders and tips! So now that you already know those things and tips, wait and be ready for the next article because I'll teach you how to use Gridlines so you can draw your own face.