Drawing a portrait requires many special tools designed for different techniques. The basic pencil is used for outlining the figure being drawn. Charcoal is used for shadows and adding depth to the picture.
First, take a picture of a favorite still life object, or ask a loved one to be a model for you.
To begin, draw the head. It should look an upside-down egg. Be careful. Look very carefully at the shape of the head, whether it’s a man or woman. Each shape is different.
Draw two lines, one from the top going down and the other going across. It should look like a big cross.
Make an oval shape in the center of the face where the lines intersect. It should look like a Cyclops’s eye.
Draw two more ovals on either side of the first for the eyes.
Then draw the nose by making two curved lines going down from the eyes. Look carefully at the shape of the nose on the model and draw it.
Draw the mouth by lightly starting with the bottom lip and the mouth. Lightly take the pencil and curvedly draw the lower lip. Then make a dark line for the space of the mouth. Slowly begin to create the upper lip the so it matches the lower lip.
The ears are the distance between the eyes and the bottom of the nose. Measure the distance between the eyes and the nose to determine how big your ears should be. Then draw the ears on either side of the head.
Then start to make the neck for the head. A woman’s neck is different than the neck of a man. A man’s is thicker, while a woman’s is slimmer.
After the basic part of the portrait is done, take the piece of charcoal and carefully begin to shade the picture. Start with the hair, and work from the head to the neck. Make sure to look at the shadows and determine how dark each shadow is. Depending on the lighting of the room, this determines the different shadows of the portrait.
Take a piece of tissue, and carefully blend the shades to make the depth and tone come alive. For around the eyes, take a cotton swab and carefully blend. Make round circular motions with the swab and blend the charcoal.
Take a pen or some left over charcoal and sign your name on the bottom and frame the masterpiece.