How to learn to draw a portrait Automatic translate

Measure in Figure

Beginners are often disappointed because their sketches of people look "somehow wrong." Usually this is due to non-observance of the relative proportions of the face or body of the person portrayed. Fortunately, fixing the situation here is pretty easy.

Pencil Measurement

For any measurements, use your pencil. If, for example, you need to check the distance from the waist of the sitter to the top of his head, hold the pencil in outstretched hand so that the thumb is facing you (left). Then, closing one eye, align the tip of the pencil with the crown of the person, and move the thumbnail to the level of his waist. Without lifting your thumb, transfer the measured length to the paper. The same method can be used to measure the width of a human figure, and to measure the arms and legs forming an angle with the body, tilt the pencil at an appropriate angle.

Vertical and horizontal

To obtain the correct proportions of the picture, it is best to place parts of it on a simple grid. First of all, find the main axis for the model you represent - horizontal for a lying figure or vertical for a standing or sitting person - and outline it with a weak line on paper. To complete the grid, add shorter lines to this axis at the appropriate angles; in some places you may even need diagonals. These lines will create reference points for you, with which you will constantly consult to accurately place the elements of the picture. Find strokes related to distinct, easily recognizable details, such as a belt or line through the middle of the nose. At the same time, constantly check the accuracy of the transmission of proportions with a pencil.

Proportions and Contours

Years of observation have led artists to create the perfect human body, in which each part is in the right proportions to the whole. Knowing this perfect shape will help you portray people whose body is hidden under clothing. Just don’t become slaves to such ideal ideas - few of us look like a god or a goddess, and you won’t find two people with identical figures; someone’s legs are too long or short, someone’s excess weight or, conversely, thinness. For a realistic depiction of a figure, it is useful to observe how life differs from similar ideals. These pages also show how the anatomical proportions of a person change with age.

Children

Compared to the body, the child’s head is much larger than that of an adult. As a person grows, this ratio changes - the height of the head increases very slightly, and the body stretches several times. Girls are the first to reach puberty, but both in them and in boys, growing up is more likely in muscle development and the loss or accumulation of fat in different parts of the forehead, and the proportions of the head and body at this age are approximately the same.

Adults

Adult males are usually taller than females, but for both, the head is about one-eighth of the total height.

Based on these ideal proportions of the head and body, you can approximately determine the comparative value of other parts of the figure. The male torso makes up three “heads”, and the boundaries between these three segments pass approximately through the chin, chest, waist and crotch: the hips are in the middle of the body height. The upper and lower parts of the legs are each made up of two “heads”, and the width of the shoulders is slightly larger than two “heads”. In women, the proportions are slightly different. The torso is slightly longer than the male, and the legs are shorter. The distance from the waist to the chin is less, but from the waist to the hips a little longer.

In adult men and women, not only comparative vertical proportions, but also horizontal ones differ, and this gives each figure its own individuality.

Contours of the male and female body

The widest part of a man, as a rule, is the shoulders, which make up two and one third of the “head”. And in women, the width of the shoulders is only two "heads"; their hips are widest. If you compare the sketches to the right and bottom, the difference in shape is immediately noticeable. Note that a woman’s waist (bottom) is much more emphasized than a man’s (right).

Applying contours in a drawing

A difficult pose of a person can easily be reduced to a simple contour, which can then be modified to a finished figure. To identify the hidden structure and forms, develop in yourselves "x-ray vision", which allows you to see through the covers of clothes.

Always pay attention to the space around the person you are picturing, the objects surrounding him, and other people. In contact with any object, the contour of the model’s body or some part of it forms a common shape with it. You will find that most often these forms are triangles, rectangles and spheres. Triangles are usually guessed in figures sitting leaning back, as in the opposite picture (triangles form bent joints). When portraying such figures, do not forget that the parts of the body closer to you will appear larger than the rest.

Perspective and Shortening

In the person depicted on this page, the perspective makes shorter different parts of his figure. As a result, although you know the true magnitude of some parts of the body, they will appear larger or smaller compared to others because of their position in space. The left leg of a person seems unusually large compared to the height of the head. You may also notice that the lower part of the legs is larger compared to other parts of the body than you would expect, and yet the pattern looks “correct”.

Light and shade

To depict protruding and distant forms of a human figure, you need to look at the play of light on its surface. The skillful use of light and dark tones will help emphasize the shape and depth, and this is especially important in those drawings where facial features such as the nose are difficult to show without the use of tone.

Tone and shape modeling

Mastering the methods of applying chiaroscuro, use the block method. To simplify a face or figure, portray them as a series of planes, as if your model was made of cardboard boxes

It is quite difficult to make a fully simulated drawing of a human figure, so restrict yourself to start with white, black and gray colors. After some practice, you can cope with a wider tonal range.

Apply the darkest tones for those parts of the figure that are in the falling shadow, and lighter for planes facing the other side of the light source, and leave the places where direct light falls on white. Bright light from one source gives rise to sharp shadows and very bright areas. Between these two extremes lies a wide range of gray tones, however it is best to use as many tones as you see fit, and no more. If light from several directions falls on an object, the contrast decreases and the shadows become less dark.

Try to draw a person illuminated from several sides - use table lamps for this to observe how a person’s appearance changes depending on the lighting.