| There are many artists who struggle with drawing | | | | Then go over it with a towel or cotton balls. |
| a face and having it actually look like the person | | | | Never let your skin come in contact with the |
| you are drawing. These tips should help you to | | | | paper because your sin is made of oil and it will |
| achieve a more realistic outcome and have your | | | | cause great ugliness to appear on your drawing! |
| drawings come to life. | | | | Instead use a piece of paper under your drawing |
| The first tip is probably the most important. When | | | | hand to help you avoid this. Some artists use |
| you are drawing, draw from a good source or | | | | gloves made for drawing as well. Try and hit the |
| reference. For instance make sure that your | | | | shadow hard and then after you have gone over |
| photo is a really high quality. Make sure that the | | | | with a towel erase out some highlights and make |
| photo is big and clear, and not a lot of different | | | | the core shadow darker. |
| lighting sources. Choose a subject that is | | | | You can start darkening shadows make sure that |
| interesting to you. If you want, a good idea is to | | | | you are using your referenc to figure out where |
| draw something of one of the masters, like | | | | these are exactly. You may have to do this |
| Beugereau. If what you are drawing doesn't hold | | | | several times till you establish the value you are |
| an interest for you, you won't do as good a job | | | | after. |
| on it, you'll have less patience, lose interest and | | | | Not all of the shadows are going to be dark. |
| never finish. But again, make sure that your | | | | Never forget where your light sources are coming |
| reference is high quality because if it's not, you'll | | | | from. This is extremely important. Look for |
| end up with garbage. | | | | where the shadows are falling in direct relation to |
| Next, begin your drawing with your outline. | | | | where the light source is coming from. |
| Different artists use different methods for this. | | | | Start adding the finer details to your drawing. |
| Also, time is a consideration, so whether you use | | | | Blend in light spots and identify the highlights in |
| a grid method or do it by eye, make sure you | | | | your subjects hair. A very beginner mistake is to |
| are accurate. Of course, the grid is going to be | | | | draw each and every strand of hair. Hair needs to |
| more accurate but time or environment may not | | | | be treated as a mass. Remember this and your |
| allow for this method. Also, as you gain more | | | | hair will turn out more realistic than ever before. |
| experience you may go by the eye more often | | | | Once you feel you are done, you are almost |
| as well. Block in and remember that you don't | | | | done. What? Well when you are working with |
| want to add in the fine details yet. Don't get | | | | graphite, it can be extremely messy and you |
| caught up in working on an eye and all of the | | | | may need to do some major clean up of |
| lighting and shapes of the eye at this point. Avoid | | | | smudges. Use a kneaded eraser to lift these. |
| finer detail till later. | | | | Take your time with your drawings and you will |
| Then you can start to divide the light from the | | | | begin to see that these techniques can be really |
| shadows, hitting the core shadow outline hard | | | | beneficial. Anyone can learn to draw, it takes |
| making a distinct value difference between light | | | | some patience and willingness. |
| and shadow. | | | | |