Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Profile View
A curious thing about drawing the profile view is that beginners find it much easier than the other views. Yet, the advanced draftsperson can find the side view quite challenging.
For the advanced draftsperson the test lies in the struggle to affect a 3-dimensional sculptured quality.
Looking at the arabesque in the profile view observe how the skull is broken down into straight lines. Using these architectonic lines expresses a firmness of form.
At first, you should keep the forms simple. Also at this point, do not draw all the profiled features. There are 2 reasons for this:
1. It is very likely that even the most gifted draftsperson will be off, and
2. Once a line is drawn the language center of your brain will consider that relationship as proper one. Therefore, it will look proper to you but everyone else will see the mistake.
There is a better way. You begin with striking the arabesque using architectonically straight lines. The principal concerns are fixing the general proportions and form accurately. At a more advanced level you should also consider rhythm and flow.
Instead of right away incorporating the nose into the arabesque you should make use of the facial angle, i.e., the line from the forehead to the chin that breaks at the base of the nose. The marker reference for the base of the nose is the small ledge-like protrusion.
A plumb-bob is an excellent instrument for rightly placing the base of the nose. A plumb-bob is a length of wire (preferably black carpet thread) that has a weight attached to it. The plumb-bob is utilized to check vertical alignments (when working with life models) and their relationships to that vertical line. The vertical line is called the plumb-line.
Aligning the plumb-line to the chin allows you more clearly to see the relation of brow to chin. The brow is set back from the chin. By the way, the entire area of chin and mouth is called the "muzzle".
Having verified that the initial arabesque and facial angle are right you can now continue with positioning the facial proportions, principal anatomical markers, and the hair-line. So, at this point do not even think about rendering the entire nose. Rendering the nose at this point is a sure prescription for disaster. The angle of the nose and the creation of the tip require a high degree of accuracy.
Instead, begin to draw the general light/dark pattern.
The lights are painted out using a putty eraser. The look we are looking for is that of a ghost image. That means, above all, not to add details. Also, work from the general to the specific.
Once the general light/dark pattern is drawn then the profiled features can be taken on. using a very sharp pencil you can work upwards from the chin to the forehead carefully seeing the form. As you sketch mumble the anatomical definitions of each feature that you draw. You would be surprised at how that clarifyies the sketching process. Having an idea of the facial anatomy will set your portrait sketching miles ahead of those who do not.
The tip of the nose, particularly, demands anatomical reconstruction to get it correct.
A common error novices make with the profile view is placing the eye too far forward. The eye sockets are recessed quite considerably into the skull. If you drop a plumb-line from the inside corner of the eye you will observe that the eye aligns itself with the node of the mouth.
Further drawing and cross-hatching tones are done with 2H and 4H pencils. Decideing how far you want to take your sketch is an creative decision you have to make yourself. If you want, you can leave the portrait somewhat unrefined.
In closing, sketching the profile view involves the same general ideas that apply to any view. In this case, the arabesque is particularly major. The major thing to recall is not to place the actual entire features of the skull too early in the process.
Download my brand new Free Pencil Portrait Sketching Tutorial here: Pencil Portrait Sketching Tutorial. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced drawing instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: http://www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Side View.