On December one, 2016, I asked myself the question: With only i month of practice, can I learn how to draw realistic portraits with only pencil and paper?
On December 24, 2016, later on 26 hours of practice, I plant out that the reply was yeah.
During the month of December, I documented my entire learning process in a series of 31 daily blog posts, which are compiled here into a single narrative. In this article, you tin can relive my month of insights, frustrations, learning hacks, and triumphs, as I strive towards monthly mastery.
New calendar month, new challenge.
For the calendar month of Dec, my goal is to depict a realistic self-portrait with merely pencil and paper. Forth the way, in order to learn the fundamentals of drawing and portraiture, I volition too draw many other faces, which volition hopefully keep this month'south posts more than varied and interesting.
This new challenge starts today, December 1, 2016, and, by Dec 31, I promise to be a master of portrait drawing.
My starting bespeak
I've had stiff artistic tendencies since I was a kid, just I've never invested much in my fine art skills. Instead, I've channeled my artistic impulses mainly through music, film, and calculator-aided design.
Thus, to gear up a baseline for this month's challenge, I've drawn a before cocky-portrait with my current drawing skills. Although information technology's not the absolute worst thing ever fatigued, it sadly doesn't look very much similar me.
Measuring success
Measuring success for this claiming is certainly more than subjective than concluding month (where I successfully memorized a deck of cards in less than two minutes).
In this case, the best I tin do is show a photo that demonstrates the level of cartoon I'thousand aiming to reach…
This portrait is the example drawn in the Vitruvian Studio Portrait Cartoon Course, which is the course I'll be post-obit this month.
Clearly, in that location are major differences in realism between my starting cartoon and this case portrait. And then, if I can match the level of this example (which will exist, of course, a subjective, merely hopefully honest judgement), I volition consider this challenge a success.
With my goal set, information technology'southward time to start drawing…
In my life, I've created a off-white bit of (what I'll call) art. Even so, I've washed so, not by relying on well-developed fine art skills, but instead, by cheating my way through the artistic procedure.
Basically, I've used everything at my disposal (except for fine arts skills) to create artistically.
You can decide if this is cheating or not, but either way, this calendar month is going to be different. This month, I am actually going to invest in my fine art skills. This month, I'chiliad going to have a pencil and paper, and nothing else, and make information technology happen.
However, before I make information technology happen, I thought it would be fun to share some of my previous works.
ane. Lego Portraits (with the help of Photoshop)
During high schoolhouse, whenever I was tasked with making someone a gift, I usually opted to construct a custom Warhol-inspired portrait out of Legos.
Here are two portraits that I made for my cousins Adam and Marissa.
And some other one I fabricated for my grandparents.
While these pieces may look like they required some amount of artistic genius to pull off (do they?), that'southward really not the example. Instead, these pieces just required some clever computational assay, planning in Photoshop, and executional patience (while glueing and placing each Lego piece).
The figurer was the real artistic champion here.
2. Counterfeit paintings (using optical tricks)
I've as well experimented using optical tools (like mirrors and lens) to mechanically create. Although, I haven't invested enough time to produce annihilation worth sharing.
Tim Jenison, on the other hand, does have something worth sharing. Without any artistic training, he painted a nearly-exact replica of a Vermeer painting solely using optical techniques.
Tim's journey is documented in the Penn and Teller-produced film "Tim'south Vermeer", which I highly recommend you check out.
Here's Tim'south final painting.
This month I'm but using pencil and paper
While technology-aided fine art however should probably count as art (in some capacity), this month, I'm committed to creating using only the tools shown below: 9 black pencils, 1 white pencil, a few unlike erasers, and a gray piece of paper (which I'll explain another time).
It'due south going to be hard, simply that's the bespeak.
This month, to learn how to draw portraits, I'll be following the Portrait Cartoon video course from Vitruvian Studio.
Today, I spent 2.5 hours starting the course and beginning my showtime portrait.
Selecting who to depict
For my first piece, rather than drawing the model from the grade, I've chosen to describe Derren Brown, who originally inspired me to pursuit portrait drawing.
Derren is a British illusionist, who I've been following for a while now, and who, I recently learned, casually paints portraits on the side.
Here are a few things he's casually painted.
Later seeing these, I decided I likewise would like to be the kind of person that casually paints impressively good portraits on the side.
For now, earlier I get to the painting, I'll start off by mastering the drawing part of program.
This is the motion-picture show of Derren I'm drawing.
And here'due south my setup.
Starting the drawing
The starting time module of the course focuses on mapping out the portrait, which includes determining the shape of the head and locating the features.
Finding the superlative and lesser of the head
I started by arbitrarily drawing two lines on the folio to indicate the level of the top of the head and the level of the lesser of the head.
Then, I arbitrarily marked, on the top level, the highest point of the head, and then used the angle between this indicate and the bottom of the chin, to locate the bottom of the chin on the folio.
I likewise drew in the level of the notch of the neck. The first fourth dimension, I drew information technology too depression, so I moved information technology up. I gauged this distances as a proposition of the head length.
Observe the leftmost and rightmost parts of the head
With the topmost and bottommost points identified, I and so needed to identify the leftmost and rightmost points.
To do this, I used a new technique I learned chosen triangulation. To triangulate a new point, I first sight (try to visualize) the angles to this new signal from two existing points. Then, I draw lines from the existing points in the management of the new point based on the sighted angles. Finally, I mark the new indicate where the lines intersect.
Subsequently checking the angles over again, I updated these two new points.
To check, I then sighted the angle between the two new points, ensuring this angle matches what I meet on Derren'south head.
Drawing the shape of the head
With these four outer points fatigued, the side by side step is to draw in the shape of the head. To do this, I continued to triangulate more points, and draw in the necessary curves to connect them.
I continued in this way, until I outlined the entire shape of the caput.
Information technology didn't await quite right, and so I checked a bunch of angles.
Once it seemed closer, I added in the cervix and shoulders.
With the neck and shoulders in place, information technology again didn't await correct. So, I checked more angles and made adjustments as necessary (more often than not to broaden the jaw)
The caput was now looking pretty good, but the neck and shoulders needed a few adjustments. I retriangulated, and adjusted the collar upwards.
That'due south it for today
Getting to this indicate took me ii.5 hours, which was separate between watching the video form and cartoon my Derren portrait.
So far, the portrait doesn't wait like much, but I still learned a bunch today. I particularly like the triangulation technique, which makes drawing much more than procedural and mathematical (a.k.a. easier for me).
Tomorrow, I'll continue following the class, and commencement drawing in the facial features.
Yesterday, I started following along with the Vitruvian Studio portrait course, and began drawing a portrait of Derren Chocolate-brown.
Here'southward what I accomplished yesterday.
And hither's my stop goal (more or less).
Today, I spent another ii.five hours watching the course and working on the portrait.
Today's progress
Drawing in guides
The first affair I did today was add construction lines to my drawing. These construction lines are designed to act as landmarks and help me eventually place the facial features.
First, I drew in the vertical center line, which will help me laterally place the features.
Then, I marked middle level, to start gauging the features' vertical placement.
I followed upwards with the levels of the brows, nose, and lips.
I made a flake of a mistake here. I drew the horizontal construction lines perpendicular to the center line (which seemed reasonable), merely did not mimic the angle of the features in the actual drawing.
Then, I sighted the correct angles, and adapted the structure lines accordingly.
Blocking in the features
With the construction lines equally references, I was then gear up to offset blocking in the facial features.
I started by adjusting the centre line slightly for the nose, and marking the nose's outer boundary.
Then, I drew in shapes for the brows.
Side by side, I included the eye sockets and some more detail around the olfactory organ.
Finally, I added in shapes for the eyelids and optics, and finished up for the day.
Reaching this point took some other two.five hours.
Progress still seems fairly slow on the drawing, simply I'thou making a conscious effort to work carefully through the blocking in phase (so I tin practice what I'm learning, and then I can ensure the portrait is built on a strong foundation).
I'll showtime detailing the features tomorrow.
Today, for the third solar day in a row, I spent 2.5 hours on my Derren Brownish drawing. However, dissimilar the other days, today, I feel like I fabricated a lot of progress.
Finish blocking in the features
Picking upward where I left off, I continued to cake in shapes for the features.
I added in the center line of the lips and the shadow on the nose.
I then finished the lips and added a line for the chin.
Lastly, I blocked in the main structures of the ear and added an outline for the bristles.
Cartoon in shadow/highlight shapes
With the features in place, I next blocked in shapes for the shadows and highlights.
With these tonal contours in identify, I darkened the shadow areas slightly, giving the portrait some roundness and three-dimensionality.
Detailing features
With the features and shadows blocked in, I detailed the features, starting with the eyes.
Left centre washed.
Correct heart done.
Nose done.
Lips washed.
Finally, I finished upwardly for the day with the ear.
Afterwards 7.5 hours of work (2.5 hours over the past three days), I'thousand finally hopefully that this portrait will resemble Derren Brownish.
Tomorrow, I'll starting adding tonal values (i.e. shading) to the drawing.
Observation virtually today's session: Based on the output from today, it may seem similar today'south drawing was the most technically challenging. Just, in fact, I plant only the opposite.
Because I spent the past ii days meticulously locating and blocking in the features, information technology was very easy to add the incremental particular. (Trying to draw big shapes is much harder than trying to draw fiddling shapes. Petty shapes are a lot easier to visually understand and replicate)
In fact, I suspect that today was least consequential to the outcome of the portrait. If I mess up the shape of the head and the location of the features, I have very lilliputian chance of capturing a likeness. If the features are non quite accurately detailed, only in the right identify, I still might take something…
Yesterday, after seven.5 hours of work, I finally finished sketching / laying out my showtime portrait. Today, I started adding tonal values (a.k.a. "shading the cartoon").
Before I show today's progress, I want to share ii techniques I learned that brand it significantly easier to accurately add together tonal values to portraits.
ane. First with the almost extreme values so meet in the middle
The human eye is really bad at assessing tonal values in isolation — which is why your brain thinks squares A and B below are very different colors, when, in fact, they are the same.
Thus, instead of relying on visual inferences, tonal values tin can be better approximated through a simple, non-so-interpretative procedure.
Here'due south how it works:
Starting time by identifying the absolute darkest and absolute lightest areas of the cartoon. For the darkest areas, shade them as night as yous can/want. For the lightest areas, highlight them equally light as you can/want.
This establishes the unabridged tonal range of the drawing, which is chosen the fundamental of the drawing.
Establishing the key is straightforward, and doesn't require much visual interpretation (i.e. it's easy to find the lightest lights and the darkest darks).
Once the central is established, and the lightest and darkest values are in identify, the intermediate values demand to be introduced. Over again, this can be done procedurally, by identifying and shading/highlighting the areas which are slightly lighter than the darkest darks and slightly darker than the lightest lights. Standing recursively in this style, the tonal values eventually run into in the heart, and the drawing (or the relevant part of the drawing) is complete.
two. Squint to improve see tonal shapes
When keying the cartoon (and developing tonal values in general) it's important that the shapes of the tonal areas are captured accurately.
In other words, if the highlight on the forehead is angular, drawing it with rounded edges wouldn't properly capture the class.
This sounds obvious, only again, your encephalon and visual system can trick on you. Your brain is attempting to see a confront (via your psychologically skewed, emotions-based mental model of a face), and non only tonal blobs.
In fact, this psychological problem of misinterpreting faces is so mutual, there are entire drawing systems (like cartoon upside down, cartoon the negative space effectually the face, etc.) designed to combat these problems.
Side notation: Hither's a video of Derren Brown, the discipline of my portrait, when he used to have hair, experimenting with some of these alternative methods of painting. Information technology'south a pretty absurd trick.(If you're going to watch, stick information technology out until the end).
In order to accurately see tonal shapes, and avert psychological errors, I've constitute one method to be surprisingly successful: squinting.
Basically, you lot look at the area you lot want to draw, squint your eyes (and so the image becomes blurred and your brain no longer sees a confront), and identify the tonal shapes you lot run into through your eyelashes. This works super well. (I didn't invent this method, I've just validated that it works for me).
Today'southward progress
With these techniques newly-learned, I began to add tonal values to my Derren Dark-brown portrait.
First, I started with the center.
In the grade, the teacher mentioned that it's good to start with a small area that exhibits the full range of tones.
However, the eye was too pocket-sized to help finer establish the key. So, I keyed the drawing more aggressively, starting with the shadow on the olfactory organ and the highlights on the forehead and cheek.
I continued shading the darkest areas along the right side of the face.
Additionally, while doing this, to check the accuracy of my key, I started developing the eye.
I finished up my primal, by calculation shadows to the lower face and the dorsum of the head, and was ready to begin modeling the form (finding the intermediate values between the darks and lights).
I started with the forehead.
Added a flake more particular.
And then smoothed everything out.
This is where I stopped for the day, later on another 2.5 hours of working.
Derren looks a bit as well shiny right now — a bit like a mannequin or the Can Human — but I'yard optimistic that this issue will vanish once I model the residual of the course.
I'k guessing I have another 5 hours of work left on this.
Today, like yesterday, I continued adding tonal values to the portrait. I spent a little less than 2 hours, and am getting really excited most the results.
Here'southward where I stopped yesterday.
I proceeded today by commencement addressing the nose.
So, I addressed the right half of the face up — further developing the shadow.
Next, I moved on to Derren's hair and beard.
Since the demo portrait in course is based on a long-haired female model, I had to do a bit more than freestyling at this point. I think information technology works.
I continued with the upper function of the beard, and finished up for the day.
Tomorrow, I demand to cease the mouth, the ear, the neck, the lower function of the beard, and perhaps the vesture.
Getting close…
Today, after another 2.5 hours of work, I finally completed my Derren Brown portrait.
In the coming days, I will write a few detailed posts about what I've learned, how I plan to move frontwards, etc., but for now, I'll just share the last photos of my progress.
Today's progress
I started off by detailing the lips.
Then, I added the mustache.
With this facial hair momentum, I finished off the beard.
And so, the ear.
Finally, I completed the neck, decided not to address the clothes, signed information technology, and I was done.
For my first portrait of the month, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
Ix days ago, I began my 30-day quest to learn how to draw photorealistic portraits. Since so, I've watched the entire 10 hours of the Vitruvian Studio drawing course, as well as spent 14.5 hours working on my first portrait.
Here's the effect…
And here's a video documenting the progression.
Considering where I started only nine days ago (run across the before portrait), it's hard for me to believe that I actually drew this. Information technology's non perfect, but I'g definitely excited nigh the outcome.
Office of me lacks the motivation to continue drawing, as I feel like I've already accomplished my goal. The other (more overpowering) office of me realizes that I accept another 21 days to improve fifty-fifty further, so that'due south what I plan to do.
In particular, I'g going endeavour to reduce the corporeality of time necessary to complete a portrait similar this. With some do, I think I can reduce my time down from xiv.v hours to 4–5 hours.
Tomorrow, I'one thousand going to get through my previous posts (one, ii, three, 4, five, six) and write upwardly a "Portrait Cartoon Cheat Sail". Then, I'm going to suspension downward the cheat canvass into isolated, practicable skills and drills, work on those individual skills for 1–2 weeks, and then first working on my self-portrait to finish off the month.
Here is my "Portrait Drawing Crook Canvass", which features footstep-by-step instructions on how to draw a portrait.
These steps are based on the excellent portrait drawing course by Vitruvian Studio, which I highly recommend yous purchase if you are serious virtually learning how to draw.
The Instructions
- Mark the height of the caput. Arbitrarily depict a line towards the top of the page. This represents the pinnacle of the head.
- Mark the bottom of the mentum. Arbitrarily draw a line near the lower third of the page. This represents the bottom of the chin.
- Mark the notch of the cervix. On the subject, using your pencil as a guide, measure the distance from the lowest signal of the head to the notch of the neck. Make up one's mind how many of these distances tin can fit inside the vertical distance of the head. Use this is every bit guide to describe a horizontal line towards the lesser of the page to represent the notch of the cervix.
- Notice the highest point of the caput. Arbitrarily make up one's mind a point on the top line. This represents the highest point of the caput. Often, on the field of study, this point sits far back on the head.
- Find the lowest indicate of the chin. Using your pencil as a guide, determine the angle from the highest point of the caput to the lowest signal of the chin. Draw a line at this angle from the highest point of the caput (every bit marked on the folio) downwards towards the lesser of the chin line. Draw a dash where these lines intersect. This intersection represents the everyman point of the chin.
- Notice the leftmost boundary. Identify the leftmost boundary on your subject. Make up one's mind the angle to this leftmost betoken from the highest point, and draw a line at that bending from the highest point towards the leftmost boundary on the folio. Do the same from the lowest point. Draw a marking where these 2 lines intersect. This intersection represents the leftmost boundary. The technique used to find this boundary is called triangulation.
- Find the rightmost purlieus. Once again, triangulate from the highest and lowest points to discover the rightmost purlieus of the head.
- Check the angle. On the subject area, use your pencil to find the bending between the leftmost and rightmost boundaries. Bank check if this angle matches the angle represented on the page. If non, retriangulate and check again.
- Draw the outer-boundary of the head and hair. Triangulate points around the head and connect them with straight lines. Once the general shape seems right, smooth out the kinks. Check the angles between diverse points on the subject and on the page to make sure everything looks correct. If there seems to be inconsistencies, retriangulate and adjust. Exercise the same for the hair line.
- Draw the vertical center line. Pick some fundamental point that looks like its on the vertical heart line. Triangulate from outer-points inwards to observe this primal signal. Cheque the angle from the lesser/center of the mentum to this indicate. Apply this as a guide to draw in the entire vertical eye line. Every bit the center line approaches the height of the head, it typically flattens, as information technology rounds back behind the head.
- Draw the level of the eyes. The level of the eyes typically falls almost halfway between the top and bottom of the head. Employ this as a starting betoken. Draw in this level, and and then check angles to confirm. Motion upwardly or downwards until everything checks out.
- Describe in the level of the brows and bottom of the nose. If you divide the confront length into thirds, typically the level of the brows fall on the upper third line and the level of the nose falls on the bottom tertiary line. Use this every bit a starting indicate. Draw in these level, and the bank check angles to confirm. Move the level up or down until everything checks out.
- Draw in the level of the start of the nose. The nose begins somewhere betwixt the level of the brows and the level of the optics. Judge where this is and draw information technology in.
- Describe in the bottom and middle of the lips. If you lot divide the distance between the lesser of the nose and the bottom of the chin into halves, the level of the lesser of the lips typically falls at the halfway signal. Employ this as a starting indicate to depict in this level. Then, gauge where the heart of the lips falls relative to the distance between the bottom of the lips and the bottom of the nose. Describe that in.
- Adjust the center line for the nose. Starting from the level of the start of the nose, adapt the center line so its angle matches the center line of the nose. Typically this will exist in ii parts. The angle outwards from the level of the start of the nose to the peak of the nose, and the angle in from the tiptop of the nose to the bottom of the nose.
- Adjust the middle line for the mouth. The mouth typically has some volume, which pushes the center line forward. Conform the center line forward below the nose to account for the volume in the mouth.
- Draw in the shape of the eyes and eye sockets. Triangulate the corners of the eyes, and then draw in the complete shapes. Do the same for the lids and the eye sockets.
- Draw in the shape of the brows. Triangulate the corners of the brows, and and then draw in the complete shapes.
- Depict in the shape of the olfactory organ. Triangulate the peak of the nose and the wing of the olfactory organ. And so, draw in the consummate shape.
- Describe in the shape of the mouth. Triangulate the corners of the mouth. So, depict in the complete shape.
- Draw in the level of the chin. Triangulate the level of the chin, and draw a line to distinguish the shape.
- Draw in the shape of the ear. Triangulate points of bending-change around the ear. Connect these points with accordingly angled lines, then smooth out the kinks.
- Draw in shadow shapes. Place shapes of primary shadow areas. Triangulate their boundaries and draw them in.
- Darken the shadow shapes. Lightly shade in the shadow areas of the portrait. Use a soft, clean paint brush to smoothen out the fabric on the page. This will introduce some 3-dimensionality to your portrait, which should help you better visualize if anything doesn't seem quite right. If there is something that seems incorrect, prepare information technology.
- Detail the optics. Draw in the iris, pupils, and other details.
- Particular the nose. Depict in the nostrils and other details.
- Detail the lips. Smooth out the shape of the lips.
- Detail the ear. Draw in some of the main inner land marks.
- Key the cartoon. Identify the lightest and darkest tones on the subject, and add together these tones to the page.
- Modeling an area. Pick an area of the head (like the forehead), and detail some of the master places of tone-alter. Identify and add in the principal light and dark areas. Using a shading stump and the necessary pencils, fill in the transition tones. To meliorate run into the shapes of highlights and shadow, squint your eyes until the face isn't recognizable as a confront, simply rather a collection of tonal blobs.
- Model the remaining areas. Go on as to a higher place until all areas are modeled.
- Sign information technology. And you're done.
A few days agone, I finished drawing my get-go portrait. Since then, I've reread my notes, reviewed some parts of the grade, and wrote up my "Portrait Drawing Crook Sail".
With all the steps documented, it'due south now time to deliberately exercise the most important skills.
In particular, every bit I said on Solar day 35, I believe that information technology's most important to accurately capture the proportions of the caput, the head shape, and the level of the features. If these things are done correctly, the rest of the process is very forgiving. If non, the portrait will cease upwardly beautifully shaded, but won't look like the subject.
Today, I'm going to practise finding the correct proportions of the field of study'due south head using a few celebrities: Matt Damon, Natalie Portman, and Morgan Freeman.
Matt Damon
Here's the photo I'chiliad using.
Here'southward my endeavor to locate the pinnacle of his head, the lowest point of his chin (which is located on the chin'southward left side), the leftmost bespeak of his cheek, and the rightmost point of his ear.
In Photoshop, I overlaid my sketch on the photo to bank check. I was pretty accurate.
Natalie Portman
Hither's Natalie.
And here's my endeavour to locate the tiptop of her hair, the everyman point of her chin (again on the chin's left side), the rightmost point of her cheek, the leftmost point of her hair, and the notch of her neck.
Checking in Photoshop, everything seems pretty authentic. Although, the low betoken of the chin may be slightly too far left.
Morgan Freeman
Here I endeavour to locate the peak of his head, the lowest point of his mentum, the rightmost point of his ear, the leftmost indicate of his ear, and the notch of his neck.
This one looks correct on the money.
With each of the sketches, dissimilar with my Derren Brown portrait, I felt that I was able to run into the angle on the subject and accurately replicate it on the page with limited attempt.
This is a skillful sign…
Yesterday, I practiced triangulating the proportions of a few glory heads.
For example, here's 1 I did of Natalie Portman.
Today, I expert triangulating the complete head shape and gauging the level of features.
It took well-nigh 45 minutes.
To assess my piece of work, I overlaid the sketch on Natalie.
My Critique
- The face shape is accurate
- The level of the features is accurate
- The bending of the features is accurate
- The center line curves a trivial too apace as information technology moves upward betwixt the eyes
- The neck shape is inaccurate — I especially misestimated the starting signal of the cervix on the right side.
- Above the right eye, the angle of the head/hair is too steep
- The peak of the head is also steep
- The angle of the pilus above the ear isn't steep enough
Overall, I'd give the sketch a B-.
Since I was accurate with the confront shape and the level of features, if I continued working, I suspect I would develop the face fairly accurately. As a outcome, I would likely have enough accurate information to gradually correct the major mistakes with the head and pilus shape.
Tomorrow, I'll practice once more on a different glory.
Today, I didn't take too much fourth dimension to draw. Then, I speedily progressed the Matt Damon sketch I started ii days ago.
Here'south what I shared on Lord's day.
Today, I spent 30 minutes sketching the head shape and feature guides.
Just looking at the sketch, the head shapes seems a little narrow for Matt Damon. But, overlaid on the photograph, information technology seems to match up.
With the exception of the oddly tiny ear, everything else seems to line up well. The head shape, face shape, and pilus shape seem accurate. The level of the features and the center line seem authentic. The fly of the nose is a bit too far to the right, simply I really just threw that in for fun.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the event — especially since I sketched this fairly rapidly. I guess that means I'1000 improving…
Last calendar month, when I was learning to memorize a deck of cards at grandmaster speeds, I started unintentionally seeing playing cards in the existent-world. In particular, real-world things (like wheelchairs and airplanes), which accept association in my mnemonic arrangement, were triggering images of playing cards, without any conscious thought on my function.
Simply, I was rewiring my brain.
This month, as I acquire to draw faces, I'thousand experiencing a new phenomenon… For the past few days, I've found myself scrutinizing and deconstructing other people's faces on the railroad train, at piece of work, on the street, at Whole Foods, etc. Wherever in that location is a face, I can't help simply endeavor to clarify it, and imagine how I'd draw it.
Now (and I hope this eventually wears off), when I see a new face, my get-go instinct is to estimate the ratio betwixt the height and width of the head. Other times, I just look to run across what shapes the middle sockets are. Or how prominent the brow ridge is. Or if the olfactory organ and brows equally intermission the face up in thirds.
Basically, I can't stop staring at people.
And then, thanks people of San Francisco for non getting totally creeped out. I promise I'll stop presently.
For the past couple days, I've been itching to start my cocky-portrait. So, today, I did but that.
After working for about an hour, I was able to finish sketching the outline of the caput, hair, and cervix.
And hither'southward a video of today'southward progression.
And so far, so good. Tomorrow, I'll beginning blocking in the features.
Today, I connected working on my self-portrait. Although it'southward meeting nicely, I fabricated a fault upfront that'southward definitely costing me now.
Before, I go to that, though, let me first share today'due south progress.
My mistake
Although I'm loving the limerick of my self-portrait, I've sadly draw everything x–20% too small.
Take a look at the self-portrait side-by-side with the Derren Brown portrait. My head is noticeably smaller.
Again, I retrieve this is okay compositionally, but information technology's yet a bit of a trouble — particularly, for two reasons.
- A smaller drawing offers smaller margins for error. If I slightly misplace the corner of the mouth or the summit of the brow, the altitude between the correct and incorrect placements represents a proportionally larger difference on a smaller drawing. In other words, smaller drawings are less forgiving and errors are more pronounced.
- A smaller drawing means finer details. My pencil sharpener doesn't seem to work very well with the pencils I have, which ways I'm drawing the tiny eyelids on my self-portrait with a tree torso. Basically, the smaller drawing requires that I piece of work in finer areas, which is challenging with the tools I have.
Even so, I will persist, since, even with the sizing error (and the associated challenges), I'yard quite happy with the portrait so far.
In fact, challenges are probably a good affair (I hope). Ideally, they button me to become a meliorate artist.
Anyhow, I think the takeaway is that I need to invest in a ameliorate pencil sharpener…
Today, my self-portrait progress is broken into ii parts:
- Finishing the sketch
- Defacing the sketch (a.k.a. adding tonal values)
Finishing the sketch
Yesterday, I was able to sketch virtually 80% of the portrait. Today, I just need to add the final details.
I start by blocking in shadow areas near the mouth, on the forehead, and on the neck.
And then, I darken the hair and eyebrows.
I add detail to the optics, and the portrait jumps to life.
Finally, I particular the ear, which is one of my favorite parts of the whole process. (Ears are but weird looking and fun to draw)
With the ear done, my sketch is complete.
Interestingly, this completeness is a scrap problematic: Because the sketch feels whole (and, from my perspective, represents an interesting, standalone piece of fine art), I struggle to continue working on it.
The portrait just feels balanced at this signal. As soon as I start calculation tonal values, that residuum will be disrupted, and won't return until I'm nigh done with the whole portrait.
It virtually feels unnatural to add tonal values to the sketch, as if I'yard defacing something I worked hard to create.
Nevertheless, I must continue. So, hither I go… Time to temporarily deface my work.
Defacing my portrait
I start by blackening one of the eyebrows. This is piece of cake, and hopefully will help me build momentum.
I continue with my blackness pencil, concealment the other countenance and the hair.
I tin't seem to easily get the hair to be 1 smoothen blackness mass. Instead, the grain of the paper is very noticeable, giving me a nice salted look. Fifty-fifty subsequently aggressive blending with a blending stump and a dry brush, I still can't get the textile distributed nicely on the newspaper.
I may need to invest in some powder graphite (but I'll return to this later).
Next, I start on the prominent centre. This is where the existent defacing starts, as it's going to be a while until it doesn't expect similar I'grand wearing makeup.
After many more than minutes of piece of work on the eye, I stop for the night. I'll go on more tomorrow.
Today, I spent a couple hours working on the eyes and nose expanse of my self-portrait.
My tonal approach is noticeably dissimilar than that used on the Derren Brown portrait.
With Derren, I wanted to ensure the portrait emanated iii-dimensionality, and then I pushed aggressively on the dissimilarity of the portrait. I also didn't intendance much for the micro-gradations of shadow/light, as I was more than concerned with the correctness of the bigger shapes.
As a issue, the portrait definitely has a stunning roundness, simply I wouldn't call it photorealistic.
Thus, this time around, with my self-portrait, I'm aiming to more closely match tones, while also paying attention to the smaller areas of light fall-off. With this attention, my hope is to create a more than realistic rendering of my face.
It'due south nonetheless hard to tell whether I'll be successful, but we'll find out soon…
In virtually of my posts, I tend to be pretty positive (i.e. "Whoa, today went better than expected…", "I'k really pleased with today's progress…", "I tin can't believe how good this is…", etc.).
This is mostly because I'm very bullish on this entire project.
Notwithstanding, in my by three posts (I made a mistake, Intentionally defacing my self-portrait, and Fighting for photorealism), I've tried to interrupt this trend, and share some of the day-to-day challenges I confront.
While I am still very positive about this projection, and happily take on the micro-challenges, I thought sharing some of these things would exist more interesting than writing about how every day is always better than the final.
Anyhow, standing with this theme, today, I want to share an interesting struggle.
The Low-cal State of affairs in San Francisco
For some (perhaps, legal) reason, most apartments in San Francisco don't take overhead lights in their main living areas. Ordinarily, apartments just have overhead lights in the bathroom and (sometimes) the kitchen, which is the case for my apartment.
As a effect, the rest of my apartment is lit via Ikea floor lamps, which, although they do a 90% proficient job, it turns out, at night, at that place'southward merely non plenty light for detail-oriented drawing.
During the sketching phase of my cocky-portrait, I didn't demand to see precise tone, and then sketching at nighttime was no trouble.
However, now that I'm trying to carefully model the lights/shadows of my confront, I demand more light.
I considered drawing in the bath, but this isn't entirely comfortable. Particularly because I was worried that the portrait would get wet/damaged on the sink, whose counter is the most viable drawing surface area.
Since, without deconstruction, the kitchen table doesn't fit through the bathroom door (I tried…), I needed to find somewhere else to work tonight.
I ended upwards across the street from my apartment at a well-lit coworking infinite, which was peachy for drawing, simply non-so-great for flick-taking. The abundance of overhead lights meant that, yet I positioned my body, I was always casting a shadow on the portrait.
Thus, in one case I finished drawing, I came dorsum to my dark apartment to snap a photo.
After my light-seeking adventure, hither'southward what I was able to accomplish.
Today, I only had ten minutes to depict, so I spent all ten darkening the hair and eyebrows on my self-portrait, until they were as black as I could get them.
This greatly improved the portrait in two means:
- The relative tones of the face up to the pilus are much more authentic at present, which helps with realism.
- The shape of the hair on the left side of the portrait wasn't quite right, so this gave me the chance to fix it.
Here's the before…
And the after
At offset, the blackness of the pilus is a chip jarring, only it accurately represents the "exposure" I'm going for (where the pilus is emitting no light, and thus, shows upward as pure blackness).
Although today's darkening session improved things, the portrait still seems a bit odd and unbalanced considering of the nakedness of the mouth and cheek. I'll start tackling those areas tomorrow.
Yesterday, I declared that today I would start working on the mouth and cheek areas of my self-portrait. And yet, somehow, the day is over, and the rima oris and cheek areas are nevertheless naked.
Instead, I got caught upwardly making micro-changes to the parts of the portrait I've already worked on (the eyes, nose, forehead, etc.). It seems I can brand small improvements forever.
This is clearly not the right approach. Particularly because… As I brainstorm shading the mouth, I volition need to brand adjustments to the nose area, so everything fits together. As I begin shading the cheek, I volition need to make adjustments to the eye area, then everything fits together. And and so on.
Perhaps, I'grand just stalling out of fright: In one case the rima oris and cheek are developed, I'll take a much better idea if the portrait is any good.
If I am fearful, I definitely need to get over it.
To do so, tomorrow, I'll focus, not on perfectly detailing the mouth and cheek, just instead, broadly blocking in the right tonal values.
With the general tones in place, I'll have enough momentum to push the portrait towards completion.
Today, I spent an hour developing out the rest of my self-portrait.
It went from looking like this…
To looking like this.
It's starting to expect like me, simply it still looks similar a drawing — more often than not because I haven't blended the newly adult areas similar the neck, cheek, mouth, ear, brow, etc. Pretty much the whole affair.
I've been holding off on the blending because my blending stump is unusably dirty.
Tomorrow, I'll get swing by the art store and selection upward a few fresh ones.
I picked up some new blending stumps today, and went to work smoothing the value changes over my face up and neck. Hither's the upshot…
When compared with the before, the deviation is pretty hitting. In the before portrait, I look like a sickly, pencil-sketched version of myself, while the later on version has a much nicer roundness and weight to it.
Tomorrow, I'll make some pocket-sized tweaks, sign it, and hang it on the wall.
24 days ago, to kicking off December's challenge, I tried to describe a self-portrait.
Then, over the side by side iii.five weeks, I completed a 10-hour cartoon course, drew a few other people, and and so spent eight hours on a new self-portrait.
Here are the before and after.
And here's a time-lapse of the eight hours of drawing.
I'm happy with the effect, and actually retrieve the cocky-portrait looks a lot like me.
Tomorrow, I'll write up a more than thorough critique. But until then, I'm declaring this calendar month's claiming a success.
Yesterday, I declared this month's challenge a success, noting the differences between my before and after self-portraits.
And while my most recent self-portrait is a major improvement, and does look very much similar me, I still do have some quick disquisitional thoughts on information technology, which I've cleaved down into ii parts: 1. Likeness and 2. Artistry.
1. Likeness
- Overall, the likeness is strong. The portrait unequivocally looks like me. Although, it isn't perfect.
- My expression/emotion in the portrait is plausibly mine, specially in the eyes.
- The shape of hair near the ear and back of the caput is very accurate. Even so, the hair line doesn't seem completely right, and it's probably the second biggest reason why the portrait doesn't look perfectly like me. The hair line should probably come downward on the brow and should be less rounded. When I snapped a photo of myself (on which I based this portrait), I had just gotten a shorter-than-normal haircut, which is probably why I'thousand not used to the haircut I drew.
- On paper, I experience I captured the nose perfectly, but, as a result of the shadow, it may seem slightly too pocket-sized/short. To address this, I could have accentuated the tonal divergence between the cheek and the adumbral office of the olfactory organ, but I wanted to remain as tonally authentic as possible and chose not to.
- I'm very happy with how the neck turned out. Its weight and chief features (the Adam's apple and the notch at my collar line) seem accurate.
- There is something odd about the ear. It seems a chip out of place.
- The eyebrows may exist the slightest bit thin, but they are very close to reality.
- The biggest potential miss is my cheek. While I practice accept prominent cheeks when I grinning (which I'm non doing here), I also accept a fairly slender face and a reasonably defined jaw. Depending on how I await at the cheek, it sometimes appears as well circular and likewise full. Other times, when I look at the portrait, my heart renders this area properly. If anything, I probably could accept made the bottom of the confront (in the rolling shadow) a scrap more than angular.
Nevertheless, even with these critiques in isolation, the portrait as a whole comes together nicely and captures a strong likeness. Thus, I've left it equally is, since I care more near an overall likeness (versus a non-cohesive drove of individually accurate features).
2. Artistry
Earlier I drew my self-portrait, I drew a portrait of Derren Brownish.
This portrait has two big advantages over my self-portrait: one. The tonal range over the face up is much greater, and ii. The midtone of the face matches the tone of the paper.
With my self-portrait, I strayed from both of these advantages. For one, on purpose. For the other, less so.
i. Narrow tonal range
Purposefully, I chose to base my self-portrait on a photo with a tighter tonal range, since I wanted to challenge and button my abilities (Drawing a portrait with heavy contrast requires less subtly and is, in my stance, easier).
Arguably, the contrast of the Derren Chocolate-brown portrait makes information technology a more visually compelling portrait, but this is another topic completely (first, I wanted to principal accurate portraiture earlier tackling well-composed portraiture).
Fifty-fifty with the narrow tonal range, my cocky-portrait still maintains a believable roundness and depth.
2. Nighttime midtones
Less purposefully, I chose a photo where the midtone of my face up was darker than the paper.
This was a scrap of a mistake, only a skilful learning opportunity. As a result of this decision, unlike with my Derren portrait, I had to pencil-shade the mid-tones on my face, leading to a slightly dirtier portrait. (In the case with Derren, where there were midtones, I left the blank paper untouched and clean).
Especially before I smoothed out my face up, it looked as if I had just been cleaning chimneys.
While the Derren Dark-brown portrait (with its ultra-contrasty tonal range) may exist a more than dynamic portrait, my cocky portrait seems closer to photorealism, which is the main improvement I was aiming for.
Overall, I'thousand very happy with the issue.
After spending virtually a calendar month learning to depict portraits, I'thou more convinced than ever that anyone tin draw. Fifty-fifty if you don't take whatever creative talent.
To me, cartoon is a bit similar doing your laundry. Before you practice information technology for the first time, you experience it's much more complicated than it actually is, and thus, you lot feel incapable of trying. And so, you're shown that doing your laundry is simply a thing of putting your clothes in the machine, pouring in some soap, and clicking a push button. Much easier than you thought.
It turns out cartoon is very similar. From the exterior, it seems much more complex than it really is. Nevertheless, once you learn the two or three basic principles, drawing (at least, at my level) becomes nigh as directly forward every bit doing your laundry.
In fact, in guild to draw a reasonable portrait, yous merely need to know the two following skills:
one. Triangulation
2. "Outside-in" Shading
Once yous're equipped with these two techniques, you'll be ready to follow the "Portrait Cartoon Cheat Sheet" and depict your first portrait.
Yous'll exist surprised at how well information technology goes. I know I was…
As I mentioned at the beginning of this calendar month, British illusionist Derren Brownish originally inspired me to start cartoon portraits. In fact, to acknowledge this inspiration, Derren was the subject of my get-go portrait.
However, Derren didn't inspire me with his drawings, but rather, his paintings, like these…
Of class, these paintings are built on a prerequisite foundation of drawing, but they also introduce a whole new skill set that I would honey to cultivate.
Watching Derren pigment, information technology seems like at that place are clear parallels between shading a drawing and painting a portrait: He sets a mid-tone color, adds the lights and darks, works his way towards the middle, then adds detail.
There are also clearly major differences, like evaluating and mixing colors, full general painting hygiene (letting pigment dry, etc.), and all-time practices I'1000 probably not however aware of.
And while this seems similar a major leap from my drawing studies, I now have the artistic confidence to attempt a painting similar this, without whatever (or very little) additional instruction.
In the coming months, I program to start sketching a portrait on canvass, and then experimenting with paint.
Concluding month, I memorized a shuffled deck of cards in under ii minutes, which required obsessive, consequent practice. If I were to finish practicing, over time I would lose this skill.
However, I don't think the same is true for my newly-plant drawing skills. Mostly because… I didn't learn anything new this month.
Well, that'south not exactly right. While I didn't cultivate whatever new drawing-enabled motor skills or artistic skills, I did learned to structure my already-existing skills inside of a better cartoon process.
In other words, if I can remember the process, which, in my opinion, only depends on two very straightforward insights, I will always be able to draw at the level I can now.
In twenty years, even if I don't practice from now until then, as long equally I can think triangulation and outside-in shading, I volition be able to fully replicate my results from this month.
I think that'due south a pretty cool thing, so look out for my Medium post in 20 years.
On Dec 1st, I drew this.
26 hours of do after, I drew this.
In other words, after practicing for nigh an hour per solar day for 26 days, I majorly improved my portrait drawing skills.
Last calendar month, it only took me 22 hours to become a grandmaster of memory.
I retrieve this is going to be a theme for the entire Calendar month to Master project: If my practice is deliberate and consistent, information technology's going to have a lot less time than expected to master these seemingly practiced-level skills.
The play a joke on, then, is to create a mechanism to forcefulness deliberate and consistent do month after month. This is the hard part about learning these new skills, non the time required.
Something to think about equally you start planning your 2017 resolutions…
Today, I flew from San Francisco to Florida to meet up with my family for a few days. I'll be here until January fourth.
I left all my drawing supplies behind, so I'm definitely not drawing whatsoever more this month.
I did, even so, bring a Rubik's Cube with me in training for January's challenge (which starts in 2 days).
I'1000 definitely eager to start a new challenge, since I like the thought of ever being in pursuit of something (which maybe suggests that I demand to acquire how to relax). Nevertheless, instead, these past two months, I've finished both challenges on Day 24 (of the month), and thus, needed to wait, without a claiming, for a week, until the adjacent 1 began/begins.
Should I just start the next challenge once I finish the previous ane? I'm non sure. On i manus, this seems reasonable and time-efficient. On the other hand, there is something very tidy most starting on the first of each month.
Conspicuously, I have some amount of obsessive compulsiveness going on, but I'm curious to know what you think…
Should I wait for the first of each month to start a new challenge, and enjoy my few days of relaxing (if bachelor), or should I just employ my actress fourth dimension towards future challenges and showtime immediately?
Let me know.
Today, to celebrate the New year's day, I decided to compile my personal highlights from 2016, which includes Month to Master, only as well everything else from my life.
Rather than writing another M2M post today, I'll encourage you to check out that post if you're interested.
This mail is office of Max's year-long accelerated learning projection, Month to Principal.
Max Deutsch is the co-founder of Monthly — an online education platform that partners with some of the world's biggest YouTubers to create one-month, highly-immersive online classes.
If you want to follow along with Max'south yr-long accelerated learning project, make sure to follow this Medium account.
For exclusive content on accelerated learning, subject area, and lifestyle design, subscribe to my once-in-a-while newsletter.
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