Step by Step Portrait Construction, by Proko on YouTube. 18 min 46 s.
- Video length
- 18 min 46 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 8
What you need
Steps
Draw a light sphere for the cranium. Keep the line loose and sketchy so you can reshape it as you go.
Look at your reference and note the head's tilt and lean. Reshape the sphere into an egg that matches those angles instead of leaving it perfectly round.
Draw a center line down the front of the head, following the tilt. This line keeps the eyes, nose and mouth aligned later.
Add the jaw. Judge its width and length against the cranium so the proportions stay believable.
Sketch the neck with C and S curves. Place them where the neck meets the skull and runs down into the shoulders.
Check basic perspective. Think of the head as a simple three-dimensional form so the features sit on a surface that turns in space.
Push the gesture. Exaggerate the tilt, the lean or the jaw line a little to give the portrait more emotive expression.
Compare your drawing with the reference. Adjust the sphere, center line and jaw before you add any facial features.
Tips and common mistakes
Keep your pencil light in the first pass so you can erase and redraw the sphere without smudging the paper.
Resist drawing the eyes and mouth early; the sphere, tilt and jaw decide whether the likeness works.
Flip your drawing or view it in a mirror to catch a center line that leans the wrong way.
Keep the reference photo at eye level beside your paper so you judge tilt accurately.
Questions
Why start with a sphere instead of the eyes?
The cranium sets the size and angle that everything else hangs from. Once the sphere and its tilt are right, the features have a solid base to sit on.
How long should the construction stage take?
Only a few minutes. Work fast and loose, then refine once the proportions and angles look correct.
What if my portrait still looks flat?
Check the basic perspective and the head's tilt and lean. A sphere drawn as a flat circle, with no turn in space, will always read as flat.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
