How To Draw a Portrait Step-By-Step

A portrait may look complex, but it can begin with just a simple oval and a few guidelines. Hi, Tom here, in this Circle Line Art School video I'll show you one way to draw a portrait, using a pencil, step by step. We begin by drawing a simple oval for the overall shape of the head, not the face, but the head. Next we can draw a horizontal line in the centre, to help place the position of the eyes. And then we can draw a vertical line, again through the centre of the oval, but at a slight angle, because we're seeing the head at a slight angle, to show the central line of the features of the face. Then we can draw a shorter line for the baseline of the nose, and then the central line of the mouth. These guidelines will help us position the features of the face, the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ears. Next we can sketch in the positions of the eyes, placing them along the horizontal guidelines. Next we can draw the iris of each eye. Then we can add a line to represent the top eyelid, and then another line to represent the eyebrows for each eye. And then we can mark a point at the height of the eyebrow, going to the base of the nose, on either side of the head. And these will be the positions of the ears. Next we can draw two lines for the sides of the neck, which are wider apart than the far ends of the eyebrows. Next we can lightly draw the shape of the nose, the nostrils of the nose. And then we can draw the top and base lines of the mouth. There is no need to join up the edges of the mouth at this stage. Then we can add the outline of the hair, and shoulders and neck. At this stage it is best to keep the lines light and simple, as we will need to refine the drawing gradually over time, as we notice what needs changing and improving, so that we are drawing all of the features of the face together, looking at how one part of the face links with all of the other parts of the face. Once you have the basic features in place, you could erase the vertical and horizontal guidelines that we drew at the beginning. We can now begin to shape the individual features of the face, and the style of the hair and the jawline, so that over time it becomes a portrait of a particular person, rather than a generalised portrait of a person. Before we start any shading on this drawing, we could draw a guideline to indicate the line between the dark and light side of the face. So for this drawing the left hand side will be in shadow and the right hand side will be in light, with the light coming from the right hand side and creating a form shadow on the left hand side of the head. We could add a highlight to each of the eyes and then ready to start shading. Now that we have the basic structure, let's draw the portrait in real time, shading and adjusting the details, so that you can follow along too. For my drawing I'm using a 4B pencil and A4 paper. If you'd like to learn more, you can find more details of my online drawing course for beginners, at www.circlelineartschool.com Thanks for watching and see you next time. www.circlelineartschool.com