Drawing Together Episode 17: Note to Self
this episode is Part of the Drawing Together live video series – learn more here
Let’s take some time to draw faces! Want to learn how? Follow along as I complete a self-portrait from start to finish. I’ll take you through the steps I take and the techniques I use Work on your own self-portrait or follow along using this reference image: https://bit.ly/34Xo39Q
Today, I’m working with:
- White drawing paper
- Charcoal Pencils
- Vine Charcoal
- Kneaded and Rubber Erasers
In this session, we’ll cover:
- How to draw a realistic portrait in charcoal
- Shading techniques
- Creating texture
- Subtle value control
Here’s my effort at doing your portrait. There was a lot of erasing but this is so much fun & such a good learning experience. Thanks
Hi! I am a young artist and have been drawing portraits since the age of five and have a Youtube channel called Krisha Sangani. I wish I spent a little more time on this but I still thought I would share it with you. I would love for some feedback. I love your videos they really motivate me to keep working.
Oops here’s my sketch of Scott.
Here’s to Scott!!
I worked at this a long time and I know it doesn’t quite look like you, Scott but I didn’t want to put any more time into it. Would appreciate any comments. I have not been doing these drawings in real time but have been doing them at my own convenience. I very much appreciate your classes and feel I have learned a lot. Thank you so much.
Drew myself. I used a mirror.It’s really hard to be objective.
Enjoy my lessons.Thank you for your gift of teaching.
Respectfully
Vickie Gann
This one was a challenge especially the hair, but all in all an enjoyable process.
Ha! Thank you for sharing this. It looks great!
This looks great! I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the sessions. Excellent work with this portrait!
I discovered this class too late to join in live, but trying to catch up. I particularly appreciate how you stress that it’s ok to keep working on a drawing and that you don’t have to get it right on the first pass. That helps to give me confidence. I kept working on this one for several days, noticing and changing things. It still has a few issues but I declared it done anyway!
I live in FL now but am from CA. All my friends think this looks like Gavin Newsom! HA!
Thank you for this feedback! Drawing is definitely a skill that anyone can learn. Just like other things, it’s easier for some people to grasp the concepts, but it’s true that anyone can, and should, draw. If you love it and it feels good, it will show in your drawing, and that’s ultimately what is most important. To me, the experience of the drawing is more important than the finished drawing itself.
This looks great! I can see that you’re paying close attention to the form and the refinement of edges. Your process looks great!
That should say “just NOW really drawing….” 🙂
Thank you so very much for the feedback. I totally see what you’re describing. I think I get in too much of a hurry to finish something and don’t take enough time to step away. It’s funny, my husband has said “people are born artists,” but I keep telling him I can learn. I’m 48 years old, just not really drawing and LOVING the relaxing feeling of it. Thank you so much for these videos AND the feedback!
Ok here’s my attempt… I do portrait drawing from photos quite a bit but never this fast! Any advice is always welcome.
Thank you for sharing this! I can tell that your process for this looks great. Portraits sure are challenging! My suggestion for you is to double-check the size of the forehead, as it looks a bit short, as well as look again at the size of the cheekbone on the left, checking the spacing between the tip of the nose and the line of the cheek on the left. What you’ve done here though, has a lot of strong points. The features are all unified nicely on the head and you’re seeing the light and shadow beautifully.
I have been practicing drawing faces for a few weeks. Most of them are not meant to be accurate, but hopefully clear what it is. :). Today, I followed the Note to Self Portrait drawing and really enjoyed it. I have modified it MANY times, but I don’t think I can get it to be any more accurate…….yet. I’m still learning. I would love to post where I started and then this, but I can only do one at a time. I am open to constructive criticism. :). Thank you!