15
votes
Accepted
How can I draw single hairs on a black background with charcoal or graphite?
The flocculent beauty of the work you show is not that the artists drew a single hair (that would never achieve the effect) the beauty came from the artists layering one drawn hair "over" another and ...
- 2,956
14
votes
Accepted
How can I draw realistic hair with pencil?
There is a natural temptation when drawing hair to think in terms of individual hairs and equate these to pencil lines. However this tends to get in the way as there is no reasonable way to draw every ...
- 1,979
9
votes
Accepted
How to draw human body in chest/collarbone area?
I think the main reasons the curviness seems lacking is because the contrast is too high or uneven, and your hatching doesn't follow the curves of the body.
The quite abrupt ending of the shading on ...
- 10.4k
8
votes
How to draw human body in chest/collarbone area?
This is meant as an addition to Joachims answer, so I won't repeat what he already pointed out.
I'm sorry if this sounds nitpicky, but it seems to me like you start the process of drawing with the ...
Elmy♦
- 12.6k
6
votes
Does grid drawing help with drawing from imagination?
Best way I know is just making a cross on both the original and lightly on the paper you will be drawing onto. That stops you getting too technical, and forces you to look at spaces and shapes, which ...
- 97
6
votes
Accepted
Drawing detail in dark hair?
As fixer1234 mentioned, in your photo reference, all the hair falls in the darkest area of the spectrum of light values. It actually won't matter once your drawing is complete: once all the light ...
- 10.4k
6
votes
Accepted
In drawing, how is a "painterly" style different from a "linear" style?
In my personal opinion, the difference between these styles comes from how the painter perceives the subject. As humans, we all see the world differently. Some people concentrate on the big picture ...
Elmy♦
- 12.6k
5
votes
Drawing detail in dark hair?
Are you trying to reproduce the "silhouette", or improve on it so hair detail is visible? The detail is all from reflected light. Hair is a shiny, textured surface. Whatever detail you see is from ...
- 11.5k
4
votes
How to start a pencil portrait without using an outline of features?
Creating detailed outlines of features and then fleshing them out can often lead you to draw yourself into a corner - you'll put a lot of detail into a particular spot and find that it's off (I've ...
- 1,223
4
votes
Accepted
How can I replace an unwanted area in my reference image?
Digital manipulation might still be a good starting point.
If you have the digital film footage from each of these episodes, and if you have good video player software, you should be able to move ...
- 3,235
4
votes
Drawing a newborn baby
If you're drawing for a hobby, some tips for beginners can be found here and here.
Firstly, you can improve your drawing by:
Drawing newborn baby anatomy - I found a cute example for you here.
...
- 96
4
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to make portraits of people for indirectly commercial purposes?
The problem lies with interpretation. If your take on a photo of a certain person (famous or not, we all have the same rights) is deviating sufficiently from the original - which is, in itself, an ...
- 10.4k
3
votes
How to draw eyes shape - more-or-less formal algorithm
What determines eye shape
To understand eye shape, it helps to think about what creates that shape.
Eyeballs are spherical. They're mostly inside the skull, but a dome of the eyeball protrudes from ...
- 11.5k
3
votes
How to draw eyes shape - more-or-less formal algorithm
Welcome to the A&C, Code Complete.
The thing about eyes, is that all of them are not the same shape. Sometimes the eyeball can be referred to as, 'football shaped', 'almond shaped', and many ...
- 1,771
3
votes
What are distinct facial features that can be considered while drawing an Indian and Caucasian teenage girl?
Here are images of the averages of faces of Caucasian and Indian women.
They are based on images of individuals of an older age than what you're looking for, but should still give a good idea of the ...
- 10.4k
3
votes
The differences between masculine and feminine features to improve my portraits
I am no professional artist and don't draw any portraits, but I hope to offer you some insights free of prejudice and textbook mantras.
The woman on top doesn't look weird, masculine or ugly, she is ...
Elmy♦
- 12.6k
3
votes
Accepted
How to fix the nose in this portrait of soft oil pastels?
To me the proportions look right. I think your problem is the contrast in color between the tip of the nose and the skin above the upper lip.
In your reference picture there is a very soft and ...
Elmy♦
- 12.6k
3
votes
How to draw human body in chest/collarbone area?
You may need to practice working from photographs that are less 'lingerie catalogue'.
To my eye, this photo looks as though the model's chest has been digitally enlarged. Notice how the skin just ...
- 31
2
votes
How can I draw single hairs on a black background with charcoal or graphite?
It is important to understand the concept of layers. It also depends on the medium. Sometimes a "charcoal drawing" implements other media. Sometimes what appears to be black on white is actually white ...
- 176
2
votes
How can I replace an unwanted area in my reference image?
If you're painting by hand and want the first scene but with a happy face just note the subtle elements that make an expression.
Her eyebrows are furloughed an not straight and relaxed, the shape of ...
- 21
2
votes
How can I draw realistic hair with pencil?
Hair can be hard to draw sometimes, but I think it is very fun! Here are the steps I personally go through to assure realistic looking hair.
make a light outline of the general hair shape.
Make ‘...
- 33
2
votes
Planes of the head (Loomis Method)
The "planes of the head" are the simplification of the constant curving of the head into areas that share a similar orientation. Meaning, take the curved surfaces of the head and flatten those ...
- 3,159
2
votes
The differences between masculine and feminine features to improve my portraits
Stereotypical masculine features include an overall more rigid structure, larger bones (especially jawbone), more distinct jaw and neck muscles.
Stereotypical feminine features include an overall ...
- 21
2
votes
How to draw eyes shape - more-or-less formal algorithm
To start, it's good to have a concept of the anatomy of an eye.
Basically, the eye is a sphere:
It lies at the centre of the eye socket or orbit of the skull, out of which it protrudes partially (...
- 10.4k
2
votes
How to fix the nose in this portrait of soft oil pastels?
The nose may not be the problem, it may just be inheriting one.
Check the space between the eyes and the mouth. I find it is a common problem in my own drawing to make that distance too long and ...
- 3,159
2
votes
Accepted
Are there any pros and cons of using more than 5-6 grades of pencils for a single drawing especially a portrait?
I think this may be a very opinion-based topic, however I'll give what I think is my best take on it. I am married to a proper artist, I studied technical drawing and architecture at school, and one ...
- 303
2
votes
In drawing, how is a "painterly" style different from a "linear" style?
A linear style uses lines to represent the subject. Hence it emphasizes contours and details, because these can be drawn more easily with lines. In the right image you can see how the hairs are more ...
- 10.4k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible