Tips On Pencil Portrait Sketching - Working With Strong Illumination And Shadows Article

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Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Working With Strong Illumination and Shadows

In this expose we talk the drawing of strongly contrasting light/dark patterns. We explain some of the unique rules that apply to this sort of tonal patterns.

Author: Robert Thomson

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Value is one of the most vexing items of portraiture. Most artists are very reluctant about tone and do not push the darks far enough. This is often because:

1. Their eyes are not yet coached to see the delicate variations.

2. The fear of messing up a sketch.

Starting artists can see big lights and big darks and half-tones easily enough but it takes eye-coaching to see the finer variations in tone.

In this commentary we will focus on the interplay of strong irregular lights and darks that are thrown upon the model's head, i.e., light-dappled patterns.

As usual, we first draw the arabesque and position the facial features (brow line and base of the nose).

When dealing with a complicated value pattern the main task is striving to simplify the patterns. Sketching, in general, is invariably an exercise in simplification, i.e., making choices.

The next step consists of blocking-in the overall dark/light pattern with single tones. At this stage do not yet refine the tones because doing so will surely lead to failure.

Using a stump or your fingers, blend the pencil dust. If you use a paper stump be careful not to deaden the tones. The lights can be added, corrected, and refined with your kneaded eraser.

The facial features and the hair are now carefully drawn in.
Keep these structural lines very soft. In addition, continue constructing the value shapes|forms keeping in mind that, except for the sun-dappled pattern, the tone must be kept down, i.e., nothing in the darks must pop out.

This is a subtle balancing act. Tone must be added and then subtly modeled and/or removed. This requires you to constantly going back and forth.

In addition, do not yet want to finish the facial features but be sure that the likeness is already evident and that the sizes are accurate. That is, at this stage, your sketch should look like an under-painting.

Like color, tone is influenced by the neighboring tone. You can see, for instance, that once the hair is blocked-in and somewhat refined that the facial area now looks lighter than before.

Next, you can return to the facial features and break down the large value masses into their various shapes and relationships by employing cross-hatching, stumping and delicate eraser work.

The test with dappled light is to make the delicate patterns while still keeping a smooth whole. As a general rule, cast shadows have hard edges while form shadows have soft edges of changing degrees. When using a stump, you should hardly touch the paper. This allows you to keep the tiny lights that bounce off the paper thereby keeping the image alive and vibrating with light.

To lay down the most fragile tones utilize the blackest, hardest pieces of kneaded eraser you can find.

As is the case with the facial features, the tones of the hair must be subordinated to the overall light and must match with the face both physically and emotionally.

Lastly, at this stage you can leave the drawing as is or you can push it further by adding more detail. That is an aesthetic decision left to you.

About Author

Download my brand new Free Pencil Portrait Sketching Tutorial here: Pencil Portrait Sketching Tutorial. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait draftsman and oil painter and practiced sketching instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: http://www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Using Strong Illumination and Shadows.

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Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Working With Strong Illumination and Shadows