Making a Realistic Portrait Drawing

How to Make a Portrait Drawing from a Photo

Creating a drawing from a portrait photo is a relatively complex artistic discipline that requires mastering certain basics and having good observation skills.

However, some good tips, a little discipline, and perseverance will help you draw magnificent, very realistic portraits.

Here's how to make a portrait drawing from a photo.

Choosing the Right Reference Photo for Making a Portrait Drawing

Before anything else, take the time to carefully choose the photo on which your portrait drawing will be based. Indeed, some photographs can be much more difficult to reproduce than others.

• If you're a beginner in portrait drawing, preferably opt for a photo that presents a clear and well-identifiable light source. Therefore, systematically ask yourself where the light comes from in the image. If it's too difficult to identify, move on to the next photo without hesitation!
• Also opt for a photo with good framing, that is, which represents the subject's face and head in their entirety. When starting out, cropped photos should be absolutely avoided, as they don't provide enough indications to produce a well-proportioned portrait.
• Similarly, it's generally advised to start with a face with a neutral expression. You'll thus acquire the basics of drawn portrait before embarking on reproducing the most complex expressions.

Tip: once chosen, print your photo before drawing your portrait on paper. This way, it will be much easier for you to study and respect the proportions of the face to be redrawn.

Also know that making a portrait drawing can prove more or less complex depending on:

• the density of the model's hair;
• the subject's gender, drawing a man's portrait for example induces more marked shadows than that of a woman;
• the person's age, drawing an elderly person's portrait for example requires spending more time on the subject's features and expressions, while drawn portraits of children prove much simpler to create.

Note: in all cases, working from a photo is an excellent way to help you progress in drawing.

Defining the Face Structure in a Portrait Drawing

When undertaking a portrait drawing, we often focus on the details of the face instead of concentrating on its structure and contours. In the first instance, you must therefore force yourself to ignore the details in order to concentrate on the overall structure of the head.

Tips: trace your basic reference points directly on the printed photo:

• hairline,
• that of the eyebrows,
• bottom of the nose,
• chin.

This very simple tip will help you realize the proportions of the face to be reproduced.

Strong or fine jaw, wide forehead, high chin… Proportions can vary greatly from one individual to another, and require all your attention. It's they that define the realism of your portrait. Indeed, it's not the details that allow you to make a realistic portrait drawing from a photo, but rather respecting the proportions of the face and head!

The Head Angle

Front portrait, ¾ view, profile, tilted head, raised head, etc. Start by carefully studying the angle of the face you're going to draw.

Draw the Cranial Mass

A sphere is generally used to represent the skull. Then, we give it volume while orienting it the same way as the initial portrait, thanks to the addition of horizontal lines crossed by a vertical line.

Specify the Position of the Face Components

You can now divide the cranial mass according to the different elements that compose the face. For this, trace a horizontal line:

• at the base of the skull level, that is, at the top of the sphere;
• at the eyebrow level (positioned in the middle of the sphere);
• at the bottom of the nose level.

Then draw a vertical line to represent the middle of the face, and therefore the placement of the nose.

Finish this preparatory drawing by tracing your subject's jaw and chin. These are not present in the initial sphere that represents the cranial mass, and must therefore be added to it, which allows creating the complete oval of the face.

Be careful here to properly respect the proportions. Therefore, constantly check the measurements between each of the elements compared to the original photo.

Tip: at this stage of portrait drawing, it's generally advised to use a 2H pencil and not press on the lead. Indeed, these lines are destined to disappear eventually, and will therefore be much easier to erase if they've been traced lightly.

Specify the Face Contours

Now redraw the head contours more precisely, being very careful about their shapes and inclinations. Prominent or non-existent cheekbones, square or rounded chin, flat or bulging forehead, etc. Your drawing must transcribe the character of your subject's face.

Draw the Eyebrows Before the Eyes

Placing the eyebrows first will help you more easily locate your subject's eyes. Eyebrows are, indeed, particularly visible in a drawing, and form a very practical reference point.

Once the eyes are positioned on the face, check their perfect proportions thanks to the eyebrows already drawn beforehand.

Tip: generally speaking, the distance between two human eyes equals the size of a single eye.

Note: keep in mind that a face is never flat and that eyes are naturally placed in a recess.

Draw the Nose

Placed in the middle of the face, the nose gives a unique character to the face. Here again, don't hesitate to draw directly on the original photo to properly understand its shape, before transferring it to your portrait drawing.

Trace the Mouth

Like the nose, the mouth adds volume to the face.

Tip: to properly proportion the mouth, note that its corners are very often aligned with the middle of the eyes.

The Importance of Shadows and Lights in a Portrait Drawing

Once the preparatory sketch is complete, it's time to apply shadows and lights to the drawn face. These invariably add realism to the drawn portrait.

First concentrate on your reference photo to identify its main light source. The strongest shadows indicate the direction of this light source which is located opposite to them.

• Transfer these shadow areas to your drawing, for example on the eyebrow arches, neck, base of the hair, upper lip, dark circles… You can, at first, simply hatch these shadow areas using your pencil.
• With the eraser, then specify the areas of the face that are lit by the light, such as for example the upper surface of the nose, cheekbones, etc.

Once done, you can work your shadows more precisely by darkening them little by little, for the natural rendering you find in a hand-made charcoal portrait. Be careful not to press too hard on the lead. The main shadow areas must obviously be the darkest of the drawing.

Adding Details to the Portrait Drawing

Now that the basics of your portrait drawing are perfectly defined, it's finally time to dwell on the details of the face.

You can therefore model its shapes to adapt them more precisely to the original photo. However, be careful not to overdo it! When starting out in portrait drawing, it's better not to detail it too much. It's more advisable to concentrate on the subject's most obvious characteristics to ensure the resemblance between drawing and original photo.

For examples:

• Make a few eyebrow hairs stick out to break their symmetry and give them volume, without however detailing each hair that composes them.
• If each eyelash doesn't need to be represented, don't forget however to add light to your gaze. A few bright points in the iris prevent the eyes from appearing empty and blind.
• Give depth and volume to your mouth by darkening the upper lip and varying the thickness of the line.
• For hair, concentrate on their mass, but don't try to draw them one by one, this wouldn't add anything more, in terms of realism, to your portrait drawing.

Conclusion

Making a portrait drawing from a photo doesn't require perfection from you! Keep in mind that every great artist first had to train tirelessly before managing to draw a portrait in detail.

By respecting the steps we've just seen, and with a little diligence, you'll manage to improve your technique drawing after drawing.

If despite everything, you can't manage to create your portrait drawing alone, ask a professional for a hand-drawn pencil portrait. Talented artists put their stroke at your service via the Cartoonely platform!