Drawing Pencil Portraits- 3 Simple Mistakes To Avoid.

Pencil Portrait MasteryDrawing is a phenomenal pastime for us all. In fact, drawing people always provides a great challenge to capture all the features in the subject. Pencil portraits do not have to be difficult even although each person’s features are unique. So by taking the time to work through Christopher Sia’s Pencil Portrait Mastery course and practicing the techniques, drawing realistic and easily recognisable faces will become second nature to you.





Here are some of Christopher's tips below:


First Of All The Eyes

Christopher demonstrates the most fundemental errors that artists make drawing a person’s eyes.

As we all know, we refer to the eyes as the windows to the soul. Usually being thought as the most difficult of features to draw and because we tend to draw the basic outline of the eyeball itself, we fail to realize shading needs to be added to make the eyes “jump” out at you from off the page.

Eyes always appear flat and one or two dimensional and stare back at you without any expression. So shading is imperative if you wish to give those eyes the apearance of looking out at you, trying to tell you something of themselves.

Christopher also mentions the importance of learning how to wrap the eyelids around the eyes and points out the technique when trying to capture those specifics that capture those delicate variations, especially when viewed from different angles.

There is however an important fact that we tend to forget or just do not know about is that the iris is oval, it is not round and will appear narrow when averted from one side to another.

Okay, Now For The Nose

Making an error when sketching the nose will be noticeable. This is because artists always tend to outline this feature. Whereas this should be carried out by shading the area starting at the bridge using the side of the pencil lightly then darkening the area of the nose as you work your way to its base.

The Mouth

Failing to give the lips texture is another point that people fail on. Everyones lips are entirely different, from shape, texture and appearance. Although they may be in many variously beautiful shapes everyone’s lips have fine lines.

So when drawing the lips, it is better to begin outlining them and teeth very lightly, this will help to visualize them when you are drawing.

Just a little tip, the lips are not one color, they vary in shade, and each person is unique. So think as an artist and show that different coloring and textures each time you draw a subject’s mouth.

Summing Up

Using Christopher Sia’s Pencil Portrait Mastery course and implementing the techniques and methods he clearly demonstrates, will have your pencil portraits appear so realistic and professional even the complete beginner will be surprised at the reaction to his sketches.

Enjoy the fun and enjoy, John.

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