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Portraits: Lesson 4 ]
Drawing & Painting
Life Portraits
Lesson #4
DRAWING THE EYES, FULL FACE
You will need a soft pencil, drawing paper,
and kneaded eraser for this study - and the mirror, of course.
Start with the sphere
of the eye, lightly drawn. (Even though you can't see it, you
know it's there.)
- Draw a second sphere for the other eye,
leaving an eye's width between. (see the sketches above.)
- Draw the eyelids curving over the sphere
as shown in the second sketch. Notice the lower lid has a different
contour from the upper lid. The upper lid casts a shadow upon
the eyeball. Without this shadow, the eye will appear to be "popping"
- too prominent. Now add the tear duct where the upper and lower
eyelids intersect, next to the nose. Most often this corner is
lower than the outer corner. Draw the fold line in the upper
lid, and perhaps add some shadow as shown to indicate the depression
next to the bridge of the nose. Is there a fold line under the
eye?
- Draw the eyebrows. Remember the brow is
made up of many small hairs; it's drawn with short strokes, not
one continuous line. Lay in any shadows you see under the brow
bone, and under the lower lid. Erase the eyeball circle line.
- Put in the round, colored iris. If you
open your eyes very wide, you'll see the entire circle; without
sketching your eyes open, either the top of the iris will be
covered by the upper eyelid or the bottom part of the lower eyelid,
or most likely both the top and the bottom by both lids. It's
very unusual to see the entire iris. Look carefully for the shiny
white highlight, and leave that tiny area of the paper white.
Now add the black pupil in the center of the iris. Make this
very dark.Study the right eye. Add the eyelashes only where you
see them. Check the alignment of the two pupils by laying your
pencil horizontally across them, making sure you are holding
it straight and not tilted.
FINISHING UP; With one last critical look,
check your work by looking at your drawing in the mirror. Looking
at your artwork in a mirror is a foolproof way to spot errors.
In this instance, you could clearly see if one eye is larger,
or lower, or out of kilter in any way. Correct any errors you
find. Add whatever accents you see in the eyes that will bring
your drawing to life.
Eyes are great fun to draw. Isn't it exciting
and challenging to make them look as if they might blink, or have
them convey mood? As you draw other peoples eyes, try to get the
age group right. For example, glamorous eyes with long sweeping
eyelashes would be inappropriate on a child. Can you show wisdom
in the eyes of someone who has lived quite a long time? Some eyes
really do sparkle and dance. Can you portray this effect? It's
safe to say you will never be bored drawing eyes, for everyone's
eyes are unique. The variety is infinite.
DRAWING PROFILE EYES
The only way you
can study your own eye in profile is to look at it in a second
mirror, such as a hand mirror reflecting your image from a wall
mirror. This may seem a little cumbersome, but the information
gained from this study is well worth it.
- Begin with the lightly drawn sphere. Of
course you can see only one eye when looking at the eyes in profile,
for the other eye is hidden behind the nose, on the other side
of the head. Draw the curve of the upper eyelid, then the lower
one. You will be unable to see the tearduct pocket.
- Add the eyebrow, then the shadow under
the brow, if there is one, and the shadow under the lower lid.
Study the iris. You will see that it is no longer round from
this angle, but is a flattened disc shape, and a part of it will
be hidden by the eyelid. The highlight is even smaller in this
view; study it carefully and try to leave it the white of the
paper when coloring in the iris. If you can't manage this, pick
it out with your eraser. Now draw the pupil, which is also a
flattened disc shape, very dark. The darker you make the area
surrounding the highlight, the brighter the highlight will appear.
Put in the eyelashes, which are more prominent in the profile
view. Then add the accents. Finally erase the lines indicating
the sphere that are still visible, and there you have it!
DRAWING THE EYES, THREE-QUARTER VIEW
This view requires even more careful observation
than the full face or the profile. Most of the heads you will
paint will be in a three-quarter view as this angle appears most
natural and least posed. Look in a mirror and draw your own eyes,
but each time you look, be sure your head is precisely the position
as before. A half-inch turn to the right or left changes the perspective
of the eyes. 
- Draw the two spheres and draw the eyelids
over the spheres. Immediately you'll see why this view needs
careful observation: the left eye is very different from the
right. Coloring the irises should help with the eyelids. Add
the fold line in the upper lid with care. Then the tearduct.
See how the inner corner of the eye furthest away from you is
partially hidden by the bridge of the nose. You may not even
see the tearduct of that eye.
- Add the pupils, very black. Leave the
highlights the white of the paper. Add the eyelashes where you
see them. Draw in the eyebrows. Then look for shadows. Erase
the sphere where it is still visible.
Draw as many pairs of eyes as you can from
life, magazines, and photographs, every day for a month. This
effort will be of enormous benefit to you. I believe it is safe
to say that the success of your portraits depends upon your finesse
in drawing and painting eyes.
See you next time!