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  • #483087
    wal_t
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        I do a lot of portraits from life and still struggle now and again with the likeness. Recently I am trying out the procedure by Douglas R Graves as described in his book.

        It consist of 45 steps that I give condensed below:

        1/2 : general shape of the head followed by variations in this shape
        3/4/5/6/7 : placement of the features.
        8 : placement of the hairline.
        9 : general shape of the hair.
        10 : general shape of the neck.
        11/12/13/14/15: proportions of the features (and hair)
        16/17/18/19/20 : general shape of the features (and hair)
        21/22/23 : inner contours of the face (forehead , cheek and jaw area).
        24/25/26/27/28: adjusting the shape of the features.
        29/30/31 : modeling the forehead,cheek, jaw areas.
        32/33/34/35/36/37 : modeling the features, neck and hair.
        38/39/40 : refining the forehead, cheek, jaw areas.
        41/42/43/44/45 : refining the features and overall analysis refinement.

        I have done a few with mixed results and it works fairly well.

        I have also done the proecess that Tony Ryder describes for figures (and portraits) mainly consisting of the envelope and breaking it up in smaller parts , contour drawing of the outer form, followed by shading of the inner form.

        There are more descriptions of processes of getting a likeness on the internet, some good and some not so good.

        Typically when I draw I soon start doing my own wonky process again making the same mistakes again … and again.

        Walter

        #937028
        budigart
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            Jeepers . . . a 45-item checklist.

            You’ll be better and be faster if you find a way to measure and put down with some certainty the distances between hairline and eyebrows to bottom of nose to bottom of chin. There are several good ways to do that and most good books on portrait drawing cover this. The old brush handle or knitting needle are probably the best. (I quit using a knitting needle because the guys down at the pool hall kept asking to see the socks I knitted,)

            One of the things I did that helped a lot was go to our local library and did free 5-10 minute sketches of kids who daily showed up there. I live in a small town and the library is just a couple of blocks away from middle school. The kids would go there to use the library’s computers after school.

            Out of necessity I started my sketches using the “mass-tone” method. I bought some of those graphite sticks and broke off half- to three-quarter inch pieces, and used the broad side to lay in the overall shape of the face/head. A little more pressure for the eye sockets, beneath the nose, and so on. Then, it was a simple matter to check my distances/proportions and strike in a few marks to show major points and places. Over time I got pretty good at it, and it improved my ability to judge these critical distances.

            I had one little kid who showed up day after day for his free sketch. I didn’t mind, but I was curious. Finally, in a kidding tone, I asked him if he was selling his sketches on the street for candy money. No, he retorted, I’m giving them to my girlfriends.

            #937029
            wal_t
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                Jeepers . . . a 45-item checklist.

                You’ll be better and be faster if you find a way to measure and put down with some certainty the distances between hairline and eyebrows to bottom of nose to bottom of chin.

                That is of course part of the first steps ….placement of the features and hairline as it starts with some accurate placement in the general headshape before further developping it … so you do the same thing :wave:

                45 steps sound as a lot but you can still make a portrait in 15 minutes or so …. one that is well recognized as the sitter I mean …. not an alien from another planet.

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