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Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing – the 6 Elements of Portrait Drawing

Sketching in general entails 4 distinct elements: line, value, texture, and shape. In the special case of pencil portrait drawing we can refine the list of elements to six: shape, proportion, anatomy, texture, value, and planes.

In this article we will give a detailed description of each of those pencil portrait drawing elements.

(1) Form Shape or Shape – The illusion of three-dimensionality in drawing and art in general has been central to Western art for a long time. The carving out of shape using line, structure, and value was vital to almost all Renaissance art.

In contrast, oriental and much contemporary art emphasize flatness of shape although this era in contemporary art is drawing to a close.

All shape in drawing can be reduced to 4 basic 3-dimensional solids: bricks, cones, cylinders, and spheres. The correct use of these forms together with perspective and value leads to the illusion of 3-dimensionality even though the drawing is, in reality, located on a two-dimensional piece of drawing paper.

In portrait drawing, the arabesque of the skull, the square structure of the skull, and all components within the skull (nose, eyes, etc.) are all two- and 3-dimensional forms that add to the overall illusion of 3-dimensionality

(2) Proportion – includes all sizing and placements of shape. Proportion refers to the idea of relative length and angle size.

Proportion gives answers to these two questions:

1. Given a defined unit of length, how many units is a given length?

2. How large is this given angle?

Answering these 2 questions every time correctly will give a drawing with the right proportions and placements of all forms.

(3) Anatomy – refers in effect to the underlying structures of bone and muscle of the skull.

It is important to learn as much as you can about anatomy. There are a lot of books available on anatomy for the artist. For a portrait artist it is really important to study the anatomy of the skull, neck, and shoulders.

Anatomy studies unfortunately include a lot of Latin terms which makes it somewhat difficult to grasp. The idea is to learn slowly and a little bit at a time because it can be very frustrating.

(4) Texture – in portrait drawing expresses the degree of roughness or smoothness of the forms. The texture of a rhino skin, for example, is very different from that of a window pane.

There are quite a few methods and tricks to assist you with the creation of the proper textures. Creating textures gives you the opportunity to be very creative and to use every possible type of mark you can make with a pencil. In portrait drawing textures appear in places such as hair, clothing, and skin.

(5) Value – refers to the degrees in light or dark of the pencil marks and hatchings. Commanding portrait drawings use the complete palette of contrasting lights and darks. Beginning artists often fail to achieve this full “stretch” of value, resulting in retiring, washed-out drawings.

(6) Planes – create the sculptural sensibility of a portrait. The skull has numerous planes each with a unique direction and therefore with a different value.

The idea is to think of the surface of the skull as a collection of distinct planes with a particular direction relative to the light source. You should try to identify each of the planes and sketch its correct shape and value.

The correct handling of planes adds a lot to the likeness of your subject as well as the illusion of 3-dimensionality.

About the Author

Do you want to know the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new no cost pencil portrait rendering tutorial here: Remi’s Pencil Portrait Rendering Tutorial. Remi is a pencil portrait draftsman and oil painter and practiced sketch instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: http://www.remipencilportraits.com