Chapter 5 | REAL FACES
To draw real faces you need a model who can sit still for a while, although you can also take photos as an aid.
Of course, for a self-portrait you only need a mirror!
To draw real heads and faces you will need more than just a diagram with ‘correct’ proportions. Just as important is the way you draw and how you can learn to look back and forth between your subject and your drawing. In this chapter you will get some exercises for this pupose, starting with yourself as the subject.
Self-portrait without looking at the paper
Exercise 1: Make sure you have a mirror and, if necessary, a surface for your paper (such as hard cardboard), so that you don’t have to sit at a table to draw. Draw your mirror image WITHOUT LOOKING AT YOUR PAPER IN BETWEEN! Hold your pencil further away from the tip. Keep your pencil in contact with the paper while drawing, so that everything in the head and face will be connected. Quietly explore everything you see as if you were gently touching your face. The result is always a surprise and certainly not a glamour portrait. The funny thing is that you are really hidden in those drawings even though photographically they don’t look like you at all. Repeat this exercise as often as you like. Of course, you can edit your drawings afterwards if you like.
Exercise 2: It is fun to do exercise 1 with someone. Sit opposite each other, start drawing at the same time and show each other the surprising results after a while. You can correct each other if one of the two looks at his/her paper.
Exercise 3: This time allow yourself to look at your paper in between while drawing yourself in the mirror or someone else in front of you. Make sure you don’t get ‘locked in’ in your drawing; keep looking back and forth between your subject and your drawing. Place your paper at a comfortable angle in front of you instead of lying flat on the table because otherwise you quickly get distortion and you have to move your head too much to switch between your model and your drawing.
This portrait by the artist Alberto Giacometti is a very original example of an intuitive way of drawing in which everything in the face seems connected.
TWO SPECIAL PORTRAIT EXERCISES FROM ARTISTS
EXTRA 1: DRAWING FROM MEMORY (ARTIST: ANASTASIA K)
Put a small mirror in front of you. Look in the mirror for at least 5 minutes WITHOUT DRAWING! Study everything about your face, neck and shoulders (or just a part/section of your face). Put the mirror away and draw in five minutes what you can remember. Repeat this sequence: first five minutes just looking, then another five minutes drawing from memory. I got this exercise from Anastasia K, a young artist who lives and works in Rotterdam. She gives painting courses and workshops in her studio: https://www.art-workshop.nl/ of https://www.anastasia-k.nl
EXTRA 2: FOCUS ON SHADOW (ARTIST: SIEGFRIED WOLDHEK)
Take a selfie or a photo of someone else in close-up (head, face, neck and a bit of the shoulders). Make sure there is strong light from the side so that you get nice shadows. Change the photo on your camera or computer to black and white. First draw the face from the photo in line (far left). Then rotate both the photo and your drawing 180 degrees* (second from the left). First fill in the darkest shadow areas. Finish with the ‘midtones’ (everything between the lightest and darkest areas). Accurately rendered light-dark contrasts are often more essential to a likeness than precisely drawn details. This exercise comes from an online course by the master illustrator/portraitist of the NRC, Siegfried Woldhek. You can buy this portrait course using the following links: https://www.woldhek.nl or https://www.pronkacademie.nl
*Rotating the drawing and photo 180 degrees allows you to focus much better on light and dark instead of fixating on eyes-nose-mouth.
