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Value is one of the most troublesome elements of portraiture. The majority of artists are very reluctant about tone and do not push the darks far enough. This is often because: 1. Their eyes are not yet trained to see the delicate variations. 2. The fear of losing a drawing. Starting artists can see large lights and large darks and half-tones easily enough but it takes eye-teaching to see the finer variations in tone. In this article we will focus on the interplay of strong unconventional lights and darks that are cast upon the subject's head, i.e., light-dappled patterns. As usual, we first draw the construct and position the facial features (brow line and base of the nose). When dealing with a complex tonal pattern the principal task is looking to simplify the patterns. Drawing, in general, is always an exercise in simplification, i.e., making choices. The next step consists of blocking-in the overall dark/light pattern with simple tones. At this stage do not yet refine the tones because doing so will surely lead to failure. Using a stump or your fingers, blend the graphite. If you use a paper stump be careful not to deaden the tones. The lights can be added, corrected, and refined with your putty eraser. The facial features and the hair are now carefully drawn in. Keep these structural lines very soft. Also, continue constructing the tonal shapes|forms keeping in mind that, except for the sun-dappled pattern, the tone must be kept down, i.e., nothing in the darks must pop out. This is a subtle balancing act. Tone must be added and then delicately modeled and/or taken away. This requires you to constantly going back and forth. Also, do not be tempted to finish the facial features but be sure that the likeness is already evident and that the sizes are right. That is, at this stage, your drawing should look like an under-painting. Like color, tone is affected by the surrounding tone. You can see, for example, that once the hair is hatched-in and somewhat refined that the facial area now looks lighter than before. Next, you can return to the facial features and break down the big value masses into their various forms and relationships by using cross-hatching, stumping and delicate eraser work. The test with dappled light is to render the delicate patterns while still maintaining a smooth total. As a general rule, cast shadows have hard edges while form shadows have soft edges of varying degrees. When using a stump, you should hardly touch the paper. This allows you to keep the small lights that bounce off the paper thereby keeping the image alive and vibrating with light. To produce the most fragile tones make use of the blackest, hardest pieces of putty eraser you can find. As is the case with the facial features, the tones of the hair must be subordinated to the overall light and must match with the face both physically and emotionally. Lastly, at this stage you can leave the drawing as is or you can push it further by adding more detail. That is an visual decision left to you.
Article Source: http://www.articletitan.com
Download my brand new Free Pencil Portrait Drawing Tutorial here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Drawing Tutorial. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced sketching instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Using Strong Illumination and Shadows.
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