Procedures for Pencil Portrait Rendering - The Slanted Head View

To craft interesting fluid portraits that radiate life you must appreciate the effect of the spine on the head and shoulders.

To create a relaxed feeling in your portraits quite often you will need to draw the head tilted. Most people when they are at ease will view with their head slightly tilted. In this article we will point out what to look for and how to tackle the tilted head.

In the tilted head view the model will show a clear change of bearing from the action of the torso to the slant of the head. Also take note of where the shoulders are. The model's shoulders will almost be aligned with the bottom of the nose.

With this information in mind, the first step is to measure the angle of the head's slant (from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head) before striking the construct. To do this hold your pencil (or a knitting needle) at arm's length, looking through one eye, and adjust the angle of the held pencil so that it relates to the angle of the slant. Keeping your arm straight and locked you can now transpose this angle onto the drawing.

Now that the angle of the slant is found you can sketch the construct and validate the height/width proportion.

The axis of the features is perpendicular to the slanted facial angle. A common trend while rendering is to straighten out the features so that they are horizontal to the paper. Be aware of this and ever on-guard because this trend is subtle and is constantly trying to sneak into the drawing.

It is not a suggested practice to situate all of the features at this point. It is actually more correct to first fix the brow line and the bottom of the nose and work from there.

When the head is slanted you should also be aware of the effect that gravity has on the face. The skin, especially on the underside of the jaw, will be somewhat pulled down. This effect is quite fine but for those of you who are advanced portraitists you should capture this in your original construct. If you are a novice just put this information away for future reference.

Take note, also, of the neck. The significant visible neck muscle is extended. Its companion is compressed. This opposing muscle action is referred to as abduction/adduction. This action of the neck always renders a beautiful effect.

Once the construct is positioned and you are satisfied with its accuracy relative to size and form you can render the features and block-in the primary big darks and lights. Keep the value simple. The more complicated the lighting arrangement, the more this applies.

The tonal arrangements are worked further, but are still somewhat crude and unresolved. The primary concern is the overall light effect.

There are a few items to keep in mind as you prepare to finalize the drawing:

1. Determine how far you want to carry the drawing. You can get a good effect if you give the shoulders and upper torso an unresolved quality. Remember, sketches are not meant to resemble photos.

2. As you gain a better understanding of the facial structure the trend exists to draw what you know rather than what is actually there. So make sure you always pause to observe the life model or the model in the photo.

In closing, the slanted head view is special in that the features will be centered on a slanted axis and that the tension in the shoulders will be different from one side to the other. Also the changeover from the torso and shoulders to the head should be carefully inspected.

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Download my brand new Complementary Pencil Portrait Rendering Tutorial here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Rendering Tutorial. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait draftsman and oil painter and skilled drawing instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Rendering - The Slanted Head Pose.

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