Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - The Inclusive Arabesque

Presuppose that we have a pose where the head, arm, and fingers are visible and are in contact. Very often, the beginning artist will attempt to draw each of these elements one by one. The approach will always lead to frustration and in the end often to failure.

Instead of drawing each entity one by one, the first step in your drawing should be to strike the "complete" arabesque, i.e., the complete contour of the picture. The complete arabesque which encompasses parts other than the skull (in this case the skull, fingers, and arms) is called the "construct".

For the beginner it is best to reduce the complete arabesque to its simplest shape thereby ignoring all the minutia such as the irregularities in the fingers and the hair. With experience, you will be able to add all these bumps without much trouble as you go along.

A good construct (also known as a complete arabesque) also contains a singular gestural cadence that subordinates all minutia. In other words, this rhythmic gesture exists free of the minutia.

When you are drawing a single entity or skull the inspection of the height/width proportion is rather easy. As a general rule the width of the skull is checked against its length employing the base of the chin as the main landmark.

If, for some reason the chin is conceiled (e.g., behind the arm or fingers), an other landmark must be found. The arm, the jaw, or the lines of the fingers are good spots to find a new landmark.

Once you have sketched an acceptable construct it must be examined for accuracy. To do this, we can, for example, look for vertical and/or horizontal lengths that are supposed to be equal and see if they in fact are equal. Use all your acquired knowledge of sizing. Also use your general knowledge of anatomical placing of the ears, eyes, etc.

Once you are satisfied that the construct is accurately sketched you can continue to block-in the main light/dark blueprint and take your first tentative stab at drawing the facial area, i.e., the placing of the brow, the eyes, the nose and the mouth. Again, if the usual landmarks for those elements can for some reason not be employed you should be original enough to determine appropriate substitutes.

Keep hatching-in all elements as soon as you draw them. This includes the fingers, arms, and hair if any of them are noticeable in the particular pose you are drawing. Remember to always work from the general to the specific.

Also, always use a sharp pencil, take into account your knowledge of anatomy, and always look for mistakes and, of course, correct them.

Next, the pencil portrait drawing must now be worked-up value-wise by cross-hatching with 8B, 2H, and 4H pencils, by blening the pencil dust with your fingers or a stump, and by using your kneaded eraser to characterize the lights. All this should be done in a painterly manner.

Finally, you can decide how much minutia you want to put into your drawing or how unfinished you may leave the drawing. For instance, you can leave some parts of the fingers or the arm unfinished. Or, if you want to emphasize a certain region of the portrait, you can increase the detail in that region and leave the other regions somewhat unfinished.

These are several of many considerations that go into drawing a more complicated portrait that has a complete arabesque. One significant thing not to forget is to draw the construct first so you do not end up drawing one element after another without preserving unity. Following these rules will surely put you on the proper path of drawing more complicated portraits.

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Download my brand new no cost pencil portrait sketch course 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 drawing instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - The Complete Arabesque.

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