How to Draw a Human Face – How to Draw a Portrait of a Boy with a Pencil

Art Lesson 50, Part 3

Discover How to Draw a Human Face

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How to Draw a Portrait of a Boy with a Pencil

Here is another good example of portrait drawing where you can achieve great results with a minimalist approach. This drawing is done in the same style as the previous one. Graphite drawing techniques are virtually endless. Any way that you choose to apply graphite to a surface will produce some sort of interesting result.

To begin with, we are indicating the overall contours of the figure with very light pencil strokes. Going forward, these initial strokes will be improved and corrected as required. At this point we are also making a sketch of the facial features. Using stand-alone strokes, we are outlining the facial features and immediately working on these features in more detail. The essential shape is depicted with hatching. To keep the drawing fresh, we most likely would not return to these places later on for additional drawing. This approach is very intuitive. If you see good strokes it is better to leave them alone, rather than spoiling things by overdoing the pencil hatching. In the case of our drawing it is better to keep it fresh and unfinished – the fewer strokes, and the more precise the strokes are, the better.

Experiment with the strokes. You should vary the strokes to make the drawing more interesting. You can notice how strokes are following the round contour beside the left eye. It is good practice to keep strokes following the contour of shapes. You may also notice the strokes on the upper lip going vertically and at angles to create the effect of shadow.

Long strokes are used along the collar and especially on the hair. You should also vary the stroke pressure. For example, the pressure is much stronger when sketching the hair than when drawing other parts of the face.