Faces: Simple as Circles

Good day, readers!

So, I figure that before I teach you to draw individual parts of a face, I should start with the face itself - so you have somewhere to put everything.



I drew this in about two minutes...

There is a small problem with this, though. As I have been drawing for.. about eight years now, I can draw a face like it's nothing, it's just becomes kind of natural after a while. Don't worry, if you keep up with it, it will be natural for you too!



Anyway, I figure that explaining to you how I  draw faces exactly won't be of much help to you. Why? Because it would basically be "You draw a line this way, then a curvy line this way, then another line and then it's a face!", and your response would be "... Wat?". You would likely end up with a wiggly blob that had a slight, warped appearance of a face.

So, instead, I will be taking old techniques that I used to help teach myself, along with a really helpful technique I picked up from a friend a year or two ago. I don't use it anymore unless I'm really stressing about it, but it is a great technique.

And this technique is, to simply start with... a circle. So draw a circle on your paper - make it pretty big, as you want room for details. It does not have to be perfect, as you can see from my beautifully scribbly lines.

Note: This is a sketch. For now, make sure you're drawing as light as you can, or you'll be screwed over later.

Once you have your circle - if this takes you more than 10 seconds to draw, you're over-thinking it - you can move on to the trickier part. It's a little hard to describe, so just make sure you're comparing what I write to what I drew. Bring two lines down from either side of the circle. Go down in an almost straight line. It's tricky to explain this, as if you make it to directly downwards it could look a little blocky, so try and turn it inwards a tiny bit. Go down just a few centimetres like this. Make sure both lines are about even (you can adjust this later too, that's why we draw lightly!), then angle the lines again and bring them together into the chin.

Drawing guidelines, like above, will also be very helpful. One down the middle, one across the middle, one a quarter way from the bottom (of the circle) and one at the bottom of the circle.

Next, start sketching in the outlines of the facial features, using the lines to aid you in keeping everything symmetrical. Symmetry takes a long time to really master, I still have many problems with it.

Everything there is pretty well explained by my drawings. A couple things I will specify though, are that the ears should go from (approximately) the top of the eyes to the bottom of the nose. Depending on how you've proportioned, following this exactly may make the ears look really big, so adjust as you feel is needed. As for the lips, they go about half way between the nose and the chin.

Once you've vaguely placed everything, you can erase the lines! If you like you can leave them for a while, but I find them messy and distracting.

 

And suddenly, it's starting to look like a face! The rest of the process is kind of stylistic and self-explanatory. I will be going over specific features in future posts!

 

If you have any questions, comments, etc. Just let me know!

 

 

 

P.S., After some consideration, I think I'm going to do my following tutorials digitally. Although I didn't want to do this as I prefer traditional art, it will be be easier to see.

The Great Adventure of our Lives

“The great adventure of our lives. What does it mean to die when you can live until the end of the world? and what is 'the end of the world' except a phrase, because who knows even what is the world itself? I had now lived in two centuries, seen the illusions of one shattered by the other, been eternally young and eternally ancient, possessing no illusions, living moment to moment in a way that made me picture a silver clock ticking in a void: the painted face, the delicately carved hands looked upon by no one, looking out at no one, illuminated by a light which was not a light, like the light by which god made the world before He had made light. Ticking, ticking, ticking, the precision of the clock, in a room as vast as the universe.”

If you can guess where that wonderful quotation (not quote, please never call a quotation a quote!) is from, I applaud you.

If not, I shall tell you now; it is from Anne Rice's first novel of the Vampire Chronicles, The Interview with the Vampire.

I began reading this series... Probably about five years ago, yet sadly, I am only on the third novel, The Queen of the Damned.

Why, you might ask? Well, to put it simply, the first novel is a real bitch to read.

Now, don't get me wrong - the book itself is fantastic. Anne Rice has such beautiful writing, it's hard to find anything of the like.

What makes this book difficult to read is the structure of it. The book is quite literally an interview, with this boy Daniel being the interviewer and Louis de Point du Lac being the interviewee. So, what this means is, Louis will be talking forever and it appears to be a first person narrative, but then Daniel will suddenly jut in periodically throughout the book. I found this to be rather distracting, as it kept me from being too attatched to the story.

So, not only was the book hard to keep focused on, but it (well, all of Anne Rice's books) has so much content that if you stop reading it for a while, you will forget everything that just happened.


The quote that I began this post with is from the exact spot that I got stuck at for many years. I would read up to here, get distracted, then stop for a while. Note that it is only about a third of the way through the book. I tried many times to just start from that point, but again, I would easily forget everything that preceeded that point.

In the end, I was only able to finish the book on the 16-hour drives to and from Calgary. But man, was it fantastic.




So, to finish off todays post, I'll leave you with this:

The Interview with the Vampire is a great novel by Anne Rice which leads into a fantastic, must-read series. But be warned: It's a summer-read-only kind of book, not a read-it-when-I-happen-to-have-time book.



By for now, readers!



PS: The photos can be found at my old DeviantART account. My new DeviantART account, on the other hand, can be found here. C:

Artists' Tip #1

Good day, readers!

So, I haven't had much of a chance to draw lately, plus when I do the lighting is terrible for photos. That, and I'm waiting for some feedback of what you want to see, readers!


So, today, I've decided to make a first post of what will likely be many that includes tips on drawing. Here we go!

#1: Don't get a tablet yet

For those whose idea of "tablet" is fancy handheld computer-like devices, get that out of your head if you're an artist. In the art world, a tablet is a device that you plug into your computer, and when you draw on it with the provided pens, the action transmits onto your computer screen. When you see awesome digital art, this is what those artists are using.

Now, you may think, "Well, I want to be awesome at drawing, so I'll just get a drawing tablet like the pros!" This is not the best option. I mean, if you really want to, go right ahead - but it won't help you. The best way to learn how to draw is by doing all of your learning with a basic pencil and paper.

Why do I say this? Because, inevitably, drawing with a tablet feels unnatural, especially for beginners. This makes it really difficult to learn. Using non-digital formats is much more natural, and it's easier to just go with the flow. There are even many, many good artists out there who do all their sketches in pencil, then scan it and do the rest on the computer.

Now, don't get me wrong, I myself use a tablet. But only when I have specific digital ideas in mind - I never try to do new things on a tablet. You basically need to have your skills burned into your mind for it to transmit the same onto the computer - it needs to become a habit. If you're still in the figuring-out-your-style phase (I will explain this another time), then a tablet is not for you.

I personally find with most of my amateur artist friends that their traditional work is much better than their digital work. If you wander around any artists faires and look closely between the works, you will notice this as well. Sure, the digital pieces will stand out more, but if you look at the technique itself you will notice the differences.

If, after reading this, you still really want to get a tablet, go right ahead! Just keep in mind that a tablet will not suddenly make your art way better, it's just a good way to emphasize your art.



That's all for today! Stay tuned for more tips!

Bye for now!

The New Doctor Who

Hello, dear readers.

In case you don't know, I am a big fan of Doctor Who. And you know what started a week and a bit ago? The seventh series!

I was so excited for the new series to start, and I have to say, the first episode was rather... disappointing, in a way. Not that it was a bad episode. It was just... Very confusing. Characters were semi-introduced that weren't supposed to be introduced yet, and huge things happened that weren't made to be as huge as they really were. And yeah, I was left feeling extremely confused. I mean, overall, it was a good episode.. just confusing.

Last night, I watched the second episode (which aired last Saturday). It was much better than the first. Dinosaurs on a spaceship! It's hard to get that wrong. And - correct me if I'm wrong - I do believe they had CG MONSTERS? I don't think that has ever happened in Doctor Who - they're usually mechanical/people in suits/etc. But, in some scenes, the dinosaurs looked like they were CG. Up close, they obviously were not though. I was still very shocked by this.

The episode also had some little things that showed the Doctor's great love for Amy and Rory - at this point he still is really attatched to them, and it's easy to tell. For example, in the episode he gathers a couple others with him, and Amy asks if "they're the new us", referring to them being the new companions or something. The Doctor responds by saying, "They're just people, they're not Ponds." This to me is the writer trying to build up an even stronger connection to the Ponds by showing the Doctor's care for them, so that it'll be even more sad when they're gone. I'm rather unnexcited for this... Amy is my second favourite companion, next to Rose. She's so clever, I just love it. Which leads me to note my less than excited feelings towards the new companion, Clara. Even her name is rather bland. But, we'll see, I guess. I try not to form complete opinions until I see things. So you never know, I may end up loving her.

I also enjoyed seeing the Doctor act as a real doctor in this episode. I've heard that he is a certified doctor (who would have guessed! : P ), but viewers rarely get to see this in action.


That's about all for now - I may draw something for you guys tomorrow.

Good day to you!

Hello, world of blogging!

I shall start by saying that this is my third attempt at blogging. The difference? This time I'm doing it on something I'm truly interested in writing about and furthering - drawing. I've been drawing for many years now, and am always learning and getting better. Not only that, but I love to teach people too! So, my purpose of this blog will to be to force myself to learn new things (I will be trying to find new things to draw to teach myself), and I will be documenting my process with explainations and tips for those who may want them!

So, to begin my blog, I just drew something random - it's what I tend to doodle during classes, spare time, etc. It's just a semi-realism face. I love to draw faces - especially eyes and lips - as you may learn over the course of this blog.


Drawings never really look like anything when you first start. People always ask me "What are you drawing?" when I've only drawn a line. Just watch, is what I respond.

 

 

I like to start with the eyes. It's a good focal point for me. When I took a sort-of-drawing-class in 5th grade, we were told that it's best to start with the nose - but I always had really terrible proportioning when I did this. Try starting with different things - the eyes, the nose, the lips, the facial outline - to see what works best for you. When I'm drawing more of the body, I often start with the facial outline, as I have a tendancy to draw the body before the face - that way I get a sense of what expression to give to the face.

 

 

Always draw an outline first, don't try to super detail as you go, it will make it messy and confusing. Especially if you're drawing in pen.

 

SIDE NOTE: Don't be afraid to be really sketchy when drawing in pen - it's almost impossible to do otherwise, as you cannot erase.

 

 

Once you have an outline of something, it is then safe to start filling in some details, as long as you know what you're aiming for. Sometimes I have an actual goal in my drawing, sometimes I just let my writing utensil take me where it may. This time I went for a female eye.

 

 



When drawing female eyes, keep in mind what makes female and male eyes different - I will make a seperate post about the differences later on. For this specifically, I gave the eye long, curled eyelashes, a larger iris and a larger, rounder shape. The eyebrow is lean and shapely. These are some characteristics of drawing that make a feminine character more feminine.

Next, I draw the nose. I usually start with the nostril closest to the eye I've drawn, to make sure that the nose doesn't intrude on the space that is symbolicly represented by the eye. How far down you place the nose is up to you - I just kind of guess. It won't entirely ruin your picture if you don't do it the way you want to, it'll mostly just affect the shape of the face. It's really just a matter of guessing - better done in pencil.

I also have the lips drawn here. I start with that little divet between the top lip and the nose - this gives me a sense of where to actually place the lips, so that they're not to close or too far from the nose. Make sure not to emphasize this divet too much, or it will end up looking like a moustache...

Next, I draw the line created by the top and bottom lip. This structures the shape of the mouth - smiling, sad, neutral. Next comes the bottom lip, then the top. These are all up to style - go look at pictures of people, artists, stare at people on the bus.

NOTE: A big part of learning to draw is staring at examples of what you want to draw. Look around at real things around you, or look at other artists work to see how they interpret the world.

Lastly, fill in the rest of your details. Emphasize lines that are more important, fill in spaces... It's all up to you and your personal style that you will develop.

Once finished the facial details, I start to draw the outline around it. It didn't work so well this time around, so this is the last photo I'll show you. I'll create a better example another time.




That's all for now, folks. If you have any questions, comments, anything you would like me to go into more depth for - please let me know! I will also be posting a poll soon for things you may want to see in the future.



By for now, readers.