Information on Pencil Portrait Sketching - Drawing Kids
Posted: Saturday, January 17, 2009
by Remi Engels
Remi's Arts
The sketching of children demands freshness and directness of purpose. Regrettably, there are not too many quick and ready rules. Let us just say that children's portraits demand a keen and patient eye.
For those who intend to do commercial portraiture the good news is that children's portraits can be rewarding. There are very few draftspersons who can capably draw children.
Addressing the facial proportions of children in a general sense is somewhat of a waste of time. Their facial proportions change dramatically within a six month time span.
Suffice it to say that the younger the child is the smaller the face in relation to the head. The eyes also appear larger although this can be misleading. A child's nose can be a nightmare to draw because there is nothing really to latch onto. And the mouth is very delicate the width of an eye. Once more, we must emphasize that these proportions are only a general rule and individual face proportions can be different. The above general rules can be used for comparison purposes when you do your own careful observations of a particular face.
As always, start your drawing by striking the arabesque and then correcting the height/width proportions as necessary.
After establishing the primary facial proportions (i.e., the brow, nose, mouth, etc.) block-in the major light/dark patterns. Then, stump down the graphite using your fingers or a stump. To render and re-shape the lights employ a clean kneaded eraser.
Now the features are carefully placed, sized and partially rendered. There are two things to take into account here:
1. Your pencils must be very sharp, and
2. At this point, you should never fully finish a feature. Sketch each feature no more than 50%.
As soon as the features are sized and located as best you can, you can now further develop them. Do not neglect the hair and sides of the face. All should be advanced together. As you proceed to draw you should always be on the lookout for mistakes in proportions and tone.
In closing, the fundamental techniques used to draw a child's portrait are of course always the same. Above, we listed most of the differences in proportion and form between an adult skull and that of a child. Your mood when sketching a child should be one that reflects the innocence and the softness of a child.
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