[Darren R. Williams]

These are a few things that I doodled at random times during school. Ok, I didn't really "doodle". They took me a long time to make as I've never taken an art class and have no natural ability with it. The first two were attempts at what I thought my "style" was going to be. The third was done from a photo, but unfortunately it didn't turn out how I wanted. It was supposed to be a middle-aged black woman, but I messed up on the head somewhere along the way, and this is the way it turned out.







Comments and criticisms are most appreciated.

[Basement bound]

Darren i don't have time to illustrate what I am going to describe. I do hope you do understand. Go through the sketches sections of peoples web sites and look at the structure of the faces that they have drawn. You will see that they have a cross-hares like lines drawn on the head. These are for planning the perspective of the face. Some people will actually leave markings on the vertical lines to show where they want the eyes, nose, mouth. The ears and eyes are inline with one another, something I think you did not realize.

The other thing you might want to try is to draw the face using shapes, almost making it look 'boxish.' This in all is an attempt to "plan" your image. The last thing I might suggest is to plan your image @ about the size of 11x8 sheet you seem to use with a hard pencil. Then go to another medium like conte(funny little accent thingy) or charcol to construct the image with soft gradations.

I think you with endup with a better product and experiance.

JA

[feebsaint]

Basement is completely right in his critique, Darren. I really didn't have the time, either, but I felt it's about time one of these draw-in examples surfaced... it's been a while since I've seen one.

Ok.. I may miss a few points, but here is the general take. Images attached to help out.



Notice how many things nicely line up in the example. I'm using a principle of drawing faces that I learned back in the 8th grade. Drawing a circle, and adding a chin to create the 'egg shape' of the human face. Drawing a line through the center of the circle, both up and down, you've begun your method. At the bottom of the circle, place the bottom of the nose. The center line of the circle (horizontal) is about the crest of the eyebrows.

From straight on, the bottom of the nose lines up with the bottom of the ears. The center of the eye lines up with the top of the ears. Other key things: The center of the mouth (horizontal) is about 2/3rds up, between the bottom of the chin, and the bottom of the nose. Remember that the neck starts at the base of the ears. The jaw may come out, and hide the origin of the neck, but it's not so far in, as you've drawn it.

The eyes are about an eye-width apart from each other, and leave about an eye width of space to the side of the head. The pupils of the eye go down to meet the corners (edges) of the mouth. The more you study how things line up, the more simple drawing becomes. It's teaching yourself the basics, that is the toughest part... from there on in, it's mostly honing your knowledge and skills.

A good artist is really not much more than someone who pays close attention to why things are beautiful, and can extract from that, how to convert it into an image. You're an artist already, although you may not believe it. You are doing much better than most of the world, already.

Here are the other examples you've drawn, and I've modified, using the basic principles. Notice that the center of the face (verticle) always indicates the direction things will be facing, and notice how the lines, along with the features (especially the mouth) WRAP AROUND the head... not unlike drawing a line around a balloon.





I hope this has been helpful. I know it was for me, so long ago. Study it, and like Basement said, study how other's do it... you'll find much more control and pleasure, when you draw. Good luck!

[Darren R. Williams]

Thanks, both of you.

Basement, I did realize those things, but I always tried to avoid using the lines because I'm a neat person. Eraser marks and light lines usually bug the hell out of me. I see now that they are necessary.

Feeb, you helped out a lot. The method I had always been given when I was in grade school was to draw an oval, draw a line half-way down the face, half-way between that line and the bottom of the oval, and another line half-way between the bottom line and the bottom of the oval. I was also told that the ears come down to the mouth, and in many of the things I've seen, that is true, so smaller ears seemed to be the exception, not the rule.

Thanks for your help. I'll have to give it a try when I snag a chance.