how do you draw faces????

[gibbinz]

:confused: I need to know how to draw faces cos I just cant
especially eyes:bash:

[cotron]

practice.

[Signature]

Exactly! And use reference while you are learning.

[AnarchyAo2]

Well, practice is the most important thing. But, go to the library and check out some books on drawing. They'll have them.

[EmilyROAR]

Look for pictures of faces (you can find them anywhere online.. corbis.com, gettyimages.com are good places for all kinds of pictures). Study them and the proportions of the face, draw them. Alot.

werd

[Ibo]

Yeah, well. It's kinda hard to TELL how to draw faces, it's actually quite impossible to tell how to draw anything (that's why I find more help from the pictures of tutorials ). My advice is also that you will study human face. Get familiar with some pictures of faces, and try to do some copies. Soon you will know some basics and you can start developing it to your own creation. Trust me, practice makes a master.
But I could say one thing about eyes. The thing is DEPTH. Don't just make a ball with a spot in the middle, try it like this: eye, two light reflections on it, then the iris (you can make some stripes on it to add realism) the the pupil. I know it sounds a little complicated (perhaps I'll make an example picture sometime). But study, study is the key.

(my first message in conceptart.org!)

[IkerCLoN]

At school we're following the next technique: one of us pose for the rest of the people, and they have to draw a portrait in 15 minutes. We're not looking for have a perfect "photo" of the guy is sitting to be drawed. Instead of this, we concentrate in blocking the masses, and drawing aid lines to help us putting each thing in this correct place.

If you are newer, try to sketch the face using straight lines, not curves. And try to keep it as simple as you can, specially at the beginning. Use references, and draw what you see, not what you know. It's difficult, but you can achieve best results

Good luck!

[Noah Bradley]

Well, first I reccomend you focus on individual portions of the face. Like draw ears all day, from different people (photo or life), at tons of different angles. This should provide you a general understanding of the shape of given feature. After they're all done, read a tutorial on proportions and allignment in the face. This will provide you with general knowledge of where to place the features. Then draw from life! Self portraits ROCK! (Don't worry, they won't look like you for a long time, unless you're really good) Do them all the time, and try to start with guidlines. Throw down a line for the chin, then throw down lines for the angle of the jaw, the a few intersect lines to show the alignment of the face. This'll not only help on making the face look real, it'll also give you more control over the size of the face. And I've always found charcoal to be better for self portraits, at least for me. Have fun.

[gibbinz]

how about I send in summat I drew and you crit it?:bash: :iws:

[Hedge-o-Matic]

Sounds like a plan. Maybe you're not having the terrible problems you think you are; perhaps all the parts are there, and you just need a small nudge in the right direction.

For example, take the following image:




One thing you can do, to see the relationships more clearly, is load a "face" photo into Photoshop, get rid of the color (Image>Mode>Grayscale), so you're working B/W, and then do a few Filters on the image:




Filter>Artistic>Cutout
This will reduce the shading to a managable number of tones, 4 by default. This makes seeing the shapes of the image much easier.




Filter>Stylize>Find Edges
This "traces" the image, allowing you to see not only the edges of the forms, but the boundaries between the different shades as well.





These two filters alone are excellent learning tools. Beginners often face troubles in drawing because their vision brings them far too much information, and they don't know where to start in recording it. Try these reductionist Photoshop techniques. They work in other programs as well (such as PhotoPaint).

Hope this helps!

[Anto]

GAHHHHHH!
ive always known about those filters, but never thought to use them like this, as a learning tool

hedge, thanks so much for that tip
i owe you beer :chug:

[Hedge-o-Matic]

I'll take it!

[winjer]

Use a mirror to check your drawings symmetry. Thats a big help to me.

[gibbinz]

I will get summat drawn it wont jus be a face though
Itll probs be like a sort of game design thing
cos dats what I wanna be when Im older
its kinda embarrasing to tell people but Im stickin with it

[gibbinz]

this is it a picture for a game I designed[IMG]mindzye.jpg[/IMG] i hope that worked:confused:

[gibbinz]

damn

[gibbinz]

can someone tell me how to put an image in[IMG]mindzye.jpg[/IMG]

[gibbinz]

can someone tell me how to put an image in

[davi]

you need a website. external.

[gibbinz]

here it is i hope.... if thats there remember im only 14 when u crit it

[shadow]

thanx hedgeomatic, i nevr thought of ur ps filters idea, by golly it just might work!!

[winjer]

Doesnt get any better than da vinci showing you how things on the head line up. Notes by my teacher.

[Barti89]

Hey gibbinz ... Im also 14 years old and I´ve been practising on faces for a while ... I reccomend the way Hedge show'd you ... try going on google or altavista or sum and searching for some celebrity or sum and pick the picture wich shows good shadows and then sort of portraits .. and for the shadows I just love my tortrillion or smudge stick or what ever its called

[gibbinz]

so noone has said anythin bout my pic yet
is it any good

[TomLuth]

Based on both your questions, regarding drawing faces, and the sample picture, the best advice I can offer is: 1> Draw from real life as much as possible. Draw family members while they watch TV, etc. 2> The best book I know on the subject is an old one, but it is a classic: Andrew Loomis' Figure Drawing for All it's Worth. It may look dated at first, but all the information is applicable today. The book is out of print, but if you do a Google search, you can find a downloadable pdf copy. It includes numerous techniques for figure proportions, perspective, foreshortening, etc. 3> try working a bit more tonally. That is, don't just draw outlines, but try to see the figure/face as a three dimensional object, and note how the light and values (shading) help define the form. This is just a matter of practice.

Also, be prepapred that when ever you try something new, it will be awkward, and your first attempts likely will not look as good as the rest of your work. This can get discouraging, but keep at it. With a little practice, you will see that you will get past these setbacks, and then can begin to improve. Best of luck!

[sic1]

Originally posted by gibbinz
remember im only 14 when u crit it

Age doesn't matter, only how much you've put into art.

Michelangelo made this at age 16:
http://www.michelangelo.com/buon/images/centaurs.jpg

I'm sure they were just as hard on him then as he was when he made a sculpture at 25, and when he made David. Critting should be constructive (not bashing), as to help the artist.

[gibbinz]

so do people think this is any good or not?
i ve asked three times:mad: :confused:

[TomLuth]

"so do people think this is any good or not?
i ve asked three times"

Okay, patience... We've mostly been responding to your original how to draw better post.

Frankly, it is just okay. Not horrible, not that good. No insult intended. And, not to worry, everything is fixable. I doubt I was any better at your age; it just takes a long time. The hard part is accepting that you will have to work long and hard before you see significant results. Unfortunately, there is no quick "do this, and your drawings will be perfect" type solution. There are many rules (which can be broken often) and tips that will help, but it takes time to absorb. Life drawing is essential. If you don't continue on to college, you can take life drawing at night at a city college for not too much money.

If you want some specifics, here goes:

The face does not have the features positioned properly, they tend to drift around. Lightly drawing in guidelines will help on this. The Loomis book, and most other books that cover drawing faces will have information to help on this.

Even when covered by clothes, even a loose fitting gown like this, you need to lightly sketch in the form of the body underneath. It doesn't have to be greatly detailed, but should have enough information to know where to place all the elements of the figure.

Likewise, ther is no sense of form in the arms. While you wouldn't see a great amount of detail through the clothes, you should still get a sense of form.

The hands, and most of the anatomy is guessed at, rather than having a sense of unerstanding the shape and form of a hand. Drawing, and studying real hands will help a great deal. They are hard, so do not expect fast results. The life drawing books should help too.

The line quality is pretty sketchy looking. That is, it tends to be shorter, rough lines, rather than longer flowing sweeps. BTW, line is not the only way to draw. Tone drawing, with the side of the pencil, or even larger sticks of charcoal, allow for drawing areas of tone. Something that helps to draw cleaner lines, and actually helps in the entire drawing/painting process, is to very lightly, and very loosely (no details yet) sketch in the entire composition. If you rough in the entire figure very loosely and lightly in about 20-30 seconds, you can quickly see if it is placed where you want on the page. At this stage, it is very easy to make changes, if you decide his knee is too high or too low, or whatever. Once you have the basic form you want, go back and refine a bit more: add the various guidelines for the face, and other elements. Once you reach a certain point, then you can add the details with bolder, more confident finished lines.

Also, use reference when needed. If you are not sure what an elbow lookslike from a particular position, grab a photo, or ask a friend to pose, or set up a mirror. Likewise get photo reference, until you are confident you can draw well from memory or imagination, for things like buildings, cars, etc. If you use photos, learn to adjust them to fit your composition, rather than have your composition conform to the photo.

All of this is intended to be helpful, not insulting. Everyone here is still learning, but at all different levels. There are artists that are way beyond me, posting work, and asking for feedback (spend some time reading through some of these). No one is utterly flawless, just simply improving all the time. Be willing to accept contructive criticism, and be mindful of your own work, always asking, "what can I do to make this better?" and "Something isn't quite right -- what might that be?" It is a lifetime journey, and should become enjoyable. Ignore the unhelpful criticisms (That is, the people who simply say "That suks!" without offering suggestions for improvement,) and work on the suggestions that help.

[Hedge-o-Matic]

My own technique is always to draw in the body first, and then drape it with clothing. This forces a consideration of the figure by itself, getting proprtion, balance, and pose where I want them to be. Afterwards I "wrap" the figure in its layers of clothing.

When drawing the figure, consider these points:

1. You're drawing a type of animal. For all of their traits, humans are still member of the animal kingdom. They are constructed to run, fight, feed, and mate. To this end, learn the structure of muscles and bones, the proportions of the body, and how people must balance to stand and move.

A balanced figure must have its mid-point somewhere between its feet. If this isn't true, the figure will tell the viewer's brain "I'm moving," whether this is your intention or not.

Learn the small details that give a figure that "real" sort of look. For example, even slender women, Victoria Secret model-types, will have their skin pinched in where thin straps or belts come into contact. This doesn't make them look fat, only soft. If a figure's clothing appears tight or snug, but doen't impact the skin, the figure looks like they're made of plastic.

2. Learn the proprtion guides. There are any number of ways to divide the body up and compare sizes. The "8-heads" trick is commonly used, even if it's not strictly accurate. Another is that the arms outstretched are equal to the hieght of the individual. The foot is as long as the forearm from elbow to wrist. The thumb is as long as the middle finger, but mounted "two knuckles" further back, near the wrist. The bottom of the eye to the chin is the same distance as the bottom of the nose to the hairline. And so on. There are a million such relationships. Check yourself out, and you'll find a bunch more, I'm sure.

Learn a few of these measurements, enough to accurately proprtion a figure regardless of its position.

Anyway, keep practicing. You've got a lot going for you.

[jerseyguy]

For the face, when you draw a face profile you want to find out what the angle is, an easy way to start is to tell is the face very angled and that's does it have a small chin, and you can start out by drawing the cross signs and that's where your face is going to fit into that area. So your nose is going to be the biggest part, the chin is roughly, if you have no chin, there's also people that have roughly flat faces and so you draw the angle of the top, where your forehead meets to your nose and where your nose meets to your chin. And it gives you a basis of how far to go with your forehead and your chin versus your nose and how far out each object should be on the face.