How to learn to paint portraits with a pencil. How to draw a realistic portrait from a photograph

  • Category:
  • On the entry: Comments to the post How to draw a portrait? disabled
  • Publication date: July 1, 2014

In one of the previous lessons we learned to draw. Now I will show you how to draw a portrait of a man with a pencil. We will draw a charismatic Dane named Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Most likely, you are familiar with this actor for his role as Jaime Lannister in the famous epic “Game of Thrones,” although he has starred in many other films and TV series. In the first season, the actor appears before us as a villain and an extremely unpleasant person. However, we soon begin to sympathize with Jaime rather than condemn his actions. Apparently this is the director's idea.

So, what's the difference? male portrait from a woman? Typically, men have a wider chin. The man's lower jaw has fairly sharp angles. Typically masculine facial features include prominent cheekbones and brow ridges. In women, on the contrary, the lines of the chin and cheekbones are smoother and more rounded. Let's imagine that we are all sculptures made of clay. What techniques would a master use when working with clay so that sculptures of men could be easily distinguished from sculptures of women? He would have sculpted the women’s facial features with fine tools and worked more carefully. And the master would have processed the men’s faces more roughly, in a “cutting” manner. However, there are exceptions to all rules.

In this lesson we look at the topic of how to draw a portrait of a person. However, remember that it is very useful for artists to practice sculpture from time to time. When you sculpt the volume of your head with your hands - all the bulges and depressions, be it cheekbones, eye sockets - it becomes much easier for you. Be sure to try creating a sculptural portrait of a person when you get the chance. Not everything can be seen with the eyes; touch plays a big role.

In addition, as often as possible I recommend drawing from life, and not from photographs. What is the difference? When we see three-dimensional objects (people) in front of us, and not pictures, we have the opportunity to bypass our nature and choose the angle that seems most interesting. This option is not shown in the photo. , we often encounter difficulties, since we cannot always consider the structure of any elements. In reality, you can get closer to the object and study it in more detail.

Be prepared for the fact that a perfect likeness in a portrait will not appear immediately. You may need to draw 50-100 portraits before you see that the drawing resembles the subject. So don't expect great results right away. Work can be frustrating. But your next drawings will get better and better. Exercise as often as possible and, over time, the results will definitely please you.

How to draw a portrait of a man step by step?

Let's take a closer look at the person we are going to draw. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has typically masculine facial features - a massive lower jaw, wide cheekbones, a fairly large nose (the actor admitted that he broke it in childhood), and a powerful neck. His face has the shape of an almost regular rectangle, which narrows towards the bottom and forms a sharply defined chin.

Let's start drawing a portrait with an oval face. Be sure to leave enough space around the edges of the sheet for your hair, neck, and shoulders.

Today's lesson is devoted to this type of drawing as a portrait. A portrait is an image of a person or group of people who exist (or existed) in reality. The main task of a portrait is to repeat the lines of a living face with an artistic interpretation. I took as an example a photo of a wonderful American singer, actress Debby Ryan. Here is her photo: I will say right away that a portrait is one of the most difficult types of drawing, since we have to convey all the features of a person. If you don’t succeed the first time, don’t be discouraged, people learn from mistakes =). So let's try step by step draw a portrait of this girl with a pencil.

STEP 1. Start drawing a circle that describes the face. Apply light strokes on it where the eyes and nose will be located. STEP 2. Now let's sketch out the contours with light strokes real shape heads. Please note that it has a slightly square shape. Let's add bangs, tilted at right side like . STEP 3. Let's move on to outlining the elements of the face. Let's sketch out thin eyebrows, upper eyelids, and eyelashes with strokes. Then start drawing the nose. The nose is a very important part of the portrait, which beginners sometimes do not pay attention to. This element can radically change the entire portrait as a whole. In the following lessons we will look in more detail. Let's move on. 4. We just have to finish the sketches of the eyes. Here you need to carefully outline the eyeballs. Let's also add eyelashes and upper and lower eyelids. STEP 5. You are almost there. Now we have to draw the mouth. Look closely at her lips. (Do you want to know how to draw lips correctly? Then read the lesson: How to draw a smile) Draw folds on the skin to show its emotions, a smile. The lips are slightly raised. The edges can be shaded a little with a pencil. STEP 6. The last thing we need to do is the hairstyle. She has long straight hair, slightly wavy. Try to draw with smooth lines, and you can also add some thicker lines to create the effect of voluminous hair. After everything has been done, erase the auxiliary lines with an eraser and refine the edges. We should get a picture like this: I hope everything worked out for you. Ask questions about the lesson. Show off your masterpieces! Leave your comments below, write what pencil drawing lessons you still want to see. I recommend taking these other lessons:

Hello, dear friends!

Today we will draw a person's face. Many people mistakenly believe that only select talents can draw. This is not true: anyone who has the desire and patience can learn to draw correctly. Knowing the basic proportions and rules of construction will help you correctly depict a person’s face. Read the following material and try to draw a face step by step.

Axes and proportions

When drawing a person's face, it is imperative to study and constantly draw centerlines easily.

With experience, you can get by with one or two guides, or without them at all. You don’t need to think that axes are boring and uninteresting, they will help you quickly and correctly build a face with correct proportions, with the same eyes, symmetrical parts.

In the future, visually imagining these axes, you will be able to work with human facial expressions and emotions. After all, to show sadness, you need to lower your eyebrows and corners of your mouth, close your eyes, and for this you need to imagine at what level all these parts of the face are in a state of calm.

Eye line

The first and main axes that you definitely need to remember are:

The eye line of all adults is in the middle of the head.

Axis of symmetry and eyes

Divide the oval of the head into two equal parts horizontally - this is where the eyes will be located. We also outline a vertical line of symmetry.

Human balance in motion

At first it’s difficult to do this by eye, so check yourself by measuring identical lengths with a pencil or ruler.

Eyebrow line nose hair

Next you need divide the oval of the head with horizontal lines into three and a half parts. The upper axis is hair growth, in the middle is the level of the eyebrows, below is the axis of the base of the nose. The distance from the hair to the eyebrows is equal to the height of the forehead. Essentially, the face (if you don't take into account the hair) consists of three equal parts that are equal to the height of the forehead.

Line of mouth and lips

Next we will designate the lips. To do this, the lower part of the face (from the nose to the tip of the chin) needs to be divided in half - this way we will find the line of the edge of the lower lip. To determine the level of the mouth cut, you will have to divide the segment from the lower lip to the nose into four more equal parts. The first quarter will be the line of the mouth.

Mouth and lips

The mouth section of most people is at the same level, but the sizes of the upper and lower lips are completely different.

How to draw a hare

Where to place the ears

No matter how strange it may be, very often, with a more or less successful face structure, the ears are not attached at all in the place where they should be located. Therefore, we will pay special attention to the ears.

Correct placement of ears

At the top, the ears are attached to the axis of the eyes, and at the bottom at the level of the base of the nose. They can be large or small, stand out strongly or lie close to the head, but for all people they are attached to the line of the nose and eyes.

How to place your eyes correctly

How to find out the width of the eyes and the distance between them? To do this, the eye line needs to be divided into 8 equal parts.

Outlining the eyes

  • Another eye (2/8) should be placed between the eyes.
  • Each eye is 2/8 wide.
  • From the outer corners of the eyes to the contour of the head, leave 1/8 (the width of half the eye).

These are rough guidelines. U different people These proportions are slightly different. It is not necessary to divide the axis into 8 parts every time, just check yourself.

Drawing human ears

Also read the article on how to draw eyes realistically and correctly.

Make sure that your eyes are not too close to each other, or, conversely, too far away. These settings will help control the size of the eyes so that they are not excessively large or small. The inner corners of the eyes should always be in line with the eyes.

At first glance, all these lines are cumbersome and difficult, but first you can practice drawing a face, taking into account only the horizontal axes. As you work, you will have questions and you yourself will come to the conclusion that you also need vertical guides. With the acquisition of a little experience and skill, you can easily draw faces without preliminary markings and axes.

Eyes, nose wings, mouth

The inner corners of the eyes are at the level of the wings of the nose. The corners of the mouth are level with the center of the eye, or the pupil if the person is looking straight.

On this photo of lungs lines and shows that:

  • the corners of the eyes are level with the wings of the nose
  • and the center of the eyes lies in line with the corners of the mouth

Drawing a dog

Face drawing scheme

Actually, if you outline all the guides, then you should end up with a diagram like this. You can print it out as a sample, since it is difficult to remember everything at once and practice drawing a person’s face with the correct proportions.

Schematic representation of a person's face

Later, you will be able to give faces features of specific people and draw portraits of everyone you are interested in.

With this we will finish with axes, proportions and guides and start drawing.

Drawing step by step

Today we will not draw a portrait of a specific person, but will learn to create quick sketches with the correct proportions and placement of all the main parts.

Drawing a face is a skill that improves with experience. If you have never drawn portraits of people, it is important to first simply learn at the level of mechanics and repetition how and at what level to place the eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, ears, and the relationship between them. To do this, look at the diagram in the previous section and easily apply the guides.

How to draw an owl bird

Repetition is the mother of learning :)

We designate the form

The first stage is the simplest, we need to designate the shape of the face; it is easiest to fit it into an oval, ovoid or other round shape. The vertical axis will help create a symmetrical pattern, the horizontal axis will help show the eyes correctly.

Outlining the main elements of the face

All previously outlined lines will help us build our face. These axes need to be applied very lightly, barely noticeable, so that later you can easily and unnoticeably erase them.

It doesn’t really matter where exactly you start drawing facial features, the main thing is that you don’t get stuck and concentrate on one thing: nose, eyes, lips, eyebrows.

At first quickly and easily define all parts of the face without going into detail without trying to be too precise. We apply all the lines very lightly, so that it is easy to correct.

If something turns out crooked or inaccurate, you can fix it at the next stage.

We specify the shapes and sizes

At this stage, we adjust the size and shape of the eyes, ears, eyebrows, nose, lips, and clarify the shape of the face. We correct everything that went wrong at the previous stage.

After reading this article, you can try yourself as an artist and draw a portrait of your mother, father or any other person.

Sometimes sitting at home you just don’t know what to do. You start to draw flowers little by little with a pencil, but you want to depict something more serious, for example, a portrait. But how to do that? How to learn to draw correctly?

Many artists of various eras, each time practicing the art of drawing, were able to achieve incredible skill. Our task is to study the main principles of drawing in order to learn how to draw a portrait of a person using a pencil and paints. Of course, one cannot say that it is very difficult. But if you don’t know the basics, then you won’t be able to draw a beautiful portrait.

First, you should find out what kind of portraits of a person exist. Each of us considers a portrait to be an image of a person’s face. But is it really so? There are various types of portraits in nature:

  • Shoulder portrait. Only the head is depicted here.
  • Bust-length portrait. In this case, a person is drawn up to his chest.
  • Half-length portrait. It shows an image of a person from the head to the waist.
  • Generational portrait. In such a portrait human body depicted from head to knees.
  • Full length portrait.

Portraits can also be divided into the following categories:

  • Profile portrait.
  • Full face portrait.
  • Half-turn portrait.


In performing each of these types, you need to take into account some nuances. But, and most importantly, you need to carefully study human anatomy. Otherwise, you will not be able to correctly depict the proportions of the human body.

If you are a beginner artist, then you first need to try to depict a portrait of a woman or man from the side. After you master this technique, you can proceed to more complex ones, for example, drawing a face from the front.

How to correctly draw a portrait of a person with a pencil: a detailed explanation for children and beginners?

You may be surprised, but many famous artists They say that it is more difficult to draw not a portrait, but nature. Therefore, if you want to try to draw a portrait of a person, feel free to get to work.

To get a beautiful portrait, you need:

  • Choose the appropriate model at your discretion. Yes, you must like the object you choose.
  • Possess basic geometry skills. This is required in order to correctly calculate the places where they should be located: mouth, nose, eyes.

Drawing a portrait of a man:

In a man's face, the lines are not quite smooth, but more straight. However, this does not mean that they are easier to draw. Accordingly, try not to waste paper, draw the facial contour until it acquires the required outline. Now start drawing and follow the following instructions:

  • Make an oval to contour your face.
  • Now draw a clear horizontal line in the center.
  • Step back a little from this line and draw a second one, which will be parallel to it.
  • From the center of the second line, draw perpendicular line. Mark on it the location of the mouth and tip of the nose.
  • Step back a little along the oval and draw an ear.
Start of drawing
  • In the central part of the lower half, draw the pupils and complete the eyelids
  • Add the outline of the hair.
  • Draw your eyebrows, make a beautiful hairstyle.
  • Proceed to the lips. To begin, use a smooth line to indicate lower lip. After that, in a mirror form - upper lip so that it has a recess in the center.
  • Draw the nose. Show the tip of the nose with a slightly extended “tick”. Draw a couple of arc-shaped lines from it.
  • From the arch of the eyebrows to the right, draw a curved ruler so that it deviates to the right.
  • Add detail to the contours of the eyelids and eyebrows.
  • Draw the hair.
  • Draw the missing elements of the ears.
  • Erase the guide lines.
  • Start with the shadows. Make small shadows in the area of ​​the cheekbones, forehead, and nose, blend them.
  • Shade a little under the eyes and in the neck area.

With the help of these instructions you will understand how, without much difficulty, you can draw a man’s face step by step with a pencil.

Let's depict a woman's portrait:

In a portrait of a lady, avoid hard, angular lines. In return they will get smoothness and femininity:

  • Sketch out the oval of the face.
  • Draw a couple of lines. They should intersect and be located in the center of the face, deviating slightly to the right.
  • On the resulting lines, mark the main elements: lips, eyes and nose. Draw each curve in detail.
  • Draw a ruler from the cheekbone down and shape the chin.
  • Make the folds of the eyelids, eyes and nose.
  • Draw the lips.
  • Now you can start working on the eyelashes and pupils. Don't forget to show the highlights below.
  • Draw the ears.
  • Start applying shadows. Take a soft pencil and blend the shadows around the eyes, cheekbones, neck and nose.
  • Draw an approximate hairstyle.
  • Remove all additional rulers and begin shading the portrait.
  • Make your hair look voluminous by shading at the roots.
  • Shade the background more intensely to make it darker.

Learning to draw eyes:

As we all know, eyes are considered the mirror of the soul. Therefore, it is your eyes that you should pay special attention to.

  • Make two ovals - these will be the eyes.
  • Draw the pupils and irises of the eyes.
  • Be sure to complete your eyebrows, otherwise you won’t get the eyes you want.
  • Draw eyelashes. They should look from the arc up or down. In the central part of the eyes, draw the eyelashes a little shorter.
  • Detail them: draw short eyelashes inside the corner, and thick and long ones along the edges.
  • Shade the third part of the irises of the eyes so that there are light spots on the pupils and the edges are dark.
  • Add shadow to the lower eyelids and along the edges of the upper eyelids.


We have found out that to depict a portrait you need to adore geometry and know what proportions are. Now let's look at some anatomical features that will be useful for drawing a face.

  • The horizontal ruler in the center of the eyes should be equal to the distance between the right and left eyes.
  • The same ruler between the lips should be equal to the distance that is between the right and left pupil.
  • The distance between the mouth and eyebrow is equal to the length of the ear.

If you want to see all the errors in the resulting portrait, hold the portrait up to the mirror. Believe me, all the imperfections in the image will become more noticeable.

Video: How to draw a man's face with a pencil?

Video: How to draw a woman's face with a pencil?

How to beautifully create a portrait of a girl and mother with a pencil step by step?

Prepare all materials for drawing. On the right paper, soft pencils can be erased well and do not leave marks. Avoid hard pencils as they leave marks on paper. Now you can start drawing a portrait, but at the professional level.

  • We fix the paper. Attach the paper sheet using buttons to a special tablet (plywood sheet attached to a wooden frame). Attach the tablet to the stretcher so that the angle is 45 degrees.
  • We are working out all the details. Mark all the lines that were indicated in the first version of the portrait image. Here, pay special attention to exactly what shape the parts of the face will have.
  • Take into account every little detail, work out all the details. Because your portrait must look like a human face.
  • Draw the eyes. There are three rulers used to draw eyes. The central line is where the pupils of the eye are depicted. Outline the eyes and eyeballs themselves. While you only need to draw outlines of the contours, strokes are not needed. Eyebrows should be drawn on top of the eyes. Once you are done with the pupils, carefully draw the eyelids and outline the wrinkles. Draw eyebrow lines above the eyes.
  • Draw the lips. The lips also have three lines. First, draw the lower lip, as it is much easier to draw. After that draw the upper lip. Divide it into two equal parts using a hollow. Use eyeshadow to make your lips look prominent. Mark the folds if the person has a smile on his face.
  • Draw the nose. Mark the tip of the nose above the lips. Mark it with a tick, that is, in the form of a soaring bird. On one and the other side of this “tick” draw a couple of small arcs. Now apply shadow to your nose.

So, you have outlined and drawn the main details of the portrait. You have completed great job, namely:

  • You were able to determine the locations for the eyes, nose, lips and ears.
  • You sketched them on paper.
  • You drew every detail and every element.
  • You put shadow on your nose.

The final stage of drawing a female portrait

The next step is to add shadows to the person’s portrait. This stage is considered very important, since it is what makes the face come to life. Pay special attention to your eyes. A look that does not have a touch of life will simply ruin your work, so work on your eyes with special care and thoroughness. Draw the eyeballs, draw the pupils inside. Don't make them dark. There must be glare on each pupil of the right and left eyes.

The last stage in a portrait of a person is to draw an oval of the face and shadows. Also draw the hair. You probably remember that at the first stage you outlined the ears? If your portrait has a short hairstyle, then thoroughly work out each ear. If your hair is long, then you can cover your ears with a hairstyle.

Apply shadows

Now a soft pencil will fully come to your aid. Here's the thing: a pencil that has medium hardness, or a hard pencil, cannot apply shadows perfectly. Many artists have one trick - they make pencil strokes invisible. Everything happens as follows: they smear strokes on paper using a fingertip or a piece of paper. Now you can draw a correct portrait of a girl and mother with all the nuances and subtleties.

How to beautifully create a portrait of a girl and mother with paints?

Do you want to draw a portrait of a girl or mother with paints, but are you afraid that the drawing will not work out? Cast aside your own fears and read our recommendations. To draw, you need to stock up on the following materials:

  • A set of watercolor paints.
  • Soft brushes of various sizes (squirrel wool or kolinsky).
  • Watercolor paper.
  • A wooden tablet (we described it a little higher).
  • Hard pencil and eraser.
  • The paper on which you will sketch.

First, make a few sketches of the future portrait, and also decide how exactly the person’s face will be depicted in the drawing.

Step-by-step instructions for drawing a portrait with paints:

So, you have completed the preparatory process, now you can create a picture. Break the entire process into the following sequential steps:

  • Draw a portrait using a pencil. This stage is considered very important. Make every line visible, don't use the eraser too much. Because this will cause your paper to be worn out, and, accordingly, the colors will lie unevenly. You can draw a portrait on separate paper in advance, and then transfer the drawing to special watercolor paper.
  • Now start drawing. To begin, apply a transparent, very light underpainting to the paper using paints. Use pale orange face paint. Paint in broad strokes over the entire face. Where there will be highlights, leave the paper untouched. After that, select other shades of paint and brush over your hair and clothes. Leave the lightest areas untouched.
  • Take care of the eyes and lips. Select the paint you need. It needs to be diluted with water to get a pale shade. Paint the iris of your eyes with the resulting paint. Draw the lips in the same way.
  • Apply shadow all over your face. You can apply a warm reflection of light to one side of your face. Display cold highlights from things on your chin. Learn this when drawing a portrait, depict them in the drawing using additional tones.
  • Next, take a closer look at each shadow. Find the darkest areas of the cheekbones, lips, sides and wings of the nose, near the hair, and so on. It is thanks to the shadows that you can sculpt your face and give it natural volume. There is main principle– move constantly from the lightest shades to the darkest.
  • Find light intermediate shades of shadows and light: in the area of ​​​​the face where the ray of light falls, there are also dark and light places. Watch how the light “plays” and repeat this while drawing on paper.
  • Carry out the same actions with your hair and things as when working with your face.
  • The final stage: take the thinnest brush and use it to highlight the smallest elements and lines. Draw each strand of hair, eyelashes, lips. Remember - when working with paints, even in very dark areas, the paint should be transparent.
  • Draw the background as you draw the portrait, but you can also postpone this process until last moment. The most important thing is not to work on the background more than the portrait, but also avoid negligence.

We hope you were able to learn general outline how to correctly draw a portrait of a girl using paints. Portrait for copying

Portrait of a man

Video: How to draw a girl’s face with paints step by step?

This tutorial shows the stages of drawing a quick sketch portrait. To draw this portrait, you need to know at least the very basics of shading.

Step 1. First you need to draw a sketch, for this we draw the outline of the head and neck, draw auxiliary lines indicating the direction of the face, the location of the eyes, nose and lips of the girl. The image size is very large, so click on the image and look at the details.

Step 2. Let's roughly understand the perspective. In this stage we draw the eyes, eyebrows, nose, lips and chin. Then we erase all the auxiliary elements.

Step 3. I begin to work in volumes, adjusting the construct as I go. Draw the eyes, apply shadows.

Step 4. We begin to do shading from dark places, smoothly moving towards the illuminated ones.

Step 5. While applying the stroke, I try not to shade it, because the shade often looks like dirty spots. Add dark shadows and move on to drawing the neck.

Step 6. I correct the anatomy with volumes, making it more human. We finish drawing the neck, begin to shade the shoulder and jacket, then move on to the hair.

Step 7. At the end, highlights are added, the perspective is checked again, and details are added.