Step 1: The outline on Canson Grain. Since the outline was very light and will likely be smudged off when I start rendering or shading, I have carefully and lightly retraced the lines with a soft pencil. In this case, a Faber-Castell 0.5 mm 2B mechanical pencil.

Step 2: Using a soft brush dipped in small amounts of graphite powder, I cover the outline with two or three layers of tone. Any brush can be used as long as it produces a very smooth effect and fills in the tooth of the paper. I try to avoid getting tone on the highlight of the iris. If I do get any graphite there, I tap the area with a clean kneaded eraser.

Step 3: Using a smaller version of the brush I used in the previous step, I begin forming the shapes of the eye by defining the darker areas.

Step 4: With a kneaded eraser, I cleaned up the highlights.

Step 5: I used a Dong-A 0.5 mm 2B mechanical pencil to draw the darkest areas like the pupil, shadow on the upper part of the iris and the crease of the upper eyelid.

Step 6: Concentrating on the iris for now, I use a hard pencil (5H Staedtler) and fairly hard pressure to draw spokes originating from the pupil. This will keep the paper from absorbing a lot of graphite in the next stage.

Step 7: Having used a 5H on the previous stage, I can now draw darker shades on the iris using a dark pencil (2B mechanical pencil). The reason why I use 2B is because it spreads more easily. The 5H is also to keep the tones very smooth when darker tones are added.

Step 8: I further worked on the iris erasing and adding graphite as much as needed to create varied tones. Moving on to the white of the eye, it was also covered with a layer of 5H to create a smooth effect. Then I used a 2B mechanical pencil on the shadow areas to form the eyeball.

Step 9: Here I began working on the skin. Using a 0.5 mm HB mechanical pencil and a light circular motion, I added tones to the upper eyelid and the surrounding skin — starting first on an area which will receive more graphite (in this case, the skin around the crease) and moving towards lighter areas. I used a shop towel and a brush to smoothen out rough spots.

Step 10: Continued with the lower part of the skin.

Step 11: Still continuing with the HB mechanical pencil. I’ve now added shadows to the skin. The 5H Staedtler pencil was also used on the thickness of the lower eyelid. 2B mechanical pencil was used for its darker areas.

Step 12: To create the wrinkles on the skin, I lightly drew lines with the HB mechanical pencil and then used a kneaded eraser to create fine highlights beside each line. A paper stump and a brush were used to soften and blend the lines. The same method used on the white of the eye was also used on the tear duct. The HB was used for the eyebrow — starting with the root of each hair and lessening pressure towards the tip.

Step 13: I always try to keep from drawing the eyelashes until the skin underneath is finished. Since the upper eyelashes will be darker than the lower eyelashes or the eyebrow, I used a Dong-A 2B mechanical pencil which is much darker than a Faber-Castell of the same grade. Again, following the direction of growth and starting from the root, lessening pressure as I come to the tip. Reflections of the eyelashes were also drawn on the highlight of the iris.

Step 14: The lower eyelashes were drawn with the Faber-Castell 2B mechanical pencil.

Step 15: The final eye. Finishing touches were made and some of the highlights on the lower eyelid were dulled a little. I hope you find these steps and images informative and helpful.

Happy drawing,

Choose:

·  Creating Tangible, Touchable Hair  ·

·  Understanding the Art of Shading  ·

·  The Tools  ·

·  Principles to Consider  ·

·  Basic Drawing Steps  ·

For this tutorial I will show you how to draw a green apple with colored pencil in the style of realism. When most people hear "green apple", they assume that the majority of color will be green. Those people are wrong. There will be a few greens but there will also be a lot of neutral browns, yellows, greys, and warmer redish tones as well. Throughout this tutorial I will refer to pencil colors. Prismacolor Colored Pencils
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.

Step 1- Draw a light outline of an apple with any graphite pencil. It should be a fairly easy outline considering the subject.

Step 2- I want my darkest tones to be laid down first. It will give me a base to compare other tones to. I am using "olive green" for this area. Throughout this entire tutorial I am using the circulism method of shading. If you’d like to know more about this method refer to my circulism tutorial.

Step 3- The olive green color is not dark enough so I go over it with sepia.

Step 4- I work to the left of my dark area but make sure that everything is lighter than this. I am using olive green again. There will be two highlights in this area so I shade around them.
Step 5- My highlights are going to be very subtle so I carefully shade them in with olive green making sure that they stay lighter than the surrounding area. After that, I move down to the bottom of the apple still using olive green. Areas that need to be darker than the olive green recieve sepia overtop. I want my dark areas to transition into light in the next few steps. My lighter areas are going to be colored with some browns. I start these areas with light umber.

Step 6- I move back up to the upper part of the apple. I am going to put another subtle highlight above the other two. This time I use rosy beige for the highlight. Above that highlight will be another small one. This one I color with french grey 20%.

Step 7- At the top left edge of the apple I want it to be brownish so I use light umber. At this point I start transitioning my darks into lighter colors. I use limepeal and light umber for these areas. I want there to be some highlights around the crown of the apple. I use yellow ochre for these.

Step 8- I put another subtle highlight in the lower left part of the apple. I use french grey 20% for this. More transitioning in this area from dark to light.

Step 9- In the right center part of the apple I want it to be a warm color just to give the drawing some color variety. I apply rosy beige to this area but more colors will be layered on top later on.
Step 10- As I mentioned earlier I want my lighter, right side to have alot of brown colors. I transition from my dark area into light with burnt ochre and layer a little limepeel on top. I lay down sand color on the upper right edge.
Step 11- I continue working on filling in the rest of the apple. For the reddish area I’ve used a combination of henna and pink. Be careful with pink. It’s easy to over-do it. For the upper part of the apple I used limepeel with some light umber layers in certain areas. I want a brilliant white highlight on the upper right part of the apple so I shade around this area. Make sure to keep this highlight very clean.

Step 12- More layers of light umber are added in the brownish areas. There is a tool made by Prismacolor called a colorless blender. It’s basically a pencil that applies no color or tone and doesn’t absorb any either. I am using this tool to blend the colors together. Compare this picture to step 11 and you will notice it’s a lot smoother and polished looking. After the colors are blended I start on the stem. I use tuscan red and dark umber.

Step 13- I finish working on the crown of the apple and blending the colors with my colorless blender.
Step 14- This drawing is very plain looking at this point so I am adding a background. Burnt ochre is applied using circulism again. Make sure your color is consistent all the way to the edges of the apple.
Step 15- I have covered the whole wall with burnt ochre. Where my table surface meets the wall, I make that area darker with dark umber.

Step 16- Again, using my colorless blender, I blend all the color together. At the upper right corner I leave the wall unblended because it gives the wall a texture and suggests a light source.
Step 17- I start on the table surface. I apply burnt ochre but not quite as dark as the background wall. I am doing a reflection on the table also. Just basically draw the apple upside down for this reflection. The dark part of the apple is on the left side so the darker part of the reflection should be on the left also.

Step 18- The drawing is finished. From start to finish this took me probably about 7 or 8 hours.

Learn to Draw

By Helen South, About.com Guide to Drawing / Sketching

Learn to Draw: beginner’s drawing lessons from how to hold a pencil through to perspective and pencil shading, through to portraiture and figure drawing. Learn to draw what you see!

1. Learn About Drawing Mediums
2. Getting Started – First Drawing Lessons
3. Structure and Perspective
4. Value / Tone and Shading

1. Sketching
2. Figure Drawing
3. Portraiture

Learn About Drawing Mediums

You can start learning to draw with just some scrap paper and a number two pencil. Don’t waste money on the wrong art materials: learn about your choices before you hit the art store.

• Before You Buy Drawing Materials
• Sustainable Art Supplies
• Drawing Materials for Children

• Paper for Graphite Pencil Drawing
• Before You Buy – Graphite Pencils
• Try Out Drawing Materials

Getting Started – First Drawing Lessons

These drawing exercises take you through exploring your medium, learning to follow lines in space, follow contours and explore three-dimensional form. The aim of these exercises isn’t to create a perfect drawing but to train your eye, hand and mind – a bit like scales for a musician, or ball drills for a footballer.

• How to Hold a Pencil
• Exercise: Wire Drawing
• Blind Contour Drawing
• Learn About Contour Drawing

• Try Simple Contour Drawing
• Using a Grid
• Learn About Cross-Contours

Structure and Perspective

Structure and perspective are connected – understanding how perspective works will help you draw three-dimensional objects. For general drawing, you only need the basics. If you enjoy perspective drawing, it can be fun to experiment with!

• Draw Simple Boxes in One-Point Perspective
• Draw Simple Boxes in Two-Point Perspective
• Find the Center of a Square or Rectangle in Perspective

• Draw a ‘3D’ Pyramid in Perspective
• Draw a Brick Wall in Perspective
• Draw Structure

Value / Tone and Shading

Learning to use value (also called tone, or tonal value) – light and shade – in your drawing – requires a slightly different approach to contour drawing. Instead of looking for edges, value drawing involves looking at areas of light and dark and in-between tones.

• Introduction to Pencil Shading
• Value Drawing – Seeing Light and Shade
• Practice Graduated and Continual Shading

• How to Use a Value Viewer
• Value Exercise: Newspaper Drawing (matching tones)
• Value Drawing in Charcoal: Soft Volume

Sketching

Keeping a sketchbook is considered essential by most artists, for many reasons. A sketchbook allows you to track your progress, develop the drawing-from-life habit, and keep all your visual ideas in one place.

• How to Keep a Sketchbook
• Sketchbook Ideas
• Sketchbook Top Picks
• Drawing Quotes for Your Journal
• Thumbnail Sketching

Figure Drawing

Figure drawing is the traditional cornerstone art training. The human body offers every challenge one could require – line and tone, perspective and composition. Parental guidance advised as figure drawing involves artistic nudity, and reference sources may include nude photography. For those under 18 – some links on these pages may not be appropriate. If your parents wouldn’t approve, please respect their wishes.

• Human Figure Proportions
• Figure Drawing – Structure
• Figure Drawing – Line and Contour

• Quick Poses Exercise
• Drawing the Head and Neck
• Human Anatomy Reference Photos – Musculature

Portraiture

Portrait drawing begins with a focus on technique – mastering head anatomy and proportions, and learning to observe and draw the features accurately. But the ultimate challenge for the portrait artist is to capture the character and spirit of their subject.

• Proportion and Structure of the Human Head
• Draw the Head from Life
• Drawing the Head and Neck
• Portraiture: Achieving a Likeness
• How to Draw Eyes

I am using Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils and Rembrandt Stick Pastels for this tutorial. The paper I am using is gray Canson Mi Tientes.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.
Step 1 – The first step is to sketch an initial outline onto your paper. I do this with mechanical graphite pencils. I have also heard of alot of people using a light pastel color for the outline. Outlines may be gridded or done freehand. Next, I start laying down some color. Most skylines are darker towards the top of the picture and lighter towards the horizon lin. I take a "pthalo blue" Rembrandt stick pastel and begin coloring making sure to not color over the clouds. I then take a q-tip and smear the pastel pigment into the paper. Next, I start coloring in the clouds with a white Rembrandt stick pastel. This is also blended into the paper. I go back and add some "cold grey" and some "violet" to the clouds.
Step 2 – I continue working my way across the paper. I start coloring in the top of the lighthouse with an "indian Red" pencil. Paying close attention to my light source, I go back and add highlights with a white pencil and shadows with "walnut brown" and "dark sepia" pencils. I use "cold grey" for the windows.

Step 3 – More work is done to the lighthouse and sky. Make sure that edges on the lighthouse are clean and straight as it is the main focal point of this drawing. Also, notice that I am making the clouds slightly darker as they get closer to the horizon. For the most part, objects further away are darker than those up close.

Step 4 – Now I start on the water. I want a contrast to my sky so I make the water a greenish color. Several different colors are used on the water including "earth green", "chrome green opaque", "dark indigo", "cobalt green", "light ultramarine", and white for the waves. Next I start on the house at the end of the pier. This will be a darker color because it is futher away. I use "indian red" mixed with "dark sepia" for the house. Next, I work on the steel light support beams. I use "paynes grey" for these. It is very difficult to draw straight lines with pastel pencils, expecially on a textured paper. They will look zig-zagged. So I go back later and straighten the edged with a mechanical graphite pencil.

Step 5 – I start coloring in the left edge of the pier and the concrete. I use a light "cold grey" for the concrete. I start working on the steel light support beams on the right side of the drawing also. The support beams further back can be rough and sketchy but these beams closest have to be very clean and straight. I am still using "paynes grey" for the beams with a touch of black in places.

Step 6 – More work is done to the support beams and I color in the water on the other side of the pier using the same colors as before. I work more on the concrete adding some "light flesh" to it to warm it up a little. Also, "warm grey" is added to the sides to give the center walkway a worn, walked on feel. The lighthouse is basically finished now. I just need to finish the concrete foreground and the drawing will be done.

Step 7 – I apply more "cold grey" to the concrete areas. "Light flesh", "light ultramarine", "earth green", and "warm grey" are added in places to give the concrete some character and contrast. Once the concrete is done, I make final adjustments and the drawing is done. It’s just that easy. Just kidding, I know it’s not easy. Just take it slow and pay attention to details.

Step 8 – Finished. The reason that the finished looks slightly different than the progress pictures is that the finished is a scan and the progress shots were taken with a digital camera. The scanner does a much better job.

Rose Drawing Tutorial – How to Draw with Colored Pencils

I made this tutorial to show step by step how to draw a realistic pink rose. For this lesson I will be working on Canson Mi Tientes black paper and using Prismacolor Colored Pencils. Every color that I mention will be of the Prismacolor brand.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.
Step 1 The first step is a basic outline. Since it is extremely hard to erase colored pencil, I did my outline on a seperate piece of paper and transfered it.

Step 2 I started on the left side. I always work this way since I am right handed, so I never have to rest my hand on a finished part of the drawing. I applied "deco pink" and "light peach" to this petal and used "process red" for the edges. I used white for the highlights on the edges of the petal.

Step 3 I move on to other petals on the rose. My light source is coming from the left and above so the left side of this rose will be lighter than the right. The edges of the petals will be white. Again I used a combination of "deco pink", "light peach", and "process red".

Step 4 Using the same colors, I continue left to right. For the most part, every new petal will be white on the left side and a darker tone on the right.

Step 5 Paying attention to my reference picture I move on working on new petals. It’s important in realistic drawing to work one small area at a time. If you focus on the drawing as a whole it will be overwhelming. Think of realistic drawing as a puzzle, work one area at a time and in the end it will all come together.

Step 6 I am working into the right side of the rose now and this area has to be darker than the left side. I used "rosy beige", "process red", "clay rose", and "crimson lake" for these darker areas. My eyes were getting a little strained from working with the pinks so I started working on the stem of the rose. I used 3 different shades of green for this, "true green" for lights, "grass green" for midtones, and "dark green" for darks. The stem follows the same light source rules as the petals. The left side will be lighter than the right side.

Step 7 I worked more on the petals.

Step 8 The drawing is almost complete at this point. I work some more on the petals and the leaves at the bottom, using the same greens I used for the stem.

Step 9 The drawing is completed. At this point you can go back and do some detail work and clean up areas that need it. I added some veins to some of the petals and some other details.

Portrait Tutorial – Step by Step Lesson

This is a step by step tutorial on how to draw a realistic portrait. I would suggest that you have a basic understanding of drawing and shading before attempting to draw a serious portrait. For this lesson I am drawing on 11"x14" Fabriano Hotpressed Watercolor Paper . I am using Derwent Graphic Pencils ranging from 2H to 7B. For more information on any of the drawing tools that I mention in this tutorial, visit the drawing materials page. The subject for this drawing is one of my favorite women, the beautiful Kelly Monaco. I am using a reference picture of her that I found on the internet. Let’s get started.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.

Outline

Step 1 – First I have laid down a basic outline. You can either grid or freehand your outline. I prefer to grid because it’s a lot faster and more accurate. Don’t make your outline too dark. An HB pencil is perfect for outlines, not too dark and not too light. This step is very important in obtaining a likeness of your subject. If your outline doesn’t resemble the person, your final product won’t either. So take your time and get features and proportions correct. It’s not uncommon for your outline to take a few hours.
Tip – Do NOT use a hard pencil (example: 5H, 2H) for outlines or grids. They will indent your paper and show up later when you are shading. They are almost impossible to cover up once the indentations are there. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Hair

Step 2 – Next I have started working on the hair. I always work from top to bottom, left to right, just like reading. I work this way so that I never have to rest my hand on a finished area of the drawing (I am right handed. Lefties would work right to left, top to bottom). I won’t spend too much time explaining hair, since this is a face tutorial. But pay attention to which way the hair is flowing. Kelly’s hair is very dark. I’m using a mechanical 3B and a 7B woodcased pencil on it. The mechanical pencil allows me to add the fine details and the 7B allows me to push the darker areas, adding contrast.

Step 3 – I continue working on the hair. Be patient and don’t rush anything on a drawing. It’s the small details that will make your work stand out from others’. Hair can take just as long, if not longer, than the face. Notice the hair is defined with different tones, not lines. If you just scribble a bunch of lines onto your paper, the hair will look flat and unrealistic. I use a mechanical 3B for most of the hair, using broad strokes in the direction the hair is flowing. Also there is no blending involved in drawing hair. I want the imperfections and paper texture to show through somewhat. Darken areas around highlights first and then fade your darks into the highlights. The highlights in the hair are darker in the back and become more brilliant towards the front. Remember that, for the most part, tones flow into eachother. Dark tones flow into midtones then into lights. Lights flow into midtones then into darks. If your hair isn’t looking quite right, this may be your problem. Make sure you have a balanced flow of darks, midtones, and lights. If you just remember to keep tones flowing in gradients, you will end up with a realistic drawing.

Step 4 – I am still working on the hair. The first area that I will shade on the face is the forehead. So I want that area completely framed in with the dark tones of the hair. That will give me a reference to compare facial tones to. Remember when I said hair can take a while? I have worked about 6 hours on the hair so far and I am not even halfway done with it yet. I am done with the hair momentarily though and will move onto the forehead.

Forehead

Step 5 – Whenever I start working on a face the first thing I do is identify where the lightest areas will be. When you find these areas you can lightly outline about where they will be . Highlights are usually found on the forehead, cheeks, tip of the nose, bottom lip, and chin. I know where my highlights are on the forehead. I know that the rest of the forehead has to be darker than these highlights. So I start by laying down some H graphite around the highlights. I just scribble it down VERY lightly and then blend it out with a tissue. If you are not darker than your highlights, you need to lay down more. After we do this, we have to blend the tone you just laid down into the highlights to form a light gradient. I do this with a q-tip. Remember what I said earlier about tones flowing into eachother? You have just defined the form of the light area of the forehead. Now onto the dark.
Tip – Highlights give you a good opportunity to suggest skin texture if you want. Skin texture can be achieved by either using the circulism technique (very lightly) or by dabbing a kneaded rubber eraser on surrounding shaded areas. Just make sure you don’t make your texture darker than the lightest surrounding tones because it won’t look natural.

Step 6 – The further away from the highlights you get, the darker you get. I am basically making a gradient that starts light around the highlights and gets darker along the hairline. The shading around the hairline is important. Have you ever seen a drawing that looks like the hair is pasted on? I have seen plenty and that’s the reason it looks this way, not enough shading around the hairline. There will always be darker shading around the hairline from the hair casting subtle shadows onto the skin.
Tip – Take breaks when you are drawing. Sometimes when you stare at something too long your mind starts playing tricks on you. Work on your drawing for a few hours, take a break, and come back to it later, with fresh eyes.

EYE

Step 7 – I move onto the left eye. I won’t spend too much time explaining eyes because I already have a dedicated eye tutorial. First I lay down some 3B graphite into the iris and blend it out with a blending stump. Usually there will be brilliant highlights in the eyes so shade around those. I always make the highlights bigger than they actually are. It’s a lot easier to make them smaller than make them bigger after you’ve shaded everything else. I always make my tones around these highlights slightly darker than they actually are. Doing this makes the eyes appear to sparkle more. Next I darken underneath the upper eyelid. This indicates a shadow from the eyelid. I also darken in the center of the eye to indicate a pupil. The "whites" of the eyes are not actually white. I shade them with H graphite. There will be a cast shadow from the upper eyelid also. Pay attention to tones in your reference photo. The answers are there, you just need to see them.

LEFT CHEEK

Step 8 – Next I move down to the left cheek. I start by locating my lightest tone. I lightly shade this area with H graphite and blend it with a tissue. Then I lay down some B graphite around the H and blend it out. Just as the forehead, we are making a gradient that will get darker as we near the outside of the face. I work my way right up next to the nose.

NOSE

Step 9 – Noses can be a struggle for many artists, especially beginners. Just try to remember that noses are nothing more than different tones representing contour and depth. I start by shading the bridge of the nose with H graphite. It is quite possible that there will be a subtle highlight on the tip of the nose so watch for that and shade around it. Next, I shade around the bridge with B graphite, making it slightly darker than the bridge area. I am making a subtle gradient towards the outer edges of the nose and into the cheek. As you are working on the nose area, make sure that tones flow seamlessly into the areas that we’ve already done. If an area of shading seems to abruptly stop, you need to work on blending it in so everything flows nicely.

Eye

Step 10 – I move onto the other eye. Just as before, I start by laying down some 3B graphite onto the iris and blend it with a blending stump. Again, shade around any highlights in the eyes. Leave them paper white. I darken the pupil and any areas under the eyelid to suggest a cast shadow. The eyelashes are drawn in now too but be careful not to make them too dark. Also, make them completely random. Eyelashes are never perfect and evenly spaced. I lay down some H graphite in the "whites" of the eyes. Even though these areas look white they never are. The only things that should be white on your drawing are brilliant highlights.
Tip – For most of my portraits I will add a small highlight where the iris meets the lower eyelid. This helps in attaining that wet look.

RIGHT CHEEK

Step 11 – Now I am working on the right cheek. I lay down some H graphite in the lightest area and blend it out. Then I lay a slightly darker B graphite around the lighter area. I hope by this point you are noticing a pattern. The pattern is that most everything on a portrait drawing is done with gradients, light tones flowing into darker tones and vice versa. The tones continue to get darker until I’ve reached the outside of the face.

JAW

Step 12 – Following the jawline, I lay down my darkest tones with a 3B pencil. The darkest tones for the jaw will be towards the edges. If the subject is smiling as is the case in my reference, there will be folds in the skin so watch for those too. These folds will be darker. I move onto the upper lip area laying down some B graphite. Make sure that you are making the whole jaw area darker than the highlights on both the cheeks and nose. Since my light source is coming from above, there is a cast shadow underneath the nose. This is not always the case and will depend upon where the light source is coming from. I shade this shadow area with a 3B pencil.

Step 13 – As you work your way down on the face don’t forget about the hair. I play catch up on the hair until it’s about down to the jaw area. Working this way prevents you from having to rest your hand on the finished facial area to get at the hair. Don’t go too far down with the hair either because you’ll have to rest your hand on the finished hair area to get at the face. Try to keep every part of the drawing at about the same point horizontally. I’m often asked how my drawings look so clean and this is the reason. You’ll never see smudge marks all over my paper. Just as before, I use my 3B mechanical pencil along with a woodcased 7B for darker areas. The only lines that you draw in the hair should indicate the flow and direction. Now I’m down far enough with the hair on the left side where I can go back to working on the face.
Tip – A retractable eraser is a useful tool to have when working on hair. You can use it to erase small fly-away hairs, adding detail and realism to your drawing.

Step 14 – I go back to working on the jaw and mouth area, on the right side this time. I start by laying down my darkest tones along the jawline, again watching for laugh lines and dimples. Next I lay some B graphite and blend it into the darks I just laid down, making a subtle gradient towards the edge of the jaw. When I’m happy with the jaw area I go back to working on hair, catching it up to the jaw on the right side.

LIPS

Step 15 – Next I move onto the lips. I start by laying down an even wash of 3B graphite on the upper lip. Next I go slightly darker all over the lip except for the middle part, leaving that lighter. The darkest parts of the top lip will be the outer edges. The top lip will always be darker than the bottom. We used a 3B on the top lip so we will use a B on the bottom. I start by laying an even layer of B graphite down. Usually there are highlights on the bottom lip so make sure you avoid shading these. Underneath the bottom lip I shade in a shadow with 3B.

CHIN

Step 16 – We finally reach the end of the face by completing the chin. I lay down some H graphite in the highlight area and blend it out. Then I lay down some B graphite surrounding the highlight so it’s slightly darker. I may adjust this area later when I am working on the neck area.

Neck

Step 17 – Depending on where the light source is coming from, there may be a cast shadow on the neck from the chin. This is the case with my drawing. I start by laying down an even wash of 3B graphite in the shadowed area. How do you know how dark to go with this shadow? Compare tones on the face with the shadowed area. I see that my shadowed area is about the same tone as the cast shadow underneath the nose. The shadowed area will be darker as we near the edges on both sides. I have also begun working on the shoulder on the left side. For the hair I decided to fade it out at the bottom. I think this is a really classy, artistic look in portrait drawing. I attain this look first by drawing the hair at the bottom with a 5H pencil. This will give me my lightest tones and the tones that I need to transition down to. Then I go back up the where I left off and use a 3B, getting lighter and lighter as I near the bottom. When you reach the bottom it should be a smooth gradient from dark to light.

Step 18 – I move on to the chest area. I start by laying down an even wash of H graphite and blend it out. Then I add some darker tones along the outter edges where the hair is. Just as I did with the hair I am blending this area out at the bottom.

When everything is complete and the way you want it spray your drawing with a good fixative. I recommend Winsor & Newton Workable Fixative
Start to finish this drawing took me around 20 hours over several weeks just working a few hours at a time.
All of my tutorials are free, I don’t ask for anything in return. I make them because I enjoy talking art and teaching others. They do take me quite a while to put together, a lot of work goes into them. If you have enjoyed or benefitted from this tutorial all I ask is that you help promote it. You can do this by submitting to social networking sites, linking, blogging, or posting links on forums. Promoting my tutorials is a huge help!!

Drawing Tutorial- How to Draw a Realistic Eye

I made this tutorial to show the different steps that I take in drawing a realistic eye. There are many different methods though, so don’t rely purely on this one.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.

Step 1 For this tutorial I chose to draw one of the most trained eyes in drawing, Armin Mersmann’s. I started with an outline of the eye. I have just a basic line drawing at this point. I also marked where some highlights in the eyebrow and eye will be so that I don’t forget about them later.
Step 2 I began darkening a couple of the darkest places in the drawing. Don’t be afraid to go too dark in these areas. It won’t matter. In fact, it will probably help the drawing in the end because it will add contrast. I used a 3B pencil for these areas pressing fairly hard but not hard enough to dent the paper.
Step 3 I started shading the eyelid and surrounding areas. I used a basic scribble technique because I was planning on blending this drawing and it won’t matter what it looks like at this point. These areas were shaded with a 3B with not a lot of pressure.

Step 4 I got out my blending stump and began blending the graphite I laid down in the previous step. I am drawing skin so I want it to be believable looking. I have found that circulism works well for this texture. To find out more about circulism visit here. Any of my darks that were washed out from blending I replaced on this step also.
Step 5 I continued laying down tone with my 3B pencil paying close attention to small details on my reference photo. I blended some tone from the inner part of the eye into the eyeball too. Don’t make the mistake that eyeballs are white. They are not white unless light is perfectly reflected off of them. Compare the highlights in the eyes to the eyeball tone. You will see that they are different.

Step 6 I began working on the iris of the eye on this step. This takes alot of patience and observation. Every eye is different so there is no universal way to approach this step. Just look close at your reference and draw what you see.
Step 7 I was half-way done with the iris at this step. I looked for tone variations in the iris and drew what I saw.

Step 8 The iris was done at this point and I came across a highlight in the eye. Keeping the highlighted area clean is crucial to attaining a wet, reflective look. It should be the lightest part of the entire drawing. Shade around this area. If you want the highlight more brilliant, lay down more tone around it.
Step 9 I shaded around the highlights. Now the eye looks glossy and wet.
Step 10 Eyebrows can be really intimidating, especially Armin’s since they are dark with some greys. Take it slow and start with some basic thinking. This step I just laid down some 3B paying attention to tone variations in the brow. I noticed that the left and bottom parts were darker than the rest. Also, I encountered another highlight that I had marked earlier so I shaded around it. After I was done toning the area, I took my 3B mechanical pencil and started making quick little hairs around the area. Nothing too intricate, just completely random.
Step 11 I continued working on the brow, adding tighter details when I noticed them. Some lighter hairs that I overlooked were added here too using a sharp cut eraser. I added some tone to the skin lying underneath the hairs too.
Step 12 When I was happy with the eyebrow I moved on. I worked underneath the eye using the same lay down and circulism technique as earlier. Make sure you pay attention to tone gradients, transitions from light to dark. I looked close for some of the creases underneath the eye too and added them. As I blend over these creases I darkened them in again.

Step 13 More work under the eye and on the eye lashes. There were alot of lashes that were highlighted, not completely white though, so I needed to draw around them and shade them slightly. I worked on the wrinkles under his eyes too.
Step 14 Almost done now. I blended some of the darker areas into the lighter with my stump using circulism. You can see how the cirulism technique really pays off in the midtones I think.
Step 15 This is the final step. It’s basically just cleaning up the drawing and adding small details if you’d like. I added alot of dots all over the drawing to suggest some pores and imperfections in the skin. I also darkened around the highlights to make them shine more.

Drawing Tutorial- How to Draw a Nose

I made this tutorial to show the different steps that I take in drawing a realistic nose. There are many different methods though, so don’t rely purely on this one.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.
Step 1 I begin by drawing a light outline. This outline will disappear when we start shading.

Step 2 Next, I take a 3B pencil and scribble some graphite onto a dark area on the side of the nose. You can cross hatch or just scribble. It doesn’t really matter what it looks like at this point because it will be blended later.

Step 3 I blend the graphite in circular motions with a blending stump setting it into the fibres of the paper.

Step 4 Repeating the last 2 steps, I work on another dark area of the nose. Since my light source is coming from the right, everything on the left side of the nose will be darker.

Step 5 I move on to the area next to the nostril. This is one of the darkest places on the nose because it is recieving a cast shadow from the nostril. It is blended with a blending stump just as before. When working on a drawing, always try to remind yourself which direction the light source is coming from.

Step 6 Next, I move upwards and work on the top of the nose starting with darks and working into lights.

Step 7 The left side of the nose gets shaded. With my blending stump, I pulling in graphite from the darks I’ve already made. If the darks start to fade, they can be replaced by just adding more graphite.

Step 8 The nostril is going to be the single darkest part on this drawing. I take a 3B pencil and scribble it in. Next, I blend it with my blending stump. When doing darks I usually do not blend them because it can wash them out slightly. But in this case, I am going to add some nose hairs and blended graphite is easier when pulling out tone.

Step 9 I take a retractable eraser and pull out a few hairs in the nostril. After I pull the hairs out, I go back with a 3B pencil and darken in my darks in the nostril.

Step 10 Moving back up the nose, I carefully pull in some more tone from the darker areas with a blending stump.

Step 11 I pull in more tone but leave a lighter highlight on the right side of the nose. Also, on the right side of the nose I add some tone. This tone just defines where the light part of the nose starts or stops.

Step 12 I work some more on the right side of the nose moving into the eye area.

Step 13 The nose is basically done now. All that is left is to add subtle details or to adjust tones. You can add pores to the nose, hairs, imperfections, whatever you’d like. Younger people are more likely to have smoother skin so keep that in mind also.

Step 14 I decided that I wanted my nose to be a little older looking. So I added pores, freckles, and some wrinkles to it. I began to add some facial hair underneath the nose also.

Drawing Tutorial- How to Draw a mouth and teeth

I made this tutorial to show the different steps that I take in drawing a realistic mouth, lips, and teeth. There are many different methods though, so don’t rely purely on this one.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.

Step 1 Many people struggle when it comes to drawing mouths. For this tutorial I will show you how to draw a realistic looking mouth. I began with a basic outline sketch of the mouth. Identify where you want the lips, teeth, and gums to be.
Step 2 I laid down some graphite above the top lip. Tones will be darker towards the outsides of the mouth. Don’t worry about precise shading at this point because this area will be blended later. Just scribble some tone down on the paper.
Step 3 Next, I used a blending stump to blend the graphite around. I used blended circulism for this step.

Step 4 I moved on to the top lip. The bottom of the top lip will always be darker than the other parts so I used a 3B pencil and laid down some tone in this area.

Step 5 Still using a 3B but applying less pressure, I started laying some tone down on the left side of the upper lip.

Step 6 Moving on, I finished the right side of the upper lip. At this point, you can see how the drawing is starting to look 3 dimensional and lifelike.

Step 7 I began working on the gums. Remember that the gums have to be darker than the teeth so don’t make them too light. I used a B graphite for them.

Step 8 Next, I started working on the teeth. I notice alot of beginners think that teeth are white. Teeth are not white. The only thing that may be white on teeth are the highlights. Teeth have brilliant highlights so pay attention to your reference picture and draw around these. If the highlights don’t stand out like you want them to, darken the area around them. I used a 2H on all of the teeth.

Step 9 I worked on each tooth individually. As I got closer to the front teeth, I used a lighter touch. The front teeth should be the lightest ones.

Step 10 I continued working on the teeth. They might take a while but the end result will be worth it.
Step 11 I finished up the teeth and moved onto the bottom lip. Bottom lips can be tricky because they usually have several different tones on them. I started by laying down some of the darker tones with a 3B.
Step 12 I continued working on the bottom lip paying attention to tone variations. The right side of my drawing is slightly darker than the left. This is not the case all the time, it was just my choice.

Step 13 Here is the final drawing of the mouth. There is always a dark area just underneath the bottom lip. Also, the lips were blended in slightly to the surrounding skin. Tone adjustments can be made at this time and details can be added too.

Hair Drawing Tutorial, How to Draw Realistic Hair

Drawing realistic hair is a struggle for alot of beginners. I have been asked quite a few times how I go about drawing hair so I decided to make this tutorial to teach you how to draw hair.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.
A common misconception that many beginners make is that a line represents a strand of hair. I’ve seen alot of instances where hair was drawn with lines and it always looks flat and lifeless. In reality, strands of hair are defined by darker areas around them. In this tutorial you will see that I didn’t try to draw every single strand of hair but rather drew tones to suggest the texture and form of the hair.
Step 1- I identified the darkest areas in the section of hair and drew them in with a 3B pencil. Try to look for details inside the darks, alot of the time there will be lighter hairs passing through the dark areas so draw around those.

Step 2- I located more dark areas and drew them in, again using a 3B but with slightly less pressure. I also drew light guide lines to show where some of the highlights and midtones were to go.

Step 3- I began shading the midtone area that I located in step 2 with a B pencil.

Step 4- I began fading my midtones into the highlight area that I located in step 2. Again using a B pencil but with less pressure than I used for the midtone area.

Step 5- I started fading the dark tones towards the top of her head into the highlight area with a B pencil. Then I shaded lightly over the highlight area with an H pencil. Smooth, fluent shading is key here.

Step 6- Since I was drawing blonde hair, a dark background gives a nice contrast. I continued shading the background and bringing it over to the point I was at with the hair. I added a couple fly-away hairs with a sharpened eraser. Then I did some touch ups and added more details to this section of hair. I compared tones with other areas of the drawing and adjusted some. Then it was time to move on to the next section of hair.

I made this tutorial to show the different steps that I take in drawing a realistic still life drawing. There are many different methods though, so don’t rely purely on this one.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site.
Step 1 For this still life tutorial I chose to draw a zippo lighter. I have drawn them quite a few times in the past but I always enjoy them. The first step was getting an outline. I also marked off where some highlights will be.

Step 2 I began drawing from left to right, top to bottom. Working this way, I never have to rest my hand on a finished part of a drawing. I carefully drew around the highlights with a mechanical 3B.

Step 3 I continued on drawing the flint and starting the metal. I noticed some highlights around the holes in the metal so I drew around them. When drawing highlights, compare them to eachother to make sure they are pure white. You will find that some highlights are not pure white.

Step 4 I came across a brilliant highlight in the metal and when comparing to other light parts, I saw that the holes in the metal should be lightly shaded. This made the highlight stand out more too.

Step 5 The top of the lighter was done at this point. I compared tones to eachother and tweaked parts that needed lightening or darkening.

Step 6 It was time to move onto the bottom part of the lighter. I started this off by laying down some B graphite. The zippo had alot of scratches in it that I wanted to show so I started making little random highlights all over. There was another highlight on the left side so I drew around it.

Step 7 The bottom part of the zippo is lighter on the left side and darker on the right so I began laying down some 3B on the right side and blending it into the left. I did not use blending stumps for this though. Blending stumps would give too smooth of an effect so I just used some good old fashioned cross hatching here. There were some highlights in the darker/right side also but not as bright as on the left so I pulled those out with an eraser.

Step 8 I worked on the scratches on the lighter for quite a while until I liked how they looked. I made sure to really look close at my reference to see how they actually appeared. There was some indirect light on the right side of the zippo so I rendered it lighter.

Step 9 I moved on to the lid closing mechanism at the top of the zippo. I made sure to draw around the highlights on the rivet.

Step 10 Next came the lid. I started drawing the darkest parts of the lid and drew around the highlight.

Step 11 I filled in the rest of the lid using a 3B with a cross hatching technique. There were a couple highlights on the lid so I pulled them out with a kneaded eraser. I then layed down some 3B for the cast shadow under the lid. I always blend my shadows because I think it makes them look better. Almost done now.

Step 12 I finished the drawing off by drawing the bottom of the lighter. I used a B pencil for this. After that I blended the cast shadow under the bottom same as I did for the last step. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

How to Draw a Car

For this tutorial I will show the different steps I take in drawing a realistic looking car. I chose to draw an american classic, the Corvette. This tutorial will apply to any car though because for the most part, they are all the same. The key to drawing a car that will pop off the page is having a good balance of lights, midtones, and darks along with clean, sharp edges. As with most of my graphite drawings, I am using Derwent Graphic Pencils and Fabriano Artistico Bright White Watercolor Paper . I am also using mechanical pencils for small details.
I buy all of my supplies from Blick Art Materials . Buying your stuff from that link helps me keep adding to this site. Let’s get started.
Step 1 – Proportions are critical in a technical drawing so I have gridded my outline using 1 inch squares. Gridding consists of placing a grid over your reference picture and on your drawing paper and then transfering the image square by square until you’ve attained an outline. DO NOT use a hard graphite (ie. 5H, 2H, H) for your grid. If you do you will have a nightmare on your hands later when you are shading. Harder graphites dent the paper, creating tiny grooves. When you go to shade over these grooves, they will not accept graphite and will appear white. Use a softer graphite like a B for your grid. Don’t say I didn’t warn you

Step 2 – As with all of my drawings I am working left to right, top to bottom (just like reading). I am starting on the front of the car and the front wheel. For the wheel I am laying down my darkest tones first with a 7B pencil. These dark tones will give me a reference when deciding how dark to go with everything else on the wheel. The wheels can be very time consuming if you want them to turn out well. They are very small and have lots of details. This one rim alone will take me about an hour.

Step 3 – I add the midtones and lighter tones to the wheel with a 2H for lights and a 3B for mids. These tones are what makes the wheel appear to shine. As with any metal surface, the wheels have brilliant highlights. I always leave these highlights alone so that they are the tone of the paper. So with my midtones and light tones around these brilliant highlights, they appear to shine. This process is called negative drawing and can be explained further by clicking on the link. At this point, the wheel is basically done. When we shade the tires later, these highlights will really start to shine.

Step 4 – With the front wheel finished, I move onto the front fender area. For the darker bottom part of the fender I use a 3B pencil. The lighter top area I am using a 2H. A car finish is typically very smooth so I am blending the body with blending stumps. When working on the body, I am comparing tones to those on the wheel. I’m also erasing grid lines so they don’t interfere with my shading.

Step 5 – I go back and work on the tire. Pay close attention to the way the tire looks. There will be some diffuse (duller) highlights or possibly even some brilliant ones if the tire is wet or has tireshine on it. You can see how the rim looks a lot shinier now that we have some darker tones around the negative space. You can make the wheels look as shiny or as dull as you’d like by adjusting the surrounding tones. I will probably go back and darken a lot to make the highlights pop even more. After the tire, I go back to the body with a 3B pencil and blending stumps. You can see how I am just working one square inch at a time. Working this way makes you focus more on details than the drawing as a whole.

Step 6 – I continue working on the body and move up to the window. The tones of everything showing through the window will be slightly muted compared to the rest of the car. So I make the steering wheel and dashboard a little bit lighter. If the window had been opened or tinted this would not be the case though. I used a 2H pencil for the lighter parts of the window, a B pencil for the darker areas and a blending stump to finish it off.

Step 7 – Keep working on the door paying close attention to your reference photo. There are very subtle tone changes in the lighter areas. I’m still using a 2H for lights and a 3B for the darks.

Step 8 – Since our light source is coming from the front of the car, the rearview mirror is reflected off of the body. This reflection will be darker than the mirror itself. Just pay close attention to your reference photo when rendering details like this. After that is done I continue working on the body. The car is starting to take shape now. As mentioned earlier, just take it nice and slow working one area at a time.

Step 9 – I continue working on the body of the Corvette. The top of the car will be a lighter area, considering the light source so I use a 2H on it. I finish the area along the rear wheelwell using a 3B and blending stumps. Then I move onto the middle area of the car, shading with both 2H and B pencils. The doorhandle is one of the darkest area so I use a 7B pencil on it.

Step 10 – I start working on the back windshield. I used a 3B on this area. A shadow underneath the car comes next. The shadow grounds the car and makes it look like it’s actually sitting on a surface rather than hovering in space. I use a 3B mechanical pencil on this area pressing fairly hard. Mechanical pencils work better on large dark areas than woodcased pencils. They are sharper and are able to push the graphite deep into the fibres of the paper.

Step 11 – Now I am working on the rear wheel. This will be exactly like before but I will go through it again since the wheels are very important. I am laying down my darkest areas first with a 7B. Make sure your pencil is sharp so that your edges are nice and clean.

Step 12 – Next I am adding the midtones to the wheel. Break up the wheel into different sections and focus on one small area at a time. I am working in between the spokes. You can see now that with the midtones in place, the wheel is starting to look 3 dimensional. In this case, light tones suggest an area that is closest to the viewer. So with these midtones and darks laid down, the spokes are the lightest and appear to pop out at us.

Step 13 – The lighter tones are added to the wheel using a 2H pencil. Now the rim is complete. It will begin to shine more when we get the dark tire tones around it. I am a little tired of focussing on the wheel area so I work some more on the body. I’m still using a 3B for darks and 2H for lights.

Step 14 – I begin to work on the rear of the car, using 3B for darks. Considering where the light source is coming from (the front), the lighter areas will be darker than the lights on rest of the car. This is because the rear is not exposed to the light. So I am using a B pencil on these areas.

Step 15 – I go back to the tire area. I darkened in the tire using a 3B pencil. Then I went back and added small details. With the darker tones around the wheel, you can see how it begins to shine and resemble chrome. I continue working on the rear of the car, still using 3B.

Step 16 – Paying close attention to details I move on, working more on the rear of the car until it is done. For my darkest areas I used a 3B pencil. The drawing is complete. Now you can go back and add more details if you’d like. I always have a look at the drawing from a few steps back to see if something doesn’t look right.