After two more drawing sessions, I completed my second portrait using techniques from the book, How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. I’m happy with the results, especially the unfinished look to the background, hair, and shirt. I feel the unfinished areas help draw more attention to the face, the primary focus of the portrait.

I do see a few small things I might tweak before I give it a final coat of permanent UV-resistant spray. For a final protective coating, I recommend something like Krylon UV-Resistant Clear.

My biggest departure from the book, while drawing this time, was blending with my fingers most of the time, verses the tortillons. The only negative effect I see, aside from loss of precision with my fat fingers, is a lot of ‘spots’ of lead in the drawing. I think the flakes of pencil lead, which seem more inheritance in the mechanical stick lead verses a normal graphite pencil, mix with the moisture from my finger tips, and sticks to the drawing. It doesn’t seem to happen with the tortillons.

This book has certainly improved my skills and taught me how to use new tools to draw.

Session 3 – More Details and Tone

Session 4 – Final Drawing (I Think!)

Title: Self-Portrait
Medium: .5mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead on 100 lb. Canson bristol board
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Completed: January 26, 2010

As a follow up to my previous post, here is my second drawing using techniques from the book, How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. Hammond’s technique employs a .5mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead and blending tortillons on bristol board.

Currently, the drawing is about 75% complete. I am following the same basic process as with the first drawing. However, I have altered a few details, which has given me better results compared to the first drawing:

1. A much heavier application of graphite on the bristol then the first time to develop the darker tones quicker, with less layering. I am less cautious and a little more comfortable with the technique.

2. Drawing in more tonal areas of the portrait initially, before starting to blend. I drew in almost the whole face and part of the neck before I blending.

3. Blending most of the drawing with my finger tips instead of the tortillions, a departure from Hammond’s process. I’m not sure this is good, but I am more comfortable finger-blending than using the sticks. I have to work on using the stick more next time!

Like with the first drawing (previous post), I used a small 4 x 6 inch black and white photograph I had taken of the subject as reference. I started sketching the basic facial features and drawing in most major tonal areas except the hair. I then blending the tones, using my fingers and a tortillion. During my second session, I applied more drawing, shading, and erasing to develop highlights, after making some needed correction to the facial features. I didn’t like the lower lip or the overall lightness of the right side of the face.

Reference Photograph

Session 1 – Basic Drawing and Tones

Session 2 – Corrections and More Detail

I will show the completed drawing in Part 2 of this post.

Here is my first drawing using techniques from the book, How to Draw Lifelike Portraits from Photographs by Lee Hammond. I highly recommend the book. As you can see from the before and the after drawings below, Hammond’s book really helped me develop better blending and tonal control of the face. Her technique basically employs a .5mm drafting pencil with 2B lead and blending tortillons on bristol board.

I drew the new portrait over two days, in four separate sessions, fixing the drawing in between with light coats of Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray. The 2B graphite, on the Canson 100 lb. Vellum Bristol Board, smears easily if you are not careful, due to the paper’s smooth finish. Fixing it after each session really helps prevent smudging. Fixing the drawing in-between sessions also helps you build tonal range in the darkest areas, by giving you the ability to layer the graphite.

I started with a small 4 x 6 inch black and white photograph I had taken of the subject, sketching the basic facial features and major tonal areas. I then began lightly shading each area. I followed up with some more aggressive shading, followed by drawing in the hair. I finished by drawing in the eyelashes and doing some minor drawing corrections. I coated the completed drawing with a UV acrylic spray to protect it.

Reference Photograph

Original Drawing

Session 1: Initial Sketch and Shading

Session 2: Nearly Complete with Hair

Session 3: Finished Drawing

-

Title: Portrait – Lori #1 (Original)
Medium: 6B graphite pencil on 65 lb. Canson sketch paper
Size: 9 x 12 inches
Completed: January 16, 2010

Title: Portrait – Lori #2 (After)
Medium: .5mm mechanical pencil with 2B lead on 100 lb. Canson bristol board
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Completed: January 23, 2010