Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Sketching Coiffures

Drawing hair is dictated by several factors: the type of hair, its hue, quality, amount, the arrangement and styling of the hair, the character and disposition of the model or the photograph, and the light effect upon the hair.

The arabesque of the hair is part of the overall arabesque. A correct arabesque is critical to the likeness of the hair. Many beginning draftspersons start with the face and grow outward from there. This is however a bad approach and instills bad habits that will prove difficult to overcome.

In fact, the arabesque is especially critical when sketch a hairdo. Attempting to draw the hair working from the inside out, bit by bit, is a recipe for disaster. The hair will end up in being either too small for the skull or too large.

Working within the arabesque of the coiffure, first put in the main darks. These darks are best seen by squinting down your eyes until a general pattern of light and dark is observed.

Next, you need to blend the graphite in a sculpturally fashion following the general gesture and motion of the coiffure. For this you can make use of your fingers, a tissue, or a paper stump. If you make use of a paper stump be careful not to dull the look. If you make use of your fingers make sure they are dry and also wipe them constantly with a paper towel.

Then, make use of your kneaded eraser like a loaded paint brush to pick out the major lights. Do not be overly fussy here. A more virtuoso approach effects a sense of life and rhythm into the coiffure. If you make an error just blend the graphite again with your fingers or stump and do it again.

Sometimes when you block-in the coiffure other light parts of the skull pop out. This is one reason why working the skull as a whole is necessary.

French braiding is a gorgeous coiffure style, but extremely intricate and hard to sketch. The goal is to sketch these French braids fluidly and with motion. A balancing act is required here: the intricacy of the coiffure%u2019s styling is best handled by first line-drawing the main locks and braids. As you lay out the braids be sure to plumb and carefully measure and place each main lock and braid.

When working from a photograph there is the pull to reproduce it down to the smallest detail. You may or may not give in to this pull but you should always make sure that the coiffure keeps its liveliness. However, in most cases, you will not need to map out every detail.

Further block-in the darks taking into account the direction and motion of the major locks of the coiffure. The most difficult thing is to refrain from plunging into an region of detail. Not to do this requires mental discipline. Best is to follow a layered approach that progressively piles the arrangement of the coiffure, lock by lock.

You also should soften the edges of the coiffure line so that it blends into the forehead and sides of the face. Hair does this naturally.

Make sure you used sharp pencils because dull pencils lead to dull, lifeless hairdos.

Having first mapped out and blocked-in the major locks of hair makes the drawing of the finer regions much easier, but is still labor intensive. You should be prepared to spend quite a bit of time on a coiffure.

Also, step back from the drawing to preserve an overview of the chief light/dark pattern because detailing can result in a flat mess in which the values close in on each other.

Hold back from drawing bangs too early in the process. This helps ensure that the coiffure and flesh can be unified into a coherent sense of spirit.

Drawing hairdos so that it reads naturally and has a rhythmic gesture is difficult. Ordinarily it takes as much time and effort to render the coiffure as it does the face and neck. You must spend as much care in prepping the coiffure as you would for the rest of the portrait. If you draw from a model be sure you do the coiffure before your model takes a break because the coiffure will very likely have changed when the break is over. The strategy, then, is to devote a whole 20 to 30 minutes of a pose segment to the coiffure.

With these guidelines you can be certain that in time your sketched hairdos will look authentic and energetic. Do not forget that drawing coiffure takes time so that you do not get irritated.