Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing – The Six Elements of Portrait Drawing

Drawing in always entails four separate elements: line, value, texture, and form. In the special case of pencil portrait drawing we can refine the list of elements to six: form, proportion, anatomy, texture, value, and planes.

Drawing in always entails four separate elements: line, value, texture, and form. In the special case of pencil portrait drawing we can refine the list of elements to six: form, proportion, anatomy, texture, value, and planes.

In this article we will give a detailed account of each of those pencil portrait drawing elements.

(1) Form Shape or Shape – The illusion of three-dimensionality in sketching and art in general has been fundamental to Western art for centuries. The carving out of form using line, structure, and value was vital to almost all Renaissance art.

On the other hand, oriental and a great deal of contemporary art emphasize flatness of form although this period in contemporary art is drawing to a close.

All form in sketching can be reduced to four fundamental 3-dimensional solids: cones, cylinders, spheres, and bricks. The proper use of these forms together with perspective and value leads to the illusion of 3-dimensionality even though the drawing is, in actuality, located on a 2-dimensional sheet of sketching paper.

In portrait sketching, the arabesque of the skull, the square structure of the skull, and all components within the skull (nose, eyes, etc.) are all 2- and 3-dimensional forms that contribute to the overall illusion of 3-dimensionality

(2) Proportion – encompasses all sizing and placements of form. Proportion refers to the idea of relative length and angle size.

Proportion gives answers to these 2 questions:

1. Knowing a defined unit of length, how many units is a particular length?

2. How large is this particular angle?

Answering these two questions every time correctly will give a drawing with the correct proportions and placements of all forms.

(3) Anatomy – refers in effect to the underlying structures of bone and muscle of the skull.

It is essential to study as much as you can about anatomy. There are a lot of books available on anatomy for the artist. For a portrait artist it is really significant to study the anatomy of the skull, neck, and shoulders.

Anatomy studies unfortunately include many Latin terms which makes it somewhat difficult to grasp. The idea is to study slowly and a little bit at a time because it can be quite exasperating.

(4) Texture – in portrait sketching expresses the degree of roughness or smoothness of the forms. The texture of a concrete walk way, for instance, is quite different from that of a window pane.

There exist several techniques and tricks to help you with the creation of the correct textures. Creating textures presents you with the opportunity to be very creative and to use each possible type of mark you can make with a pencil. In portrait sketching textures occur in places such as hair, clothing, and skin.

(5) Tone – refers to the degrees in light or dark of the pencil marks and cross-hatchings. Powerful portrait sketches employ the full range of contrasting lights and darks. Starting artists often fail to reach this full “stretch” of value, resulting in retiring, washed-out drawings.

(6) Planes – create the sculptural sensibility of a portrait. The skull has many planes each with a different direction and therefore with a different value.

The idea is to think of the surface of the skull as a set of discrete planes with a particular direction relative to the light source. You should try to identify each of the planes and draw its accurate form and value.

The accurate handling of planes contributes very much to the likeness of your model as well as the illusion of 3-dimensionality.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing course here: pencil portrait course.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert drawing teacher. See his work at graphite pencil portraits.

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