Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Arabesque

Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Arabesque. In this article we suppose that you sketch directly from life or from a suitable paper picture. In other words, we suppose that you do not use the so-called grid technique. This technique relies on a grid sketched both on the paper picture of your subject as well as your sketching paper.

If this is so, the first thing you will do is to create a line-drawing. And the very first part of your line-drawing will consist of sketching the so-called arabesque.

In pencil portrait sketching, the arabesque is defined as the complete positive form of your subject's head. In other words the arabesque is the outer contour of the head.

The arabesque includes the proportions, the form, and the symmetry of the head. This means that the arabesque communicates pretty much an overall likeness of your subject and often much expressive content.

In trying to realize the arabesque we confront our first challenge as a draftsperson. That is, the challenge of "seeing the reality". Indeed, when we note an object a complex mental process is started which in part falls short of the degree of accuracy necessary to create an adequate portrait.

The mind, for good reasons (one is to sustain our sanity), instantly replace the very complex subject with the an icon it has stored since childhood. For instance, we all know how a child draws a house. It really is more like an icon of a house. But this is what the mind tends to bring up and often even adults sketch a house like they did as a child.

Plainly, it is these symbolic preconceptions (a left brain occurrence) that are the enemy of the artist. You must coach yourself to ignore those icons and really see what the reality of, for example, a house is.

Generally, learning to sketch involves the reprogramming of the mind's eye. To this end, there is a skill-set that has been developed over the ages since the Renaissance.

Applying this new found technique to the arabesque is particularly essential. "Striking" the arabesque is maybe the most essential element in the production of a first-rate likeness. Once you have this technique down path all the rest will follow fairly effortlessly.

The first step in drawing a correct arabesque is to force your eyes slightly out-of-focus. This situation is called seeing with a "soft eye". With a soft eye proportions and form are more easily seen. It also helps you to avoid the invocation of the iconic preconceptions we mentioned.

To coach your eye to improve your powers of observation you must always sketch first and check second. There is very little to gain from pre-measuring. The habit of pre-measuring of the height and width of your subject's head will hold you back later.

When drawing the original arabesque at all times use short straight, i.e., architectonic lines. This will impart a sense of the head's structure and the form of the underlying bones and tissues. Note that round or curving lines are iconic preconceptions.

Also keep in mind the symmetry of the head. The term "symmetry" in the context of sketching
and painting does not so much refer to the correspondence of two parts but more to the attractiveness that comes from correct proportioning and rhythm.

After drawing the arabesque (without doing any sizing) you can check the proportions. Take a measure of the largest
width (i.e., the width of the arabesque along the brow line) and set it off vertically starting at the bottom of the chin. The end point of the width typically ends up somewhere close to the middle of the hair.

The goal is to determine exactly where that end point is at. Best is to judge the smallest of the following two lengths: (1) the vertical length from the brow line up to the end point of the measure; (2) the vertical length from the end point of the measure up to the arabesque. The smallest length is likely to be the most right. Do not forget, the arabesque encompasses the entirety of the head including the hair.

With practice your eyes will develop this critical technique. Then, once the size and form of the arabesque have been found you are set to proceed with locating the so-called landmarks.. Article Source: http://arsharing.com

Article title: Tips on Pencil Portrait Drawing - The Arabesque By: Alex De Mostafa

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait draw? Download my brand new no cost pencil portrait draw course here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Remi's Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced draw instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Sketching - The Arabesque.

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