Beginning portrait drawing

[nyuubii]

Hi everyone,

I've started my quest in becoming better at drawing a few months ago and
decided on focusing on portrait drawing because it's my favorite subject
(There's just something in me that likes to draw people more than anything
else). I've already purchased a few books regarding drawing portraits and
heads in general (The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head by William
Maughan, Drawing the Human Head by Burne Hogarth, Drawing Portraits
Faces and Figures by Giovanni Civardi and a pdf of Andrew loomis' Drawing
the Head and Hands).

The one skill that I really want to acquire so badly is the ability to draw
a person (Even with just the face, for now) which can be easily recognized
as THAT person by just looking at the drawing. I still remember when I was
back in high school when there's a classmate of mine who drew his crush or
something without the person actually being in sight. It was amazing! I have
always thought what does that person see that I can't for him to be able to
draw someone with precise likeness and convincing rendering. Since I know
this ability exists and I bet that it's just not him, I thought that I can at
least in the future, be able to also do that.

So here I am practicing drawing everyday just to be good at portrait drawing
. Due to time constraints (work and other responsibilities), I can only
dedicate a maximum of 2-3 hours a day drawing (sometimes less when I am
really tired). I would like to ask for advice from the people in this forums
in anything related to portraiture drawing (tips and tricks, what to do,
what not to do etc.).

I also have some questions regarding a few things mainly about the book
The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head by William Maughan:

(1) I am somewhat religously following Mr. Maughan's teaching of
seeing the face as "shadow shapes" for it alone can bring out a person's
likeness, gender etc. So the question is, how should I do this "see
the face as shadow shapes"? I am not sure if I am seeing it right.

(2) Mr. Maughan also points out and reminds the reader (in different parts
of the book and in a different way of saying) to not fall into the habit
of drawing what the brain already knows but rather to draw what we see?
Does this mean using the knowledge of anatomy etc. to a lesser extent in
favor of drawing exactly what we see?

(3) (Not related in the book) Will it be okay to post some of my drawings
here for people to evaluate? (Though I will still need some way to scan
them first).

Thank you very much for taking the time reading this and I apologize for the
long post.

[Dizon]

Hi, I would like to help you out based on my experience.

1. I think what he means by that is looking at your subject as a series of flat 2d shapes. It is only when you start the rendering process that you start thinking 3 dimensionally to understand the how the form receives the light. Always start with the biggest shapes. The smaller shapes go last.

2. It's true what he says and it is very important. Use your knowledge of anatomy as a reference and guide to help you out in your drawing. I used to make the mistake of drawing every muscle even when those muscles are not present in the actual model! Remember that it is the light that will show and describe the form of the subject. And that's what you need to depict in your drawings, how light describes form.

3. Yes! post your stuff here and a lot of people will have an easier time helping you out.

[nyuubii]

Thank you for the advice. One question about number 2 though. If you will really rely a lot on seing the subject to the point that any foreknowledge you have about it will become less useful, if at any point that I also want to draw from memory won't I be too dependable on seeing? Or will it just become automatic as I gain a lot of experience from drawing portraits?

By the way, are you a Filipino? Cause I saw from your location that you are in the Philippines (or maybe you're just staying there for now?).

Thanks again.

[Dizon]

Thank you for the advice. One question about number 2 though. If you will really rely a lot on seing the subject to the point that any foreknowledge you have about it will become less useful, if at any point that I also want to draw from memory won't I be too dependable on seeing? Or will it just become automatic as I gain a lot of experience from drawing portraits?

By the way, are you a Filipino? Cause I saw from your location that you are in the Philippines (or maybe you're just staying there for now?).

Thanks again.

Working from life and working from memory are not 2 separate things. The knowledge you gain from working from life is the same knowledge you'll use to work from memory. The worse thing you could do is to make guesses. That's why it's important to study the fundamental stuff like anatomy, perspective, proportions,color,etc. Once you know all of these things you can even start "bending the rules" because you understand how it all works.

I don't see it as relying less and less on the knowledge that I know. If I do that, then my work will look like crap. Like I mentioned on the previous post, I'll use that knowledge as my guide and reference. I'll compare what I know to what I see in front of me so that I can make my decisions.

Anyway, hope that helps.

And yes, I'm from the Philippines. :)