Portrait Practice #05 - Improving stroke by stroke

With ridiculously warm weather plaguing the peninsula and causing my acrylic paints to dry up super quick even in a wet palette, I decided to continue practicing my portrait drawing instead. These pencil drawings are part of a bigger picture in my miniature hobby in which I hope will lead to the ability to create detailed concept sketches that can be used as blueprints for future miniatures that I want to (learn how to) sculpt. So far, learning to draw again has been a real blast!

My fifth serious attempt at portrait drawing

It is painfully obvious that I have not yet achieved any true resemblance to the reference photos that I am trying to draw. One reason being that my drawing skills are still not up to par but another not so apparent reason is that I am drawing from photos I see on a computer screen. That makes it harder for me to get the correct measurements and proportions for my drawings. Going forward, I plan to print out the photos in black and white to make my work easier and hopefully more accurate. 

Miranda Kerr, former wife of Legolas ... errr Orlando Bloom

But one silver lining is I am slowly coming to grasp with the use of graphite pencils as an art tool. When I look at this portrait of Miranda again after a few months, I will most likely cringe in embarrassment. In fact, I am counting on it for it will mean I have improved my drawing skills. 

Making slow but steady progress on my portrait drawings

This drawing of Miranda Kerr was my incidentally first attempt at shading skin with graphite pencil and blending stumps. Previous efforts were negligible and feeble attempts that look more like line drawings than shadings of varying values of light and dark. To help me get a feel for shading, I did a quick sketch of the interplay between light and shadows on a sphere. I am not very happy with what I achieved in my first try at shading skin with pencils but it's better than leaving it as line drawings.

"Look Peter a ball," said Jane.

One thing's for sure, I will have to revisit my portrait drawings and redo them to determine if I have made any actual progress. Redrawing them after a period of a month or more should give me an idea whether I am improving or not. So it's back to the drawing board for me as more practice lies ahead.