Three Quarter View Portraits
Class 1: Exterior Grid
The biggest difficulty in drawing any non-face forward portrait is that you can’t measure the placement of the features in terms of eye length.
In a three-quarter pose, for instance, the eyes appear to be different lengths and less than an eye’s width apart because the bridge of the nose interferes with what you can see of the far eye.
Therefore, the easiest way to get an accurate drawing is by creating an exterior grid that will help you compare points of reference from the reference photo and place them on your drawing paper.
To make an exterior graph, print out the reference material, measure the length and width, and divide those lengths into small, equal increments around all four sides of the reference.
It will be helpful to label the increments numerically on the left and right sides, and alphabetically on the upper and lower sides.
Next, draw a rectangle that is perfectly proportional to the reference on the drawing paper.
It’s crucial that the two shapes are the same proportions, otherwise the grid system won’t work.
Divide the sides of the drawing paper rectangle into the same number of increments as you have on the reference, and label them the same way.
The grid will give you an easy, fast way to compare where the points of the portrait are on the reference and where to place them on the drawing.
Class 2: Guidelines for the Head
When your grid is laid out, you’re ready to start using it to place the head on your drawing paper.
You’re going to use the grid to find the boundaries of the head, neck and shoulders, place those same guidelines on the drawing paper, and then sketch the shapes within the guidelines.
Use a drawing triangle to determine where on the grid the bottom of the chin, top of the head, and sides of the neck should go, then place them on the drawing rectangle in the same places.
When your grid is laid out, you’re ready to start using it to place the head on your drawing paper.
You’re going to use the grid to find the boundaries of the head, neck and shoulders, place those same guidelines on the drawing paper, and then sketch the shapes within the guidelines.
Use a drawing triangle to determine where on the grid the bottom of the chin, top of the head, and sides of the neck should go, then place them on the drawing rectangle in the same places.
Make those guidelines very lightly, as you will need to erase them once the shapes are drawn, and draw the initial shapes of the head, neck and shoulders lightly as well.
If you’re working in charcoal, be aware that the lines will smear easily and you’ll have the best outcome if you put down a clean sheet paper to keep the drawing protected from your hand.
You can use the grid to place the slope of the shoulders and the curves of the face more accurately too—use the grid to see how far in the eye is placed, how far out the eyebrow curves, and so on.
Any point you find on the reference can be accurately and easily translated to the drawing paper.
Class 3: Guidelines for the Facial Features
Once the large shapes of the portrait are placed, you can use the same techniques with the grid to place guidelines for the smaller shapes—the features of the face.
Be aware that the head is often at a tilt, so don’t work hard keeping your ruler exactly straight as you place these.
Instead, line up the ruler across the tops and bottoms of the eyes, extending that line all the way to the edge of the picture so you can see exactly where it should bisect the grid.
That will help you to place the same line on your drawing paper.
Again, work very lightly in this stage, not only as you place guidelines, but as you start to sketch out the rough shapes of the eyes, nose, and mouth within those guides.
Everything you put down will need to be erased.
This is just a roughing in stage of the drawing.
Once the large shapes of the portrait are placed, you can use the same techniques with the grid to place guidelines for the smaller shapes—the features of the face.
Be aware that the head is often at a tilt, so don’t work hard keeping your ruler exactly straight as you place these.
Instead, line up the ruler across the tops and bottoms of the eyes, extending that line all the way to the edge of the picture so you can see exactly where it should bisect the grid.
That will help you to place the same line on your drawing paper.
Again, work very lightly in this stage, not only as you place guidelines, but as you start to sketch out the rough shapes of the eyes, nose, and mouth within those guides.
Everything you put down will need to be erased.
This is just a roughing in stage of the drawing.
You’ll have the most success in placing the features accurately if you give yourself plenty of guidelines for placement.
Consider finding guidelines for the tops, bottoms, and sides for the eyes, nose, mouth, and ear.
And don’t forget that you also need to rough in the shape of the beard.
Use your grid to help find all those guidelines, and then take your time roughing in the features within those boxes.
When everything is roughly accurate, erase all the guidelines and spend a great deal of time revising and redrawing each feature, curve, and angle with greater care.
Now that you know the shapes are the right size and in the right place on the head, revision shouldn’t be terribly difficult, but do take your time.
By the end of this phase, your drawing should be recognizable.
And remember, after this point, making changes to the line work is going to be more difficult.
Everything in the drawing builds on itself, so if you start with an unstable foundation, your finished piece will never look right.
Class 4: Base Tone
When all of the features are sketched in accurately and all the guidelines are erased, you can start laying down the base tone in the skin.
The base tone is the color of the skin itself, not the shadows on the skin, so you need to put it down everywhere that skin is visible in the portrait, even if it’s light-struck.
When all of the features are sketched in accurately and all the guidelines are erased, you can start laying down the base tone in the skin.
The base tone is the color of the skin itself, not the shadows on the skin, so you need to put it down everywhere that skin is visible in the portrait, even if it’s light-struck.
Before adding any tone to the page, however, you need to indent some flyaway hairs in the hair and beard.
Do this with anything that is sharp and fine, but won’t leave a mark or tear the paper.
A stylus works extremely well (you can find a large variety wherever clay-working tools are found), or a palette knife, or mechanical pencil without lead.
Indent enough hairs that they won’t look accidental, and place them in areas of high contrast, where they’ll have the most visual impact.
Also consider whether or not you want to keep clean margins around the outside of your drawing, and if you do, tape the borders before you add any tone.
Blue painter’s tape works very well, or masking tape that has been stuck to your jeans a few times to make it less sticky.
To start laying down the base tone in the skin, hold your soft graphite or charcoal pencil on the very end so that you can access the side of the pencil, and so you can’t bear down on the page at all.
For this step to work, you need to avoid “biting” into the paper with the pencil. Just let the weight of the pencil itself skip over the surface of the paper lightly and evenly.
Use smooth, back-and-forth strokes that follow the contours of the face, and when you’ve covered all the skin, use a clean chamois cloth wrapped around your finger to blend all the tone into a beautiful, even layer.
This step can get smeary, so after you’re done blending, clean up around the outside of the face with a kneaded eraser to avoid smudges.
If the features got washed out, lightly go over the darkest parts of the lines to bring them out again.
Don’t outline the features, because you don’t want the drawing to look like a coloring book, but you will need to bring a bit more definition out if you can’t see the shapes clearly.
Class 5: Eyes
To finish up work in the eyes, use a sharp, soft pencil to fill in the pupils of both eyes, avoiding the white specks of highlights that you often see there.
The easiest way to keep the highlights bright and white is to avoid getting tone on them from the beginning, so if you do get some tone on the highlights, erase it out right away.
To finish up work in the eyes, use a sharp, soft pencil to fill in the pupils of both eyes, avoiding the white specks of highlights that you often see there.
The easiest way to keep the highlights bright and white is to avoid getting tone on them from the beginning, so if you do get some tone on the highlights, erase it out right away.
Outline the iris of both eyes darkly, and add spokes to the interior of the iris.
Then, blend the spokes and the pupil with a small stomp or tortillon.
You’ll need a variety of sizes of stomps and tortillons, so that you can always use the largest size possible for the area you’re blending, which will give you the smoothest look.
Add tone to the upper lids of the eyes, and use a blending stomp with some medium on it to add some subtle shading to the whites of the eyes.
You’ll want to add heavier shadow to the area around the eye, both above the lid and below in the “bags” of the eyes.
Depending on how dark the shadows appear here, you may want to put these in with a pencil, or you might have an easier time using a blending tool that has some medium on it.
Darken the line of the upper eyelid and blend it to reduce the appearance of the line, then blot out a light highlight at the top of each eyelid with the kneaded eraser.
Add eyelashes with a sharp, soft pencil, using one quick upward stroke in the direction of growth.
Keep in mind that a man typically has shorter eyelashes, and fewer than a woman.
Make each eyelash with a single line, and stop before you think you have enough.
It’s easy to go overboard on the eyelashes.
There are also lower eyelashes visible, though they are usually lighter, shorter, and more sparse.
Be attentive when you’re drawing them to make them match the reference.
Finally, add the eyebrows in a similar way, using a sharp pencil to first outline the basic shape of the eyebrows, and then to fill in the body of each brow with individual hairs.
You may want to blend over the top to fill in and darken each eyebrow a bit, and you can use a kneaded eraser smashed into a blade shape to carve out some fine white lines in the eyebrows if needed.
Class 6: Nose and Mouth
Start work in the nose and mouth by looking for the darkest sections of each feature and adding tone there.
The nostrils and the line between the lips are especially dark, and then you’ll see lighter shadows around the sides of the nostrils and on the face beside the bridge of the nose.
In the lips, add tone to the upper lip, and a bit to the top of the lower lip as well, but keep it lighter than the upper lip.
Start work in the nose and mouth by looking for the darkest sections of each feature and adding tone there.
The nostrils and the line between the lips are especially dark, and then you’ll see lighter shadows around the sides of the nostrils and on the face beside the bridge of the nose.
In the lips, add tone to the upper lip, and a bit to the top of the lower lip as well, but keep it lighter than the upper lip.
As soon as you add “lines” to the nose and mouth, reduce the appearance of those lines by blending out one side and softening with the kneaded eraser.
You want to build dimension to the face, not flat outlines of features.
So, in places where you need lines to define a shape, make sure to only use heavy outlines in the shadows of the features, and otherwise, let the viewer’s eye fill in the line for you.
In both the nose and mouth, begin with a base tone of the shadow shapes that fall on the features and connect the two together.
Once that tone is in place, blend it smooth with a large stomp or tortillon.
Then, pull out a line of reflected light using the kneaded eraser shaped into a blade.
The reflected light can be found at the bottom of a curving surface, right before it shifts to the darkest part of the shadow.
You can see reflected light in a portrait on the bottom of the nose, outside of the nostrils, and around the edges of the lips.
Next, add small details to the nose and mouth using a very sharp, dark pencil.
You can see small pucker lines in the lips, a dark line between the lips, and darkness in the corners of the mouth.
There is also shading on one or both sides of the bridge of the nose, which is very important for making it look like the nose stands out from the face.
The shadow by the bridge combines into a shadow beside both eyes, and often spills into further shading beside the nostrils and under the tip of the nose.
Use the kneaded eraser to pluck out highlights in the tip of the nose, the highest point of the bridge, and along the thick, fleshy part of the lower lip.
You can do this by wiping, or by simply stippling the eraser up and down over the area you want lightened.
And if you need to blend a large area of shadow in to the rest of the face, don’t forget about that chamois cloth.
Class 7: Hair and Beard
Begin work in the hair by setting down directional strokes with the side of the charcoal pencil, taking your time to make them follow the curves of the curls and flips that you see in both the hair on the head and on the beard.
There should still be hairs that are indented from class four, but before adding too much tone, add any additional hairs that you might want indented.
Begin work in the hair by setting down directional strokes with the side of the charcoal pencil, taking your time to make them follow the curves of the curls and flips that you see in both the hair on the head and on the beard.
There should still be hairs that are indented from class four, but before adding too much tone, add any additional hairs that you might want indented.
Then, use a large stomp to blend over the top of the strokes in the hair, taking your time and going over them in the same direction of hair growth.
This step will soften the lines you made, as well as put down a light base tone in the hair that will fill in the white paper, but be light enough to erase out cleanly.
After blending, look for the darkest shapes of shadow and darks on the hair and put them in with heavy pressure.
If you’re using a graphite pencil, use a very soft graphite (5B or higher) for this step.
This is where you should really see those indented lines popping out.
If you don’t, you may not have indented hard enough.
You can practice the proper amount of pressure you need to make a clean indented line on a piece of scrap paper and try again.
Soften the darks with a small blending tool, then pull out highlights with the kneaded eraser.
There will be highlights where the light is striking curls, or where you can see tiny, individual hairs in the hairstyle.
You will need to continually clean your kneaded eraser by mashing and pulling it during this stage.
Every clean line will need a clean edge of the eraser.
Finally, add some very fine hairs with a sharp pencil on the cheek, neck, and outside of the hair.
You may need to add another pass of tone to the neck before you add the hairs on top, and don’t forget to smooth with a chamois or blending stomp.
Since the neck is vertical, and therefore doesn’t catch the light as much, you should expect to be a little bit darker in tone than the face and shoulders.
As you add tone, continually step back from the drawing to see how the large shapes of tone are looking not only on their own, but in comparison to each other.
Class 8: Clothing and Ear
Begin work in the ear by darkening the lines of the most prominent shapes.
You should see a cashew nut on the inside, and backwards “C” on the outer ear.
After darkening those lines, soften them by blending over the top with a tortillon or stump, then lighten the areas around the ridge of the ear and in the lobe that are lightstruck.
You can do this by blotting with your kneaded eraser, or rubbing with the edge.
Begin work in the ear by darkening the lines of the most prominent shapes.
You should see a cashew nut on the inside, and backwards “C” on the outer ear.
After darkening those lines, soften them by blending over the top with a tortillon or stump, then lighten the areas around the ridge of the ear and in the lobe that are lightstruck.
You can do this by blotting with your kneaded eraser, or rubbing with the edge.
When you’re satisfied with the ear, you can work in the clothing.
Start by laying down a base tone, the same way you did for the skin.
Blend it smooth with a large stomp or a chamois cloth, depending on how dark you want it to be.
Remember that the chamois cloth will not only smooth, but lighten the tone substantially.
When the base of the shirt is down and very smooth, add the wrinkles, hems, and seams that you can see over the top.
Blend them with a stomp as well.
Now you’re ready to add the pattern on the top.
This shirt is knit, so you can see a clear pattern of stitches in the yarn all over it.
Use a sharp, dark pencil to add that pattern of wavy lines and dashes all over the shirt.
It will be helpful in places to put one line down going the direction you want the rest to follow, and then add additional lines around that one to keep them all straight.
When the shirt is covered, blend lightly over the top of each line, dragging the blending stomp across the whole line to connect tone over the otherwise disconnected dashes.
This will help it to look more like knit, and not a cotton shirt with little lines on it.
Pull out a few small accent highlights in the pattern with your kneaded eraser, and lighten the top of the shoulder as well, to give his chest more dimension.
Finally, combine the shirt area to the beard by drawing some individual beard hairs that go over the top of the shirt.
You can do this with your kneaded eraser as well, so that some hairs are light and others are dark.
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