Drawing a Realistic Portrait with Graphite

1. Introduction: Hello everyone! Would you like to learn how to draw realistic portraits using graphite? Would you like to learn all secrets artist use for making a drawing look so real and detailed? Well, in this class I'm going to share with you everything I know about how to draw realistic portraits using only graphite from beginning to end. You will see me starting a portrait from scratch, going through all the stages until it's finished. Each lesson is designed to show you all the tips and tricks for rendering your drawing more realistic taking the time to teach you a step-by-step method I follow for black and white projects, I share on my social media. The entire process is split in short videos focusing on each face feature, enlightening how to overcome all the possible issues you might find when drawing a realistic portrait. I'm also going to show you all the materials that are used for graphite drawing and how to make the best use of them. By learning this method, you're going to achieve fantastic results. So I'm looking forward to seeing you in class! 2. Materials: Hey guys, I'm going to show you all the tools are used for this portrait. First of all, if you want your drawing to last many years, the paper must be acid free. This is essential. Papers may vary on their color. Some are really white, whereas others may be yellowish. It gives your drawing a different aspect and there is no better or worse here, it is just a matter of personal taste. When it comes to the surface for realistic drawings I prefer to work with smooth papers, guys. I will recommend picking out a paper weth medium to high thickness. Its weight should be at least 150 grams per square meter. The size I'm going to work on is A4, that is 210 per 297 millimeters. So for this class, I chose Lana Bristol paper. It doesn't mean this is the best paper in the world, but it was available to be bought where I live. Other really good papers are Fabriano 4L, Strathmore 300 series Bristol smooth, Hahnemülle Nostalgie and Canson XL Bristol. There are different grades for graphite pencils and you don't need a complete set to take this class. I will be using only four different pencils: an H, a B, a 3b, and exceptionally an 8B. This is the Staedtler Mars Lumograph, which is my favorite option. A normal mechanical pencil is also handy with a dot five millimeter point and filled with 4B graphite lead. A kneaded eraser will be used in this class as well. The Tombow Mano Zero 2.3 mm stick eraser, very-very useful. Eventually a common thicker stick eraser might be useful too, but it is not necessary to have it. I use a number 4 flat marta hair brush for blending graphite, and I trim its hair with scissors to make it firmer. Blending stumps are going to be used as well. I have tem in different sizes, number one and number three, a piece of toilet paper, I believe everybody has it at home. A pencil sharpener, of course. And you can sharpen your pencils using a utility knife too. This knife is also used for sharpening the stick eraser and I'm showing you how to do it. So you simply take the knife and make a chamfer on its tip. A bigger, soft, long-haired brush for cleaning your drawings is useful, and it is better to use it than blowing the dust from the paper because you don't want to spit on it and screw your drawing up. And a mask or a adhesive tape will be used as well. And that's it. 3. Tracing Method: In this video, I wanna show you a method for outlining down your drawing with 100% of accuracy. There is no problem if you want to sketch your drawing free hand. In fact, if you feel confident about it, just do it! However, if it's not your case, don't worry, because I'm going to explain you how you can do a perfect outline from your reference. The most practical method, in my opinion, is the transfer method. To put it into practice, I will use: the reference printed in the size I want my drawing to be; a common sheet of paper; the paper I'm going to draw on; a dark graphite pencil, a ballpoint pen; a piece of tissue; and an adhesive tape. With the dark pencil we will fill the whole surface with graphite except for the margins. I recommend you not to trace on the margins, so you can manipulate the paper without smudging your hand. I am using an 8B pencil because it's the darkest graphite pencil I have here. The darker the pencil, the better. At this point, turn the paper to cross the strokes. This is a piece of tissue we use to blend graphite and this is how we fold it up. It'll be folded up and triangles. This is the first fold. Then again and again, three times. Finally, we fold its tip so as to have more precision when we blend. Now it's time to simply rub the tissue on the paper, and the graphite will fill the empty spaces between the pencil strokes. If the shade isn't dark enough, repeat the process to add more graphite layers on. When we're done, let's move to the sheet on where we will do the drawing. Now we have to fix the reference on the drawing paper. This is the use of the tape in this class. Take at least two pieces of tape to prevent the reference from moving when you're tracing. Fix the tape where we are not going to trace on if possible. But the graphite sheet with its graphite side turned down between the drawing paper and the reference. Now we are ready to trace and I will be using here a ballpoint pen. I chose a red pen because it lets me know where I have already traced. So I won't be redoing work unnecessarily. We need to put some pressure on these strokes, but not too much, so as to transfer the graphite to the drawing surface. You will notice the outline is not too dark and this actually is good because we don't want to see these lines on the finished piece. You don't need to transfer all the details of the photo to the paper. but it is a good idea to transfer enough information to avoid getting lost when you'll be working on the shades and textures. Those thin hairs though I don't trace them because they are very delicate. So I prefer doing them freehand. Some areas are very dark on the reference, which can make the tracing more difficult, but your drawing is going to be that dark too, so don't worry if you can't see everything that is happening here. By the way, when I'm drawing, I prefer to look at the reference on a digital screen, be it a computer, a tablet, or telephone, because a printed version always loses a bit of the quality of the original file. So I print the reference only to trace it. On the eyebrows and eyelids follow the direction of the hair to trace them. The nose doesn't show exactly a line separating one area from the other. What gives volume to the nose are the different values of light and shadow. So later we are going to use an eraser to lighten the lines we are doing here. The outline of the mouth must be delicate too, so we'll also be using an eraser to make its edges look smooth. Here, just doing the last strokes to trace the core shadow. And this is the expected result at the end of the process. 4. Eye: Hello guys, welcome to this video and let's get started with Natalie Portman's portrait. The first step is to get the kneaded eraser to lighten the outline so it won't be visible in the final product. It's enough to tap the paper with the eraser. I will start by using the 0.5 millimeter mechanical pencil filled with 4B graphite to do the pupil and the upper area of the iris. Then the blending stump will be used to blend the graphite on the iris. The blending stump gives a more realistic result. Notice the fact that the iris is not delimited by defined lines. It's edges are blurred instead. The white of the eye is started by using a harder pencil and the blending stump to do the first layer. Re-do the outline wherever you feel it's necessary to prevent it from fading away. Whenever using the blending stump on a lighter area, be sure its tip is clean. It can be cleaned rubbing it on a piece of sandpaper. If you don't have it, rub it on a common piece of paper to remove the graphite excess. Back to the iris, it's time to add on the details. I usually start with a lighter pencil and gradually move to a darker one whenever I feel like. I'm already working with the B grade doing circular motions. So I'm not really drawing lines here, okay? So the work basically consists in alternating the use of pencil with blending stump. Here's the mechanical pencil again, after B and 3B pencils. The brush helps to blend the graphite and make it get into the paper tooth. The Mono Zero stick eraser does the highlights and the brush later will soften the effect. So those highlights won't look so intense. Their shade is not a pure white. It looks more like a shade of gray. This reflection in particular is sharp, so the eraser helps to make it look white. And a harder pencil later will be used to do its edges. And add those tiny details on working on the white of the eye again, using the H and B pencils and the blending stump, starting by a lighter pencil provides more control over what we are doing. Just redoing here some of the outline including the eyelashes with the H pencil. This area here of the eye is a bit darker, but the process is pretty much the same. Now we're going to prepare the skin's first layer of graphite. Whenever drawing large areas, I shade it with a pencil and by shading I mean drawing parallel lines and later I get the tissue and blend it out. It will look smooth at the end. So this is how I do the first layers. When blending with the tissue, the outline may disappear. That's why I redo it every now and then. And finally the tissue. It's really good for blending out large areas like this. Rub it in circular motions and perpendicular to the previous pencil strokes. Otherwise it won't work. It is not necessary to press it hard. It may even give blotchy results if you press it too hard. And now we darken the skin little by little until we achieve the values we want. I'm quite careful with the pencil, especially on lighter areas. The hard brush is used for the same reason we used it before. And then the blending stump. As soon as you work on darker areas, you need to get a darker pencil. So I'm using here the 3B and later the 4B grades. Only when you're satisfied and done with this skin values, you start drawing the eyelashes. And why not doing the lashes before? Well, if you have to blend the skin out, you will also ruin the eyelashes anyway and you can really make a mess if you darken the lashes too early. So you'd better do them later. The eyelashes are finished by the 4B graphite and the mechanical pencil gives more precision on drawing them. Make sure the eyelashes tips look thin. They won't look natural if their tips are thick. Now we add more details on the drawing and darken the lower eyelid. I suggest taking a B pencil to do the texture by drawing in circular motions and combine it with the blending stump, the brush, working patiently. Then the highlights will be done with the stick eraser, those tiny highlights. the lower eyelashes can be done first by a hard H pencil and later using the 4B to darken them, especially their roots, where they are thicker and darker. These lashes are even more delicate. So draw them carefully. Observe the reference to understand what they look like, how long they are, and what direction each hair follows. And the eyebrow. The procedure here is very similar to what we did for the lashes, even though the hairs here tend to be longer. Keep your pencils sharp whenever drawing hair, prepare the eyebrow with a harder pencil. And then finally take the 4B graphite to darken it as much as it looks like. You might have noticed that the darker the graphite, the rougher it is. So the brush here has an important role on making those lines look smooth. And yes, the brush will not ruin what have you just done. Here is the end of this first part and I hope you're enjoying this class! See you in the next video! 5. Forehead and Cheek: Hello guys, welcome to this video. Let's continue with this portrait. And now we are going to focus more on the skin texture. Normally, I start by using harder pencils and then I move to darker ones. So I will be working on graphite layers. Here, I am already preparing the first layer using a harder pencil, the H pencil to the more specific, always doing those parallel lines and avoiding them to be very marked, very visible. Later, we'll get the issue and we'll blend this graphite out. So it gives an uniform result which corresponds to the first layer here. Even though this is only the first layer, I am already concerned about rendering volume on the forehead. Pay attention to where the lighter and darker values are. Here, for example, this light is concentrated on the middle of the forehead. So I will be darkening the area where the light is reflected. Now it's time to render volume and work on the general values. And only later I will be working on texture and details. This applies also when we are working with tissue, I am blending the graphite around the light zone. And with the tissue you can bring graphite to the lighter areas to make a smooth transition from dark to light. Just redoing here some tracing so as not to lose the references. You will notice I start by using lighter pencils and gradually take darker grades. Here I'm still using the H pencil because I like to have control on what I am doing. But soon I will change to a B and even to a 3B where the values are really dark. Now I am using a 4B graphite and be aware of the fact that if you blend it, it is more likely to make a mess. So for example, I will be more careful with the tissue there on the left because that area is lighter. But I don't want to lose what I did there with the lighter pencil. On the other hand, the tissue will be handy on the right side where the shadow is more intense. When you are satisfied with the values you have achieved, then you can grab the stick eraser and start doing those tiny light spots. Now we are working on a different scale. So this won't determine the general values of the portrait. The general values are determined by the first layer. It doesn't mean you can't go back and make adjustments. Actually, I will make them anyway. I can't get everything correct right away. It is normal to move back and forth in the process. It is important you know that I am skipping many minutes off the original recorded video. This work is quite long and requires some patience. And I also don't want to bore you with a too long video showing you the same repeated process. But anyway, don't think you will finish this forehead in 15 minutes as soon as this video ends. If I'm not mistaken, the entire forehead took me something between 1 to 2 working hours. It is also important to emphasize the role of the brush here. It helps to soften the effect of the eraser nd you'll see me doing this all the time. Without these blending tools, the texture would look too harsh in my opinion. And well, this is not a rule. You don't have to draw just like as I do. This is just my personal approach. Here I am finally adding details with the pencil and for this I generally use harder pencils, such as the H. Always doing circular motions with the hand because we are doing little stains, not traces. Then use the brush and blending stump to soften these blemishes. Since the shadow here is very dark, I will do the texture with the 4B graphite. Then later I'll use the tissue, brush and blending stump. and these tools will undo these dark spots, but it will look nice at the end, I promise. Here I am taking the tissue again to reduce the texture roughness. And it is important guys that you take a clean piece of tissue, take a new one if you are going to work on the lightest areas of your drawing. Unless you want to ruin it. And here we are on her cheek. Starting again by taking the graphite out from the outline. The process pretty much follows the same steps, drawing in parallel lines with a harder pencil, and blending them with tissue, then doing the blemishes and dark spots with the same pencil and blending with the brush and blending stumps. So now it is a matter of observing what I'm doing here and I don't have much more to add. Natalie Portman has some little moles on her face. But be careful with that and don't overdo it. Actually, they are very dedicate and you can do them using only your thinnest blending stump. I did use the pencil there, however, because I thought it was necessary to darken it a little bit. You should stick to the reference anyway. Guys, needless to say, but I will say it anyway, that the eraser will only work here if there is graphite on the surface you are working on, you may not see it here on the video. But there is some graphite, a shade of gray here. And then the eraser will be able to do the highlights. We will be focusing on the nose in the next video. But I want to make you notice beforehand how the nose will be drawn. There is not a line setting apart dark from light. And this is how we will render volume to the nose. That's why I'm mostly using the blending stump here. And here, observe how the shading and the texture can be done at the same time. I mean, the texture itself is dark here. So it will also give valume to the cheek or whatever you are drawing. So both things can be done simultaneously in the process. All that blending will make the graphite be spread out to areas we don't want to be with graphite. And I want the background to be blanck. So that's why they erasers are being used here. That thicker brush is useful for taking away the eraser dust. And that's it for this video. And I will see you in the next one. 6. Nose: Hello guys, welcome to this video. And now we are going to focus on the nose. To the process is quite similar to what we did on the forehead. First of all, we are doing some of the outline with an H pencil, especially where it is darker. Then we're going to prepare the first layer, blending the graphite using the usual blending tools, tissue, brush and blending stump. And gradually we will achieve the midtones and shadows. The nose gives a great opportunity to practice the control we need over graphite so that we will render volume to it by achieving those different shades we see on the reference from the darkest spots to the lightest ones. The different values are not the delimited by actual lines, but by the values themselves. So let's watch it. Even though the transitions from darker to lighter areas can be done by using blending stumps and tissue, it is important to work with precision when using the pencil. Blending tools are not meant to fix errors previously made. They are only helping us to make the transitions look smoother. One aspect that is crucial for creating volume is contrast. And that's why I'm using 4B graphite here. The mechanical pencil is more accurate than a normal pencil. And the brush will help to make the graphite grip onto the surface, which is useful whenever working with softer pencils. And here I am starting the texture off by using a hard pencil. And so, and the process will be supported by blending tools and also by eraser, which will do the highlights. And that means we work in both directions. That is from dark to light and from light to dark. For the mid tones, in this case, I recommend using intermediate pencils, such as B or 3b according to your needs. Then the blending stump will help with hiding the pencil marks. Now we arrived to draw the second eye and I don't have much to say because it is almost a repetition of what he did on the first eye. One thing I'd like to point out is the fact that I chose here in this portrait to draw the first eye, then moved to forehead, left cheek and nose, and only then to the second eye. But you can draw both eyes at the same time if you want. To be honest with you, doing them at once is a good idea, because both eyes must be aligned with each other, must be compatible. Both looking at the same direction, must be in the same size if it is a frontal portrait, so... You know what I mean. By doing them at the same time you don't risk to forget which pencils you used or how to do it, then you are bound to do a good job. Give a triy to this tip when you have a chance. If you're feeling insecure about this eye, you can also come back and rewatch the first video if you want. This is an example of how you might want to come back to the first eye to make some adjustments when doing this second one. Here, I just wanted to adjust the highlights in both sides. Just to remember, since the lower eyelids are more delicate, I would pick a harder pencil to draw them. The upper lids, on the other hand, are thicker. So using a darker grade is advisable. The second eye finished, it is time to work again on her skin. And this step is very important. It is very important to build up some contrast here. Always paying attention to the reference photo so as to balance the general values of your portrait. Again, before you dive into the details, be sure these values are well-established and don't turn a blind eye to the picture as a whole. I suggest you not to rush in this step. And 4B graphite is essential here for rendering volume and making your drawing leap from the paper. Now we are going to work on the right side and on the chin and jaw. When rubbing the tissue here on the drawing. Be aware of the dirt, that accumulates on the paper. If you rub it on a lighter area, notice that the graphite might come on its surface. So switch to a clean tissue if you feel like, unless you want to bring that graphite and creater darker effect with the tissue. On the jaw, you will notice there is a light reflected and yes, we can do it, but don't exaggerate its brightness. This is a pretty common mistake. It's shade is still very dark, okay? So I will darken this reflection by blending graphite over it. Here, once again, we are doing skin texture. Once you are satisfied with the values set on the first layer, you can start with these tiny details. We have watched the process before. So we do the texture with pencils and blending tools. Blending stump and the issue will help us a lot on rendering a smooth effect, preventing it from looking harsh. And don't forget to keep your tools clean. I definitely will use the stick eraser in this area. You can also use the kneaded eraser. Both erasers are useful and produce different effects and work differently. The latter I use on larger areas whenever wanted to come back a little bit with the graphite. When I think it is a bit too dark. Here is a bit more of work on the texture, but not missing the whole picture. I wanted to emphazise it once again. So I think this take here helps you to take a look on how the whole portrait is going while I am working on a specific area. And here we are finishing this video. I hope this class is being insightful for you. And in the next video we are going to focus on the ear and the mouth. See you there! 7. Ear and Mouth: Let's get the ear started. The values are very dark since its almost hidden in the shadows. But it doesn't mean you do it carelessly. That's why I'm redoing the outline because it is so direct that these lines are likely to disappear as we work on it. Anyway, soon we'll use dark pencils on this area. I am already defining the areas that are at least a little illuminated. So I'm doing these circular strokes around the lighter areas. The darker values are rendered by 4B graphite. So you can start using it wherever you need. Around the not so dark areas, I get an intermediate grade pencil, such as a B, to start with the mid tones and prepare the transitions. As always, the blending stump is helpful for this step. The tissue is going to blend a lot of graphite here. So it will darken the whole ear and almost undo a bit of the previous work we did. But it's still useful for preparing the first layer. Then I took the mechanical pencil to increase the darkness here because it looks like there is a joint between the face and the ear. And I want it to look united as one, unique thing. Notice how we're little by llittle advancing from the shadows to the lights using the B pencil. This is how I do the transitions. When you are almost done, you can get the kneaded eraser and tap on the ear to increase the brightness. on some specific spots, and they are not so intense as those highlights we do with the stick eraser, which is going to be used to. If you think the light is too intense, you can decrease it using a blending tools just like I'm doing. And now, the mouth. The mouth in this case is quite different from the ear since it has a rougher texture and it is in a well-lit area. So we will see much more things here. Initially, I'm still working on the skin around the mouth because it is important to have, again, a smooth between both. You don't really want to see a line setting the mouth apart, the mouth is just a different type of skin. Once again, the bleeding tools are handy. After retouching and adjusting the nose, I'm going to reinforce the mouth's internal lines. Then I'll start with the shading. Here we start working on the texture, but observe before the different shades of the upper and lower lips, the latter is definitely darker. After noticing that it will make you more secure about how you will render the texture on both lips. Always doing circular motions with the pencil and being helped by the brush and the blending stump. The eraser has such an important role here and for the highlights, and now the game gets more interesting. Don't forget to chamfer its tip using the utility knife so as to increase its accuracy. Notice how delicate these highlights are, how sharp they are, and the tip needs to be cleaned to. Then the brush makes everything look smoother. Here the brush, as you have probably noticed, doesn't undo or makes a mess with the pencil strokes. It gently blends the graphite, keeping the work done as it is. It's so less aggressive than the blending stump, not to mention the tissue or a cotton bud, which I normally don't use at all. I don't know guys, what you think about how difficult this type of drawing is and I'd love to hear your feedback. But anyway, don't feel frustrated if your first drawing doesn't look as fantastic as you expected, okay? Here is also a matter of perceiving the different values on the reference. So take your time also to only observe the photo and to watch these tutorials with attention. And don't forget that practice makes perfect. As you keep drawing, you will realize there are patterns, some usual steps to follow whenever you face a new reference. And as you get more experienced, you will know intuitively which pencil to choose, where you need to use the eraser or the brush. Your ability to see will also become better and better. So don't push yourself too hard, especially if you're a beginner. On the lower lip, I want you to notice how the light not always is done by using the eraser. Here, for example, I mostly work around the light spots, especially because they are larger. So this is how you can create an intense contrast where it is required, just like we did in their forehead and the nose. The mouth finished, I decided to improve the shadow below because this shadow was more intense on the reference then on my drawing. So I got a darker graphite grade complemented by the blending stump and the brush. I'm not going to use the tissue because of the scale we are working on, it needs a more accurate approach. Here's some final touches where the mouth is open. I got the 4B graphite since it's quite dark and the blending stump and the brush for taking advantage from the graphite darkness. Here we are at the end of this video. And in the next one we're going to take a look on the neck and the shoulders. See ya! 8. Neck and Shoulders: Hey everyone. Now we are going to focus on her neck and shoulders, starting by removing a bit of their outline using the kneaded eraser. Notice there is not really outlines in reality. Just like we pointed out before when we were talking about her face, the drawing pops because of the difference of tone between foreground and background. Then let's get it started with the first graphite layer as we did on her face. Choosing once again a hard pencil to start with. So let's watch it a little bit and I will be giving you new instructions as we move on. Here, I want to show you a little trick. To avoid overusing the pencil and letting the paper marked with the strokes, you can try a more delicate approach using the blending stump. Take a separate paper sheet and apply some graphite there. Then take some of the graphite using the tip of your blending stump and rub it on your drawing. This you will help you to create a soft edge and make the separation from the background looks smoother and quite blurry, just like we see on the photo. Take a look on the reference again and check if you agree with me. Some edges are slightly blurred for them being out-of-focus. This will render your drawing even more interesting. As we obtain darker tones, we are going to change to darker pencils. And I am using a B Pencil here and later a 3B pencil grade. The darkest tones will require the 4B graphite. There was a bit of graphite dust on the background and it was annoying me a bit. That's why I got the eraser. But you can do it only when you're done. You don't have to do it right now. It's time to add some texture on. And it is nothing different from what we have done before. We do these little blemishes with the pencil. And using the blending tools for obviously blending and decrease the graphite harshness on the surface. I recommend using H and B pencils on most of the areas 3B and 4B for the area below her head for the cast shadow over there. Here's a close up shot on the process. So you can see from a different angle, how it is going so far. I am starting the base layer for this area, repeating the process for drawing skin. We don't do this randomly. Pay attention to the slight different tones below her clavicle. It is a very subtle variation of tones. So I'm being a bit more careful on using the pencil. I don't want to overdo the work here. By the way, a bit of a disclaimer, depending on the paper you are drawing on, Even if you repeat the exactly same number of pencil strokes and putting the same pressure on, you will get different results because each paper absorbs graphite differently. I am, for instance, using Lana Bristol paper, znd this paper specifically takes more time to get darker. For this reason, some people just don't like it. They may think it's too smooth. But it's also true that smooth papers give you the possibility to work on details more accurately because it's tooth is more regular. So all papers have their pros and cons and you should test them to figure out which paper best fits your needs and your taste. Now, adding a bit of texture here. And it is so delicate that we'll be using the tissue more often as if I wanted to make the texture fade away. Nevertheless, some graphite will remain and that's what a want. You probably notice how this work takes some time. You add a first graphte layer which probably won't be enough. It may lack a bit of deepness. So you take the pencil and darken some specific spots once again. And then step-by-step, little by little you achieve the tones you wanted since the beginning. So this video ends here. And in the next video we are going to see how to draw her hair. And I'm waiting for you there for our last step. 9. Hair: What's up, guys, here we are in the last video. And I hope you are as excited as a was when drawing this portrait. We are going to make that blurred effect once again. So take your blending stump and rub its tip on some graphite to bring it onto your drawing. So you see it's quite simple to create such as startling effect. Right after the blending comes the mechanical pencil, which will provide more definition and darkness at the same time. Since it's quite a dark hair. The brush here is going to be very useful too, because it blends softer graphite really well. For these loose hair strands, I do the first layer with the blending stump. And later I use a hard pencil to draw each hair. You can use darker pencils later as well. Since some pieces vary in darkness and thickness. When shading the hair, I like to change and use different graphite grades because the tons also vary along the hair. So you can switch to another pencil to better render the transitions and do the different values we can see there. Even though everything seems to be very dark, changing your pencils provides more control and allow you to build up more complexity to the hair mass. Later, I'm going to use the Mano Zero stick eraser for the highlights and I recommend you not to darken too much the areas we are going to use the eraser on because if there is too much graphite on a specific area, the eraser won't be able to remove it and render brightness to that spot. So observe beforehand were the lightest values are on the hair and don't use 4B or darker graphic pencils on those areas. You can draw pieces of hair around the highlights and blend the graphite over them with brush. And then finally, use the eraser to do those thin white traces we see on the reference. Here is the eraser. Notice the hair is not so dark yet, so the eraser will be able to remove the graphite quite easily. After the eraser, we can darken the areas around the highlights and this will make them look sharper. Now I am working again, with the pencil so darkening the hair a bit more. And you see again the eraser to redo some highlights and make it look the way I want, now we're back to the forehead, to its boundaries to be more specific. There is some shadow cast by the hair. There's definitely some texture, some hairs coming out from the skin. The area is a bit complex and a bit messy. But remember to work first on what is further back and that is the skin. The hair comes later. Add some variation to your work by changing the pencil you are using. I use all of those different grades we have been used for this drawing. Because some hairs are darker, others are lighter, some hairs are thicker, others are slimmer. This is how I produce different effects through the process. The best pencil for the most delicate hairs is the H one. This is a repetition of the process we saw previously. And I want to emphasize the fact that this is the process for this specific hair. It doesn't mean whenever you draw hair, you will follow the same single steps to do it. Actually, each reference may require a slightly different procedure. By the way, I haven't finished the portion of hair on the left yet. We will come back to that area later. Here I'm doing the last touches to enhance the transition between hair and skin. And maybe you will notice some differences from what you see on the video and on my final product. And it happens because I do and redo some spots I am not satisfied enough. Yes, you won't believe I'm a bit of a perfectionist. :) Whenever drawing hair, guys, never forget to keep your pencil sharp. This is very important. Despite the fact I keep warning you to stick to the reference, whenever you're drawing complex patterns such as pieces of hair like these, I don't push myself so hard to do exactly the same thing I'm seeing on the model. Because we are not printers, we are not machines. The idea is to figure out the patterns and try to reproduce them, but there is no need of going mad about joining every single atom if you know what I mean, it won't ruin your drawing if you give yourself some freedom, of course. Now we're back to this area, just adding some pieces of hair here too. We are in our final stretch and it's time to do the last adjustments. So you see me doing the last touches in many different parts of the drawing. When I thought I was done, I noticed I had to make the hair advance a little bit further over the skin. I decided also to increase the darkness here on the right side of her face, since this area is really dark. And by doing so, I also increase the contrast and the illusion of valume also looked better in my opinion. So you can darken the shadows if you think it's necessary. Finally guys, we're done with this drawing. I hope you really liked this tutorial. I hope the explanation was crystal clear and I'd love to hear your feedback. Don't forget to share your thoughts. And I hopefully we'll see you in other classes. Bye-bye! 10. Conclusion: I hope this class helped you on your improvement as an artist and please don't feel frustrated if your drawing doesn't look as awesome as you expected. It is unlikely to get everything perfect right away. Now, I want you to keep practicing, since you now have all the tools and knowledge you need to become a better artist. Please share in the Community Gallery your finished project to join the discussion with your peers and get more personalized insights. I hope you are willing to continue this journey and I'd love to see you in future classes. Bye!