Take a photo of yourself in good sunlight. The photo should be face forward and show some shadows. This will help you to draw the volume of your features on the page.

If you are too shy to do your own portrait, then ask a friend if you can use their photo and ensure they do not mind if it doesn't turn out as an exact likeness. This is about practice, fun, being kind to your creative expression and having a go so your portraiture skills improve.

To draw your self-portrait, I encourage you to use my photo as a basis for the first go or you can jump straight in and do your own face.

Art Supplies requires:

A reference photo - high resolution, face forward and taken in good sunlight to allow you to see the features easily - you may want to put this on an electronic device so you can expand the photo and see everything accurately
Acid Free drawing paper of your choice or a visual diary
A clip board to put your paper on - this has a hard surface that allows you to press into the paper to catch the really dark shadows
Graphite pencils - 1x HB for sketching, 1 x 2B for developing the shadows of the face, 1 x 6B for strengthening the dark shadows so the facial features pop off the page
A sense of humour and spirit of adventure to step out of your comfort zone and draw your self-portrait

Please upload a progress photo of your self-portrait to the project gallery so I can give you feedback and cheer you on. This is a safe space to develop your portraiture skills and it doesn't matter where you start, you can always keep trying and improving. We all start somewhere and it's fun to see our progression.

Thanks for taking 'Draw a Self-Portrait in Graphite'. If you have enjoyed this class, please leave me a positive review, post your project and most of all, keep practicing your artistic skills.

Patricia Bentley

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