Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Draw Realistic Faces Step by Step

1. Introduction: Hello, and welcome to this course. I'm truly happy to have you here. In this class, you will learn how to draw two realistic portraits, one male and one female using the grid method. This technique is an excellent way to achieve accurate proportions and capture even the smallest details and making realistic portrait drawing much more accessible. One of the greatest advantages of the grid method is that it allows beginners to create precise portraits, even with little or no drawing experience. Throughout the class, I will guide you step by step, showing you how to use the reference accurately and gradually build a convincing portrait. By the end of the course, you will have completed two detailed portraits while gaining confidence with a technique you can apply to many future projects. Let's get started right now. 2. Before getting started: Female model is clearly an ideal model for practicing portrait. This is a front view face with all the elements and all the features of the face clearly visible. There are no complex elements to draw. This is one of the reasons why I chose this portrait. It is ideal to begin. And this way, you will be able to practice and to learn how to draw the eyes, the mouth, the nose, the ears, and also the beautiful hair that covers a large place in our subject. So we have an excellent subject for practicing, so grab your pencil watching the video is great, but what is better is to practice, and you have to do it and have to draw this beautiful woman with me. So let's do it, and let's draw her together. For the creation of this portrait, I will use an A free paper that is to say 30 centimeters by 42 centimeters. 3. Drawing a woman portrait - the contour: Here we go. Let's start working on this final piece on the portrait of this beautiful woman. And you can see the reference photograph displayed next to my paper, and you can also download it if you want to. It is also available. My reference photo is printed in A four format, so I have 21 columns and 29 rows. On my drawing paper, I have the same number of rows and columns, but the format is different. On my drawing paper, each small squares measures 1.4 centimeters. While on my photo, each square is 1 centimeter. By the way, I'm working on an A free sized sheet, which is about 30 centimeter by 42 centimeter, but I've left a small border, as you can see. On my reference photo, I made 1 centimeter squares to ensure more precision. Another approach could have been to use two centimeter squares for the general layout and then refine the details in more intricate areas like the eyes by subdividing those squares into 1 centimeter section. However, to avoid these adjustments and to make it simpler, I prefer to start with 1 centimeter squares throughout. Apologies for certain for the small stains that appear during printing, as I pointed out with my fingers, but they won't stop us from creating a great portrait. A small mistake on my part, there are actually 20 columns and 29 rows. Throughout the entire drawing process, the reference photo will remain displayed this way during the sketching phase. Then we will zoom in on the different sections we'll be working on. On my drawing paper, I have kept pencil lines very lined to ensure that the green lines remain as subtle as possible. We could start everywhere, but personally, I don't like to start in the middle of something. For example, jumping straight into the drawing of the eyebrow that's right in the center of my page, that doesn't feel right to me. Instead, why not begin with the air and sketch the entire outline first? That could serve as a solid foundation. So I'm going to start in 23 A with the air. So I'm starting with the air, and I notice that I can follow a line that leads directly to an intersection between a row and a column. I really like that because it gives me a clear reference point. Since the line reaches this exact intersection, I can be 100% sure of my accuracy when tracing it. So that was in 23 B. Next, I see that I can extend the line upward to another key point at the intersection of rows 18 and 19 between C and D. So I'll go ahead and trace this element as well. And, of course, I'm keeping my lines light as I want to be able to erase them later if I need it. Here, I made a mistake. I went one square too high, so I will correct that with my eraser. So I have corrected that, and now we are going to continue. Looking at my sheet, I can see that the lines rises quite a bit and almost in a straight path. So around column ten, 10-11, I can place a new point at an intersection and then work on extending the straight line. I will keep following this method throughout the entire drawing. Next, I see that the line shifts one square to the right and then continues straight for four rows. So I will apply the same approach moving carefully from one intersection to the next, and I will progress through the entire section through the entire hair section this way, always taking the time to analyze and determine exactly where each line should go. Once the full outline of the hair is complete, we will move on to the contour of the face and its features. So I'll see you in a bit for the next step once we will have completed this entire hair contour. Now that the air is complete and I have its outline, the next step is to work inward from the starting point toward the neck area. This approach will guide us naturally toward the face, allowing us to trace its contours and define its individual feature. At this stage, I can use the blue reference point you've seen, this intersection of rows and columns as a starting guide. From there, I will move three squares to the right and two up. So you can see it with this blue point, three squares to the right and two up to reach the next key intersection. And by following this method, I can stay precise and progress steadily through the phase feat structure while maintaining accurate proportions. How we have reached this area, we can connect it to the neck. I notice that there's a slightly imprecise section of the air on the right. So for now, I won't worry too much about it. Instead, I will just shift one square to the side and focus on the next step. Looking at my reference photo, I see that the line rises by 3.5 square. So I will replicate this by moving up 3.5 squares on my drawing to begin sketching the next structure. Now we can continue progressing on the face. It's always a good idea to double check our positioning as we go. Looking at my grid, I can confirm that I'm on line 17 in column J. So everything is aligned correctly, and we are on track to move forward. This kind of small check from time to time ensures that we haven't accidentally shifted out of place. Now I will move forward with the contour of the face. Unfortunately, some elements don't align perfectly with the intersection of rounds and columns on my reference photo. So I will have to estimate slightly to properly outline the curve of her cheek. I will stay as possible as precise as possible while keeping the overall shape natural. Now I have reached the ear area, so I will draw the small line extending to the left. On my drawing, this column I just trace, well that you can see, is made with pencil. A good alternative is to create the grid digitally using apps that allowed for color grid or to mark it or to trace it with your markers for better visibility. I didn't do it here because I wanted to keep the lines and reference ph clearly visible for you. It would have been a bit messy to show everything otherwise. So just a little tip that might be useful. Now I will continue with this line along the ear, and I can see that it reaches another intersection which I will mark. This approach allows me to trace the contour precisely entering accurate proportions. At this stage, I'm doing quite a bit of back and forth on my pencil line rather than drawing long continuous strokes. But that's not really a problem since these lines will be erase later along with the grid, ensuring that none of them remain visible in the final drawing. Now I have spotted a new intersection for the air, so I will use it to guide the next section of the strand. I can see that this strand has a slight curve, so I will make sure to replicate that as well. While drawing all these grid basis based elements, I am using a pen grip, holding my pencil in a standard writing position rather than the overhand grip. The overhand grip is great for flexibility and using the full hom for fluid strokes. But here, I need maximum precision rather than broad loose movement. So for this stage, I'm working primarily from my wrist with a penli grip, entering precise linework for all the facial elements of my drawing. Now I am observing this long strand of hair that extends downward. I can see that it reaches a specific intersection at the bottom. To ensure accuracy, I will first count the number of squares vertically and also the numbers of squares horizontally. Then I will replicate these measurements exactly on my drawing. When tracing this strand, I will pay close attention to capturing its natural curve, that beautiful flowing arc to make sure it looks as faithful as possible to the photo and maintains the realistic movement of the woman's hair. A little further down, I can see that the hair reaches another intersection approximately. I say approximately because precision isn't as critical for the hair as it is for other features like the eyes, nose or mouth. This gives me a bit more flexibility, allowing me to simplify the process while still maintaining an accurate overall structure. So I will use this reference point as a guide without stressing too much about absolute precision, making the work flow smoother. Now we are reaching the area where the woman's hair become more disordered with strands flowing in different directions. To keep things structure, I will start by tracing the first visible strand that descends. Then instead of getting lost in all these overlapping hairs, I think it will be easier to restart from the lower section between M and N. That way, I can maintain better control over the layout. So my next step is to count the number of squares for this strand, determine how far it needs to extend downward, and then carefully trace it. After that, I will continue working from M and N, ensuring a more organized approach to mapping out the rest of the hair. Have to modify the bottom of my paper because I had numbers and not letters. Let's continue by starting from the lower area between M and N. One thing to notice here is that the section is slightly blurry with the hair flowing in different directions. I could start by drawing a straight guideline in this area and then work my way upward. However, this section appears also somewhat chaotic, so I will focus on the more distinct curves that stands out and trace that first. Since this part of the drawing is a bit complex with hair strengths, Going in all directions, I might set it the site for now and return to it later after working on other elements. There's no issue with that. It's all about keeping the process fluid and manageable. Sometimes when a section starts feeling overwhelming or if we'd rather focus on simpler details first, it's perfectly fine to pose on that area and revisit it later. That's one of the great advantages of drawing. You can always adjust your workflow to stay engaged and productive. For example, I can go back to the starting point of the chin and move in the opposite direction and close of the jaw line. As I observe, I notice that two squares to the right there and other intersections of line and column. I will use this as a reference point to ensure precise placement, and I will continue working on the chin and jaw line on the right side carefully analyzing each element before drawing. Sometimes you might see me pausing these moments where I take time to observe and analyze the direction of the line before committing to the strokes. I make small breaks like this often, but I edit them out in the final video because they wouldn't have much value to the tutorial to see me pause. However, these moments of reflection are essential for ensuring accuracy in my drawing. And so, right here, I'm going to draw these lines that clearly separates this core shadow, this very dark shadow from the area on the left that is brighter. Now I can start placing the facial features beginning with the mouth. I will use the grid lines as reference points to position it correctly and begin by outlining its shape. I chose to use a grid method for this portrait because drawing faces a challenging exercise, especially for beginners. By first sketching the different elements using a grid, we can establish correct proportions more easily and focus on detailing the facial features without struggling too much with proportion errors. I find it really helpful to break down each part of the face this way as it prevents the frustration of getting the controls wrong. Now, as you can see on screen, I have misplaced the mouth. I shifted it too far to the right. How did I notice? Well, simply by comparing both sides. On one side, there are three squares, while on the other, there's only one. Unless the subject has a distorted face, displacement is clearly incorrect. So I really raise it and start again. This is another huge advantage of the grid method. If something is off by even one square, it becomes immediately obvious, making corrections quick and easy. Now I will withdraw the mouth properly, ensuring it is well centered. Now I can draw the line that separates the two lips. A common mistake to avoid is drawing the line as a straight line. If you look closely, you will notice that the shape isn't perfectly straight. It oscillates up and down with slight variations. So I will make sure to capture these subtle shifts to maintain a natural and realistic look rather than a rigid and unnatural line. Now I am moving on to the nose. At this stage, what is really helpful is that I can now position elements in relation to each other. For example, I can see on my reference photo that the nose is one square above the mouth. This makes it much easier to place, and I no longer need to rely as much on the grids number and letters. Instead, I can now use the other facial features as reference points. This is also why I didn't want to start with the eyebrow, for example, at the beginning, because it is much easier to place one other elements like the nose and eyes are already drawn. When using a grid method, I first focus mainly on outlining the contours of each feature rather than shading. For the nose, I will primarily define its nostrils and the lines of the nostrils. Since the nose is mainly shaded by shadows that creates its volume, I won't have much detail for now. The shading that defines its form will be added later in the process. Now we can move on to working on the eyes, since I won't be adding much more to the nose for now as it is primarily defined by its shadows. For the eyes, to be even more precise and make the process easier, we'll use a technique we haven't applied yet, subdividing the grid squares. To do this, I will draw the diagonals within the squares that contain the I. For example, in I 11, I will draw both diagonals to find the exact center of that square. This will give me additional reference points to help position and trace the I with more accuracy. I will repeat the same process in H 11 to further refine my placement. And of course, just as I am doing this on my reference photo, I am also replicating it on my drawing paper, aligning with the corresponding squares to ensure perfect accuracy. So as you can see, I do that as well in H and I 11 on my paper. Now I can see that the corner of the e is positioned right in the center of my square, so I can go ahead and add it using this precise reference to ensure accuracy. Now I can easily trace the I thanks to the extra reference points I have added. I see that the upper line of the I rises about to the top of the square I'm working in. Then curve slightly before reaching almost the edge of the square in age ten. So I'll go ahead and trace this curve. Next, I will work on the inner corner of the eye. For now, I will include the eye lashes as a single shape, and then later I will refine them by separating and detailing them more individually. Here, I find that it's a bit tricky to continue the curve smoothly from this point. So instead of struggling, I will start from theside. I don't overthink it. If one approach feels too complicated, I simply switch directions. Now I can draw the line extending from the inner corner of the eye. In age 11, I noticed that the lower part of the e sits below the intersection of the diagonals, meaning it falls below the center of the squares. So I can use this as a guide to trace the lower curve, making it much easier to close the shape of the eye accurately. Now I can refine the outline of the eye lashes more easily by carefully observing their placement. I notice that they follow approximately the grid line extending toward the inner corner of the eye. Once these elements are in place, I can move on to drawing the inner details of the eye, specifically the iris. I see that the iris is positioned roughly below the intersection of the diagonals in age 11, so I will start tracing it from there, and I will carefully shape it with the slightly rounded form that is visible on the side. Human. For the overside of the iris, it's even easier because I notice that it starts just next to this column. So I can smoothly continue shaping the curve of the iris from there. Now that the contours of the eye are almost complete, I might as well add the internal elements of the iris while I'm here. So placing the pupil, the pupil is slightly trigger to position since there's no clear intersection of lines and columns to guide me. So I carefully observe the reference and note that it's generally centered. However, in this photograph, the pupil slightly shifted upward, so I will reflect that in my drawing. I can also have the highlights in the eye marking its position. At this stage, the interior of the eye is mostly done, but the drawing still doesn't look fully recognizable, which is completely normal. Realistic effect will come later with shading, which will give depth and dimension to the entire drawing. I will also add the lower eyelid, which I see aligns approximately the bottom grid square with the bottom grid line, sorry, of square 11. I lightly mark it without adding too many details yet, keeping it sample for now. Finally, to complete this I, I will draw the small line above it. I will adjust it slightly since it wasn't curved enough. I will also define the outline of the eyebrow marking its placement. With that, the eye area is essentially done in terms of structure. Next, I will repeat the same steps for the right eye, following the same method. I will also use diagonal lines within the grid squares for better precision, and I will progress through each element step by step as we did for the first eye. I will complete that and once it's done, we'll move on to defining the shading areas of the face to start bringing depth and realism to the drawing. So see you in a bit for that next. Now that the contour is complete, it's time to mark the different shadow areas. I can see a shadow on the side of the ear, so I will lightly mark it. The shadow extends just below a curved strand of hair, so I will trace it carefully. Looking at the airline and the forehead, I notice a slightly darker area due to small stray hairs present in this region. Similarly, on the left side, I see an additional darker section, so I will add it as well. It's really crucial to be precise when marking the shadows because they are what creates volume and depth in the facial features, making the portrait appear realistic and three dimensional. Of course, I'm still using the grid as a guide for accurate placement of the different shadow areas. Right there near the eye, I see also some shadow area, so I added them. Now it's time to shade the nose, and the shadows on the nose are particularly important because they are what truly defines its volume and shape. So there is a significant shadow on the right side, which gives the nose its depth. The right nostril has an important dark area as well that needs to be accounted for. On the left side, there is also a slightly darker section, though the difference is very subtle. However, this small contrast in value between the sides of the nose, the left side of the nose and its center ridge is what makes it look three dimensional. To indicate the shadow areas on my drawing, I will use some very light line rather than shading immediately. And as always, I will be using the grid to position them correctly. For example, now I am going down and I see that one of the shadows line almost reaches an intersection of a row and a column, so I can use that as a guide. And then I will go ahead and mark these different gray areas on the nose, ensuring that they are correctly placed before moving on to the next step of shading because it's also this shading is also what will give the nose its shape. It will help to make sure that the nose is a straight nose and that my nose would be beautiful just like on the photograph. But now I can also mark the shadow areas under the eye, particularly around the eyelid. This shadow extends down the side of the face so I will carefully trace its shape. When marking the shadow areas, precision is crucial because these shadows define the face forms and volume. If I misplace a shadow, the face might still appear three dimensional, but something will fell off, even if it's hard to pinpoint why. Shadows shape the contours of the face, so even a small mistake can make a feature look incorrect. Right now, I am focusing on the area that I am highlighting in blue, marking its placement accurately. So this one. Also, below the nostril, there's a significantly dark area that needs to be noted. On the cheek, I can break it down into different value one. Just next to the nose bridge, there's a slightly lighter area, and the center of the cheek is even lighter. These gradual shifts in value need to be marked carefully. When I later shade with a pencil, these lines that I am adding right now won't be visible. Instead, the goal will be to blend the transition subtly so that these separations between light and shadow appear smooth and natural. So that will be really the goal of our shading. And the final shadow zone that I should mark, and you can see it in blue is the neck shadow. There's a well defined dark area on the right side of the neck, which plays a key role in defining the separation between yes, the face and the neck structure and also to create volume in the neck area. To make my neck appear free dimensional as if it is cylinder. I can also mark the small shadow area beneath the nose and above the mouth. This little indentation is clearly visible, and to create proper volume, I will need to shade it correctly. So I am highlighting it in blue so you can clear see it clearly. This is an important element and it needs to be included. I always mark key features when there's a clear shift in value, and this area is one of them. So yes, when I draw the shadow area, I clearly just mark the element that seems to be a key for me really important. Next, I will work on the shadows of the leap since the mouth is not a single flat tone. Instead, we can see distinct dark areas which I have marked in green. There's also a small shadow on the left side of the mouth, which I could mark as well, even though it's less pronounced than the othershadows we have outlined so far. If you find some areas confusing, you can likely sketch in the shadows to clarify them and hedge them a little bit. Personally, I don't think it's necessary, but I know some artists prefer to do this, so it's really up to. Now we can move on to shading the hair, where we'll also need to use different gratons to create a realistic sense of volume. Now we are going to mark the shadow areas in the air, which is an important step in breaking down the different strands and identifying where the true shadows are located. Looking at the left side of the image, we can see a large dark area, but even within the shadow, some strands stand out as they are a little bit lighter. So we'll mark them and identify this different strength to structure the air properly. Next, I also notice a beautiful strand that flows all the way down, so I will mark it. Additionally, I see another strand with a distinct value change right next to it. In this large section section, we can divide it into certain parts, and it will make it easier for us to work on later, especially when refining the shadows and highlights of the air. Next, this area at the center is a bit tricky, so it's really important to analyze it carefully and take your time. Within the dark sections of this area, the strands follow a specific direction, and I will make sure to emphasize the wave like shape to give it more definition. Right here, you can see some sort of wave, and it's really important to define it. Now there is also a very long strand, and it extends down to a specific point which I will clearly outline just right there. To structure it properly, I will first mark the darkest area of this wave that we have right here as it will make it easier for me, and gradually, I will a different shades of gray to create volume in this area. We can see a lot of change of values in this area. And for each section, I will follow the same approach, identify the dark areas first, and then refine the transition. This process also helps to train your eye to perceive the world in light and shadow values, distinguishing the contrast variations in different parts of the image. So I will break the air in here as well into separate strands, identifying the main visible sections and making them precisely on my reference photograph. And then I will do the same thing on my drawing paper. Now I can start marking the shadow areas in the air while continuing to use the grid as a reference and as a help. I'm taking my time to define each strand accurately, making sure to place them correctly to avoid misplaced dark areas. One important point here, in this case, I find it useful to lightly sketch the dark area since there's a wide range of value, including very dark section, light section, and mid tone area. If these shadows aren't properly positioned from the start, it's easy to get lost in the complexity of the air, and that has happened to me before. So that's why I prefer to lightly map them out to organize the values before moving on to shading. Once all the shadow areas will be defined, I will gently erase the grid lines using my needed eraser. Since these lines are already light, a soft erasing motion should be enough to remove them completely. Even though this preliminary phase takes time, it is necessary step to establish a solid foundation, a solid contour before starting the shading process. If the contours and proportions are not precisely drawn, then all the shading work would lack realism and compromise the final results. So I will finish marking the shadow areas in the air, and once that's done, we will move on to shading the drawing. And this is the final contour of the drawing that will now start shading. 4. Drawing a woman portrait - first eye: Let's get started with shading. We are going to begin with the eyes. I like to start with the eyes because they almost immediately determine whether the artwork will be successful and if the character will be recognizable. Within the eyes, I will start with the pupil, that black element. And why start with the pupil? Because it's the darkest part. I know it will be black, so I can't go wrong with its value. Thanks to that, I can confidently begin and I will be able to compare the different shades of gray in the surrounding areas with the black of the pupil. To apply my different shading gradients later on, I can use the value scale, an object we explored in the basic course, which helps determine the right gray for the different areas we want to shade. Another thing to note is that my pencils are extremely well sharpened. This is very important, especially when precision is required, like here with the eye area. To check if a pencil is sharp enough, simply touch the tip with your finger. If it pricks slightly, it is sharp. If not, the lid is dull and you need to sharpen it a little bit more. To work on the black of the pupil, I can use my 14 B pencil, applying some pressure, but not too much for now. It's only once I am completely sure of my area that I will press harder if needed. For the moment, I keep some flexibility so I can erase a bit if necessary. Right next to it, there was an undefined area, so I draw it slightly before shading the rest. In this case, in this portrait, the pupil doesn't quite match the typical image of a perfectly round black circle. Here, it takes on a slightly different shape, possibly due to lighting or the photograph. But that's not what matters. What's important here is to reproduce the pupil exactly as we see it. Next, I will shade the iris on the side. This area is quite dark, but the values aren't uniform throughout. So I start by applying a ten B layer in the area, and on top of that, I will add some darker elements. This ten B also works well for the side, as it seems like a good base gray. I will apply it there, then layer additional details on top. What makes shading the eye easier here is that we previously outlined the different elements within the eye and its overall shape. Now it's just a matter of filling in the shading like coloring drawing. There we go. It's looking pretty good so far. Now I want to create a smooth surface on which I can add details while maintaining precision. To achieve this, I use my blending stump, a small one that allows me to blend everything nicely while keeping a good level of control. For this area, the center of the iris, we can see that there is a noticeably lighter element. To make it stand out a bit more, I will use a four B pencil. It seems like a good choice, not too light, not too dark for this detail. The four B works well here. While for the much lighter area right here, I will use an HB pencil. I blend the newly added elements with a light touch of my blending stump, and now we have a solid base for the eye. We can refine it a bit, even though it won't be an eye with an extreme amount of detail. On the side, I notice a fairly dark element. So I think the 14 B pencil is the right choice to work on this edge. I also see a similar dark area on the lower part, so I go back in with my 14 B again. To create a smooth transition between these dark element, and the adjacent gray area, I use a scribbling technique drawing small circular motions along the edge. This helps achieve a gradual transition. These small circles are, of course, slightly lighter than the strong 14 B line I initially applied on the side. For the contour of the reflection, right here, I start with the 14 B, but I feel it might be a bit too dark. I switch to a 12 B pencil to get a slightly softer effect. I am shading a little bit also under the pupil, and you can see that it is something a little less dark than the pupil, and I still use this scribbling technique to have some small elements in this area and also on the left, just under this highlight. What I notice also is that the shape of this light element on the right isn't correct, and I need to modify it. So I'm going to use my electric eraser to redefine it properly. I think it's best to admit something is wrong, take the time to modify it and waste a few minutes. But in the end, these minutes I think aren't actually wasted because it's best take this time, rather than being disappointed at the end and tell yourself, I should have erased and modified my area. Now I'm not satisfied with the result. So I'm currently correcting and adjusting the dimensions. Mistakes happen. I know it's frustrating and it can feel like wasted time, but it's also part of the learning process. That's how we improve. Even after years and years of practice, both in drawing and painting, I still make mistakes. It's part of the creative process and I adjust things to get the result that I am more satisfied with. Within the slightly lighter area, we can see some darker touches, so I'm going to add them. It's almost like an extension of the iris, making these dark marks important to include. In some spots of the eye, I also notice slightly lighter touch on the lower area. So using my precision eraser, I will gently tap to remove a bit of graphite, adding more texture to the eye. Similarly, on the side, I see a lighter element. I initially made it too bright, so I'm going to use my blending stump to redistribute some of the graphite from the iris into this area to balance it out. Next, I will refine the highlight in the eye. Inside it, there are small darker elements. These are actually the eye lashes reflecting in the eye. I add them carefully, making sure to vary their darkness, as not all eyelashes will have the same value in the reflection. Precision is key here, especially when drawing the lines, since they need to be very fine and delicate, so I try to be as accurate as possible. One by one, I will draw them. However, if every single eyelash isn't perfectly placed as in the reference, it's not a big deal. What matters most is conveying to the viewer that some eyelashes are reflected in the eye. Finally, in certain areas, I can lightly tap again with my precision eraser to remove a bit of graphite, enhancing the visibility of some lighter details in this highlight area of the eyes to make them stand out. Now, let's work on the white of the eye, which in reality isn't actually white. We can see that the inner corner of the eye on the right is a darker gray compared to the rest of the zone. So I will start by applying a base layer of four B to this area and gradually increase the values. This is a perfect example of why it's essential to draw what we see rather than relying on preconceived ideas. When we were kids, we all used to draw eyes with a simple.in the middle and a completely white surrounding elements around. But here we clearly see that the white of the eye contains various shades of gray, and it's crucial to vary this grays to create volume. Now I blend the shading and it's absolutely fine if it slightly merges with the iris. In fact, that's exactly what I want to create a smooth transition between these elements as they are visually connected. On the other side of the eye, we can see that the area is much lighter, so I will start shading it softly using an HB pencil to maintain a delicate gradient. On this side of the eye, I also use my blending stump, but this time, I make sure to use the cleaner side, which I reserve for lighter areas. Now with my four B pencil, I can start darkening some details in this area. I noticed that the edge here is slightly darker, so I will refine it along with the area just above the white of the eye. Adding these elements help to further detail the zone. Next, I continue working on both areas of the white of the eye by adding small veins visible here and there. Since I initially shaded this area up with a four B, I can keep using the same pencil, but this time, I use a tip applying slightly more pressure to make the veins stand out. I don't want them to be too prominent, though, so I gently blend them with my stump to soften them into the area. I will also adjust the shading using my needed erasers. In some spot, I find the white of the eye a bit too dark, so I delicately tap to lighten it and ensure the area doesn't appear too heavy. If needed, I can refine it again later. For example, on the right side, I'm going to use the kded eraser, but it will look a little bit too bright now. So to balance it out, I will use my blending stump to redistribute the graphite and create a smoother transition. And finally, I start shading the inner corner of the eye, adding its first values to enhance the sense of volume. And bit by bit, as I keep adding elements, the eye gradually takes shape, gaining depth, and realism. Now we can start working on the eyelashes. When looking at this area, we can see that there is a slightly dark base, and on top of it, we will add individual lashes. A very common mistake beginners make is shading all the eyelashes with the same dark value, thinking, Okay, this is the eyelash area, so everything must be solid black. And this is a big mistake because when you're observing the left side, we notice that the base is actually a mid tone gray, not extremely dark and individual hairs are layered on top. Shading all the lashes uniformly with a single dark pencil makes the drawing look unrealistic. So instead, I will add just a few line strokes, a few fine strokes, placing individual lashes here and there to bring realism to the area without overdoing it. That's what I am doing now, adding subtle details to make this section more lifelike. Now moving to the overside, the approach will be slightly different. Since the face is more in shadow on this side and because of natural eyelash anatomy, with lashes spreading outward, this area will be much darker overall. I will apply a base layer just like before, but this time, it will be less prominent. The emphasis here will be on the individual eyelashes, making the area appear dense and voluminous with a lot of individual hairs. And by layering many small fine strokes, I will be able to create the illusion of depth. Most of these lashes are straight. But if you extend outside the main area, that's why I carefully observe my reference photo, paying attention to the movement and direction of the lashes. This way, I can successfully add volume and realism to this part of the drawing. You before finalizing the work on the eyelashes and adding the individual lashes that extend onto the upper eyelid, I like to shade the per eyelid first. It's a bit of a painter's reflex because in painting, if the eyelid isn't painted first, you can draw the eyelashes over it. So even though I have already added a few, adding I prefer to establish the shading first. So I start with a light shading and progressively darken it as I move toward the right. To do this, I switch pencils. I begin with a six B for the left area, then move to eight B, and finally, I finish with ten B for the darkest part on the side. Next, the upper eyelid needs texture, adding fine lines and lighter details. But before detailing it, I prefer to smooth the area with my blending stem to create a soft surface, to introduce lighter details. I can use my precision eraser, gently tapping to create small lines where I see lighter areas in my reference. And once that is done, I can move on to drawing the upper eyelashes. This part requires close attention. So first, you got to pay attention to the placement of the lashes, then to the number of the lashes, the direction they take, and their thickness and darkness. It may seem like a lot to consider, but it's crucial since not all lashes are identical, the final touch greatly contributes to the realism and recognition of the eye. That's why it's important to be as precise as possible at this stage of the drawing. I can now draw the small line above the eye. One important factor to consider is that this line won't have the same value along its entire length. Observing closely, we can see that the right side is slightly darker compared to the center and the left side. To achieve this variation, I adjust the pressure on my pencil entering the value transition smoothly across the line. Additionally, we can notice a few small elements extending from this line. I carefully add them as well to enhance the natural details of the area. Now I can start working on the upper eyelid area that connects to the eyebrow. This zone contains various value shifts, so I begin using a six B pencil to define the darker areas. In the central part, however, the values are much lighter. To achieve this, I will try an HB pencil and see how it looks. Once these elements are in place, I blend them. Since the area is relatively large, I can use a brush to create a smooth gradient. Oh However, I realize my brush still contains a lot of graphite, which makes the area darker than intended. I should have cleaned it first. To fix this mistake, I'm going to use my needed eraser, and I'm going to tap lightly on the areas that became too dark. The central part needs some lightening, but even the outer edges could use some correction. So I shaped my needed eraser to adjust the values precisely and restore the intended contrast. Once this value will be adjusted, I will work on adding skin texture. Portrait drawing often involves a lot of blending as many elements appear naturally smooth. To achieve this effect, I use extensive techniques across different facial areas. However, even though skin appears smooth, it still has subtle irregularities. To introduce some realism, I'm going to take my eight B pencil now and apply small fine marks, short lines, tiny scribbles, especially in the upper part of the eyelid area. And these subtle details will enhance the realism by making the skin texture appear more natural, more natural rather than perfectly flat. I won't go any further with the shading in this area for now because it transitions into the nose, and I prefer to fully focus on that area later. So instead, I will concentrate on the eyebrows. Before working on the individual hair texture of the eyebrows, I start by applying a medium shading to create a dark base. This shading represents the skin beneath the eyebrow hairs, which appears darker because it receives less light due to the density of the hairs. Once this base is in place, I blend it smoothly with my blending stump using circular motions to create an even texture. I also extend the blending slightly above the eyebrow area. This allows to this allows some graphite to transfer naturally to that zone, giving it a soft and realistic transition. Since the eyebrow airs will overlap this area, this subtle shading will help integrate them better. So as you can see, I go a little bit above this eyebrow. Now I'm going to take my 14 B pencil and start sketching the individual eyebrow hairs. The key here is to carefully observe the direction of hair growth before drawing. I began lightly entering the strokes are fine and natural. And once I have a good base of hairs in place, I can darken some areas by applying a bit more pressure if needed, gradually building up the depth and volume of the eyebrow in this region. With my pencil, I can apply more pressure to darken the hairs that are truly black. A few well placed darker strokes are enough to create a strong texture and enhance the three dimensional effect of the eyebrow. By strategically adding these deeper tones, I bring more contrast to the area, making the eyebrow look more realistic while maintaining a natural appearance. Now we can start working on the lower eyelid of this eye. One important observation is that the lower lashes are much less pronounced than those on the palid. So it's really crucial to apply just the right amount without overdoing it. So I began shading the lower eyelid with an HB pencil as the inner corner of the eye appears relatively light, and gradually, as I move toward the right, I adjust my pencil choice to darken the area progressively. I use two B for the central part, and now six B as I continue shading. On the outermost edge, the shading is even darker, so I will switch to an eight B pencil to define those elements properly. The goal here is to create a solid base with the correct values, allowing me to add details later. Simply placing the right values in the right spots already helps build volume and make the lower eyelid appear three dimensional. Also realized that I forgot to draw the small dark line that defines the lower boundary of the eye. So I make sure to add it now, working it along the entire lower eyelid. Even though it's a small detail, this fine line subtly enhance the realism of the eye. At first, I wasn't fully satisfied with how it looks, so I am adjusting it slightly, making sure it integrates smoothly with the surrounding shading. Once again, this area needs to be blended before adding the final small details. To do this, I use circular motions with my blending tool entering a smooth and even surface. This technique helps unify shading while maintaining a natural transition between value. And by creating this salt base, I am now able to a final details on this area to make it more realistic. So the first thing I notice is that some elements are a little bit darker. There is some sort of line that I can draw right there by scribbling a little bit in the area. And then just right there next to the corner of the eye underneath it, I can see some small lines that I could add. This line will also help to shape it to shape the lower eyelid, even more so I am adding these dark elements that will also help create more volume in this small area. And step by step, this eye will look even more realistic thanks to the work on this lower eyelid. I can see also some small dark elements in this area right next to the individual eyelashes. So before even tracing them, I am adding these small dark elements that will help to build more volume as well. To enhance the volume in this area, I take my precision eraser and lightly tap over certain spots. Creating lighter areas next to darker ones had depth and makes the shading feel even more realistic. So now I focus on the right side of this area, which is significantly darker and where the eyelashes are more defined. I carefully add these lashes, paying attention to the slight curvature and the fact that they are longer than those on the paid. When drawing these eyelashes, I also need to consider that they become progressively lighter as they approach the center. To achieve this, I can either adjust the pressure I apply with my pencil or switch to a lighter pencil to soften the FA. And these are the final details that I need to add to this e. Once they are in place, I can say that the first I is complete and I will be ready to move on to the second one. 5. Drawing a woman portrait - 2nd eye: Now it's time to start working on the second. However, for this part, the video will be slightly sped up since I will be repeating the same techniques I used for the first I. There won't be as many new things to explain, but I still wanted to show the process as it can be useful for you when working on the second I as well. So the video will play at speed two. But remember, take your time when drawing. There's no rush to complete each element precisely. So personally, I like to start with the eyes because they convey a lot of emotion. A person's eye is often a defining feature that makes them recognizable. However, if you prefer to start with another part of the face, such as the air, mouth or another feature, that's totally fine, too. That's the beauty of drawing. You can start wherever you feel most comfortable. Just like before, I begin with the iris. Observing closely, I notice that the left iris is quite similar to the right one, especially in terms of gray scale values. Both eyes share similar tones which help maintain consistency in the drawing. However, one major difference is that the entire left eye area is much lighter than the right. The white of the eye has fewer dark gray areas compared to the right eye. The upper and lower eyelids are also lighter, and this is because the left side of the face receives more light, which affects the shading of the skin and surrounding features. So I gradually build up the gray scale value for the base of the eye. For the iris, I had slightly darker touches to make certain areas stand out. The highlighted reflection area, which I originally left why actually appears more grayish in reality. So I first lay down the bays tone, and then I will have some darker elements on top of these highlight areas of the eye. And I will also use my eraser to small and lighter details within this reflection zone. This process ensures that the second eye matches the first one while respecting the natural lighting differences in the area surrounding this iris and surrounding the eye. I am now working on the white of the eye. In this case, it is noticeably lighter than on the other side. Well, just lightly, actually, but still important to consider. However, this time, the right side of the eye, the corner of the eye will be slightly darker. It's kind of similar to the first eye, but with a reversed effect. What I mean is since the eye is in direct light, the shadows are flipped. The inner corner of the eye is now the darker area as it falls more into the shadow on the right, while the rest of the white of the eye remains lighter. And just like before, I softly blend the white of the eye, making sure to leave a smooth gradient. And this helps prepare for adding subtle details later, such as the veins. I also worked on creating a seamless transition between the white of the eye and the iris. These two elements aren't completely separated by a hard edge. They naturally blend into each other. And this is something even more noticeable in painting where the white of the eye and the iris gently merge rather than having a sharp border. That's what I am aiming to replicate with my blending stomach, entering a natural transition between these two areas. At the moment, I'm working on the area above the eye, and instead of focusing on just a small section, I'm shading a larger zone. This is because the areas directly above the eye and the larger section beneath the eyebrow share rather similar tone, similar values. Rather than treating them separately, it makes sense to shade them together, which helps create a more consistent and natural transition. As you get experience, you'll feel more confident on working on broader section rather than focusing on a tiny isolated area. This approach speed up the process and ensure consistency in shading. This time before blending, I made sure to clean my brush to avoid excess graphite tissue I encountered earlier. Previously, too much graphite had accumulated, which darkened the shading unintentionally. By keeping the tool clean, I can control the values better and avoid unwanted smudging. Just like on the first eye, my work on the eyelashes starts with a mid tone gray base. This serves as an underlayer, allowing me to later add darker elements on top. By gradually layering tones, the eye gains realism step by step, and the final result will appear more natural. What I have done with the eyelashes here is really important, and I want to emphasize again, the importance of creating a base before adding the individual eyelashes. Working on the eyelashes is one of the most common mistakes that can make the drawing look less realistic. There are several issues that often occur, such as making the eyelashes too straight and uniform, which makes the eye look unnatural. Eyelashes are not identical lights. They vary in length, curvature, and direction. Also, if they are too straight or too evenly spaced, they create an artificial effect. There are also other elements that can make the eye appear unrealistic. One of them is not darkening the pupil enough. The pupil is always black, except in cases where there is a very strong light reflection. It's important to define it well using high density pencils such as 14 B 12 B, ten B. Another mistake is misplacing the reflection in the eye or making it too bright. Many people assume that the reflection should be pure white. But when we look closely at the eye, we can see that the reflection is not actually white, and that's what we did before. It's not white in both of these eyes. Similarly, making the white of the eye too white can make the eye appear flat and realistic. And we saw that it's actually some sort of gray, so it's really important to shade it properly. Also, some artists also overdfine the controls of the eye, especially under the lower eyelid, in the lower part of the eye by creating a line that is too dark and thick, which doesn't work in a realistic drawing. You could see on the right eye that I just added a very thin and light line. And finally, another issue is neglecting the shadow under the upper eyelid. The shading and details that I am actually adding right now are crucial because they give volume to the area. So all these elements make the eye a complex area to draw, which is why careful observation of the different grayscale values is extremely important. And now, as I finish working on the eyelashes, you can see that I take my time analyzing their direction, their length, and placement to make them look as realistic as possible. The important thing is not just to reproduce a face, but to give it character and emotion. And what will make the difference is your ability to observe and capture all the subtle details of the face. For example, a well placed shadow that you might not have noticed if you weren't drawing a portrait, a soft curve in certain areas that brings the drawing to life. For example, with this line that we have drawn above the eye, you try to capture the subtle variation in its curve. That's what will make it look more realistic and as if it was there, as if it was a three dimensional thing. And don't try to get everything perfect on the first try. This portrait is a training exercise. You are following the course to improve. It's completely normal to hesitate to erase and correct things. The most important thing is to keep moving forward and not get discouraged. The eye is often the part that draws the most our attention. And to make it look realistic, try to apply everything we've talked about. Work on the shadows under the eyelid. You don't leave the white of the eye too bright. You observe the direction of the eyelashes. You carefully render the reflections. And the more you draw, the more you will start to understand these details and notice things you didn't see before following this course and before learning how to draw. And the more you draw, the better you will grasp how shadows volume and textures work in your different artwork. Every mistake you will make in a portrait will teach you something. And when you will look back at your drawings in a few months from now, with a fresh perspective and a bit of insight, you will say, Wow, I have actually improved a lot. That detail I struggled with before, I can do it much better now. So don't give up, take your time and enjoy the process. Every little improvement you see in your drawing should be considered a victory because it's these small progressions accumulated over time that will eventually allow you to create the drawings you have always dreamed of. That's how it works. It takes time, but that time is what will lead you to create truly beautiful drawings. Okay. 6. Drawing a woman portrait - the forehead: Now we are going to work on the forehead area, and I will follow our logical progression moving from top to bottom. I could very well work on any other element. I could have done the mouth next, for example, but this is a logical progression that I like to follow year after year. It allows us to really see the drawing evolve before our eyes. What we notice with this forehead is that from right to left, there will be a gradient becoming lighter as we move towards the left. So let's get started with the forehead. And I will begin by applying a very light shading in this area because the left is quite bright. I am using an HB pencil here, which is barely visible under drawing because it's very, very light. If needed, I will had slightly darker elements later, but for now just a few light graphy touches. We will also find of these subtle marks on the lower part, and we'll progress this way and see how it turns out. Now I can start working on this right section. At the same time, I'll make my pencil strokes a bit more pronounced. I'm going to use darker tone, since as we can see the closer we get to the right side, the darker the elements become. Now I will start by applying a bit of four B. So I have started by applying a bit of four B, and now I am using an eight B to emphasize these darker areas along the edge. With my eight B, I can also work on the upper part of the forehead because this area connects with the hair, where we have that little wave like shape. This part of the forehead is going to be quite dark. And to ensure a smooth transition between the lighter forehead and this darker section, I think that the work I'm doing now with the six B will help create a logical connection between these areas and make the transition look really natural. That's what I mean with this work. Now that all my elements are in place, I can start blending them. I have taken my brush, making sure all the graphite residue is removed, and I begin with the HB area since it is a lighter zone. If I were to start with the darker areas and then move to the HB, I could have darkened and muddied the HB, which is something I want to avoid. I want my HB to remain pure. At this point, I also notice that the upper area has slightly raised elements that I had forgotten to emphasize. So I'll go in with a two B to make this section stand out a bit more. When blending with a brush, it's important to try to make circular motion. While it's not as strict requirement as when using a blending stump, I find that circular movements help achieve a smoother transition between elements. In areas where the shading is uniform with the same gray tone throughout, I can move the brush back and forth up down left, right. However, when blending different values together, I found that using circular motions make the transition appear more natural. So in these upper areas with different values, that's exactly what I'm going to and we can see that the initially distant gray tones will gradually blend together, creating a seamless and natural transition. I am continuing my work. You may have noticed that I have made some adjustments using the needed eraser because I felt that some areas were too dark. Sometimes small adjustments are necessary, and I keep blending and smoothing out the transitions between different elements to achieve an even better gradient. It's true that this process can take some time, but I found that the blending technique is really important because in a portrait, it enhances realism and softens the transitions between values, especially in a large area like the forehead. Accurately depict the softness of human skin, it's essential to avoid harsh lines that could make the drawing look less natural. And as I continue, I can really see a sense of harmony developing when working with blending. Unlike visible pencil strokes, which can leave a rough or overly textured effect, this technique helps create a much smoother result. In this case, we are drawing a woman with a very soft skin, and if we left too many visible strokes in certain areas, it will be harder to capture that softness, which is a key characteristic of her appearance. For the forehead, blending is particularly useful because this is a young person, meaning her skin is smooth and doesn't have many wrinkles or strong textures. I find this technique incredibly valuable and it will also be useful for other smooth areas like the checks. However, when working on the air, we'll likely need to rely less on blending to preserve the texture of the individual strands. As you have noticed, achieving a perfect blending involves a lot of back and forth adjustment. To further refine the right area, I can finalize it using a blending stump. Now that I have a result that I am happy with, we can start working on the skin texture because the skin won't be completely smooth. There will be some subtle details that we can add. I am using my eight B pencil, and in this darker area on the right, we can see small marks like the ones I am adding now. I am creating these marks with small scribbles and circle motions which help make the skin texture look more realistic. And as I move toward the left, I will apply a lighter touch when adding these details. You can see that I am using the side of my pencil lead to keep the mark subtle and not too pronounced on the skin. I am continuing my progression, and in this area, the elements are slightly lighter. I could have switched to a different pencil, but I can also work with the same one by simply applying a lighter touch to the small marks I just made. Now I'm moving on to the more central part of the forehead, where the value change is quite significant. For these small details I am adding, I will use a lighter pencil, but my approach will remain exactly the same. And now we'll keep working on the entire forehead area until I am completely satisfied. But overall, we're very close to the desired result. So for the forehead, that's almost done. Later, we'll revisit it when working on the hair since there will be plenty of small hairs to add along the upper forehead. However, I prefer to add those once we focus entirely on the hair. I like to concentrate on one task at a time. That's how I work best. Before finishing, I will just slightly enhance the small detail on the corner of the forehead, and then we are good to go. 7. Drawing a woman portrait - the nose: Let's start working on the nose. For the nose, I'm going to proceed similarly to how I did with the eye. That means I will begin by marking the most obvious elements, the ones that stand out the most. In this case, what really stand out is the inside of the nostrils, which will be very dark. Quite often, in most of my drawings, when I ask myself, what is the most prominent feature, it turns out to be the darkest areas. And that's exactly the case with these nostrils. However, one common mistakes with nostrils is assuming that since the inside is dark, it should be entirely black. But if we closely observe a reference photo, we can see that the nostril isn't completely dark everywhere. The edges are generally very dark, but other areas are slightly lighter. On the right nostril, this is less noticeable since it's more in the shadow, making the entire area appear darker. However, on the left nostril, this variation is more visible. So I'm quickly using my blending term just to shape the form, and then we'll move on to shading the area. Now, just like before, we can ask ourselves on the nose and its central area, what stands out the most? To me, the most noticeable part is the shadowed area on the right side of the nose right around here. It's slightly darker than the rest. So before defining the shadow in more detail, I will apply a layer of four B as it seems to be a good middle value that allows me to add either darker or lighter elements later on. With the nose, we notice that there aren't any sharp edges between elements. Everything blends together to some extent. The only sharp edge is at the nostril, where we can clearly see a distinction between the nostril and the surrounding skin. Both the dark area we just shaded and the side section of the nostrils, which gives the nostril its volume, have a well defined edge. However, for the rest of the nose shading, there are no precise lines separating the different areas of value. Now I am going to work a little on this area. We can see that there will be a lot of dark elements and some lighter ones to help define the volume of this section. I am using my two B pencil here, even though it's lighter than the four B by using the tip and applying more pressure, I can still create slightly darker elements. Honestly, I had this pencil on hand, and it suited the values I wanted to achieve. I didn't want to anything too dark. So now I will focus on refining the small dark elements. Right next to the shaded nostril, there's a slightly darker detail that extends. Inside here in this area, there are other small dark shapes. Some are more like lines while other appear and some sort of tiny dots. So I will carefully work on those. Next, I will take my precision eraser and lightly tap certain areas to bring out the highlights. I also notice that these details I just added are a little too intense and stand out too much. So I will also tap them slightly with the precision eraser to soften them. And this is a great example of why having a precision eraser is so useful, especially in a portrait like this. It will be difficult to achieve this level of refinement without one. I could use a kneaded eraser by shaping it to a fine point, but it wouldn't be as precise, I think. So now I will continue working on the lower part of the nose and refine the contours of this section. And as we move toward the left, we can see that the elements become progressively lighter, so I'll need to adjust my pencil choice and the pressure I apply accordingly. With my HB pencil, I can also work on the side of the nose near the bridge, and this will help bring the nose to life and a volume through the elements I am adding. Even though I am using an HB which is quite light, compared to the nose of the bridge, the central area, we can see a difference in value. These variations in value are what create the sense of volume. Now I will blend everything to make it softer and to reduce the visibility of my lines. Additionally, I will use my precision eraser to remove the construction lines of the nose. I don't want them to be visible at all, because as we discussed, the nose is defined by the volume created through shading rather than by contour lines. That's why I am erasing them. They're very useful for guidance, but I no longer need them and I don't want to see them. On the bridge of the nose, I also notice some slightly darker elements. So I will add them with my HB pencil as well. And I am keeping my touch very light so that I can adjust if needed and had some eye light in the future. And I will also connect this area to the eyelid and the forehead, which we worked on earlier. Eraser pen, I am making some small adjustment to this area because after adding a few elements around it, I realize it might still be a bit too dark, so I am modifying it accordingly. Now we can start working on the shading of this right section. I'll begin by applying the first layer in this area. At this stage, I'm focused on I'm not focusing on the texture of the nose or adding small skin imperfections and darker details. Now, for now, what matters most to me is giving the nose the volume, the giving the nose volume. Achieving this comes down to placing the route values, the different shades of gray in appropriate area. And this is how I will be able to make the nose appear three dimensional on my paper. So as you can see, for now, I am applying very light shading and only later if necessary, I will have darker elements on this side of the nose. At this point, I can also refine the nostril, the edge of the nostril, which is an important detail to add because it helps give volume to the nostril and makes this part appear more three dimensional. Now I will say that we have a solid foundation for the nose. We will work more precisely on the texture after that. First, I will have to blend a little bit this element before adding small texture. Now, let's work a bit on the skin texture of the nose. This texture consists of small irregularities, which are essentially slightly darker marks. I can have some of these details, for example, in the area that connects to the forehead and in the central zone as well. While I will have my highlight, a very bright area, I also want to include subtle irregularities both in the very light zones and in the slightly darker ones. To do this, I am working very lightly with the side of my pencil lead, keeping my stroke soft and making small scribbles. Whenever I notice a slightly darker spot in my reference, I had it. For example, I can see a small darker detail on the lower part of the nose, so I'm placing it in my drawing. By adding these elements, I'm not only enhancing the skin texture, of my nose and marking small imperfections, but I am also giving more depth to the area. The addition of darker values helps reinforce this three dimensional effect. On the side of the nose, along with along its length, I also see some darker spots, so I carefully add them while maintaining a light touch. Right now, I'm in a process where every time I see a darker element, I include it. This way, I make sure I don't forget anything. And at the same time, I add some extra texture to the nose, making it look even more realistic. Um, so now I am adding these darker elements on the side of the nose, but not on the entire area, a few dark elements here and there that will help make this area even more realistic. So I'm working with my two B and applying some darker elements. And what I will also be able to add is this darker element that we have at the top of our area just right there. And for this, I won't use the two B as it will be too light. So I'm going to switch to an even darker pencil. The six B should be fine. And then that will be good with the nose, and we'll be ready to move on to another area to the cheek. You 8. Drawing a woman portrait - the cheek: Now let's work on the checks, starting with the left one. This should be an easy step since it's very light with very few details or relief elements to add. So I start by shading with an HB pencil to keep it light, and then I will blend the entire area with my brush. Since I previously used my brush for blending darker areas, I first wipe off any excess graphite onto a sheet of paper. Once that's done, I blend the areas using small back and forth motions to achieve a smooth surface on the cheeks. Now I can start shading the area a little more. One of the few details we can notice is a slightly more pronounced shadow near the nostril, which helps give it more volume. So I work on this very delicately. Next, we can see a few lines extending from the area under the eyelid. Here we have some small details to ad. So using my pencil, I carefully draw this line. There aren't many details in this area, but it's important to take the time to work on them properly, making sure that we will have a skin texture that will look natural. You. I noticed that the nose area wasn't worked on enough. It lacked some lighter details, so I added them. I can also add some highlights between the lights the lines we previously worked on, as this will help them stand out. Even when a section seems finished, I think it's important to always keep a critical eye on our work. That way we can make adjustments if needed and refine certain elements. Next, among the small details, there are two spots right here, two marks in this area. One of them appears to be around here. So I locate it by marking it lightly. The second spot is just over here, but for this one, we can see a small light spot, and overhead, there's a tiny darker element which I carefully mark. Finally, another important element to had in this area is the shadow along the side. So I apply it delicately with my pencil to make sure it's visible and then gently blend it to soften the effect. Et's move on to the overcheek. You can see that on the overcheek there will be quite changes of value that will be pretty noticeable. So I start in the central area with an HB pencil because this is where the highlight will be making it the lightest part. Around it, I can continue with something darker. To ensure a smooth transition, I will start with a two B pencil and gradually I will a increasingly darker value. This is how we create a bit of depth in this area, even though there isn't much as this isn't someone with particularly chubby cheeks. But this will help convey that it's a pace and that it has volume. Here, as well, I can continue a bit with the area just above the lips using the two B pencil. It seems like a good idea to shade there as the values are quite similar to what we already had, I can start by applying a light base, and then we'll have darker elements to create a subtle relief in this area. Then on the right side, you can see that it gets progressively darker. So I adjust and take an even darker pencil, and little by little, the area takes shape. As you might have guessed, I will blend all these elements with a brush, since it is a large area, and not speed up the video for the blending part because you've already seen that many times before. Now that my area is blended, I can start refining the texture of the skin a bit more, specifically along the edge of the nostril. I will add a few more detail, and this will not only enhance the skin texture on the cheek, but also help the nostril stand out a little more. Next, I will continue working on this texture by adding elements that are slightly lighter than what we see along the edge of the nose. This also ensures a smooth transition between the nose and the cheek. I can extend this effect slightly into the area just below the eyes. Here, we can see that there are also some slightly darker elements than what we have in the surrounding area. At this point, I'm working very delicately with the side of my pencil lead, adding small patterns. I observe the shape of these patterns and take these pattern take and place them here and there. What's important is to carefully study the form of these patterns that help create skin texture. Then I consider their direction and their value, whether they should be quite dark or remain solo. And this is how we successfully create realistic skin texture. Technically, I could have left the skin as initially shaded it as I initially shaded it with my pencil. However, I personally like to refine the skin texture, incorporating all these irregularities that make each person's skin unique. This helps make our drawings look even more realistic. After all, when we draw, we often aim to convey a sense of reality and life in our artwork. And so that's exactly what I'm trying to achieve to create life on my paper or on my canvas. And as you can see, I have darkened the right side of my cheek a bit more because I wanted it to stand out and appear deeper in tone. Now I'm moving into an area where there will be some lighter elements as well. So this is also a key technique for working on skin texture, gently tapping with a needed eraser or a precision eraser to lift graphite and create lighter details. All these adjustments I am adding right now contribute to a more refined and realistic texture. Now that I have added these light elements in here, I take my brush again and go over the area to blend it. The reason for this is that I don't want my highlights to appear as pure white. These slide to details, I don't want them pure white. This is a common mistake when starting with portrait drawing, assuming that highlights must always be white. However, as we have seen, for example, in the north area, the very light elements aren't necessarily pure white. Some parts will indeed be very bright, but there will also be subtle darker touches within those highlights. In this case, since the area is already in shadow, the highlights cannot be pure white. That would look off. And I have also slightly modified the edge of the nostril right here because I wasn't satisfied with how it looked. So I went back and adjusted the line. On the right side of the cheek, where the shading is darker, I have also lightly tapped with a needed eraser to soften certain areas. And right under the nostril, right here, there's also a small dark shadow, so I mark it and blend it with the surrounding elements to create a smooth and natural transition. I continue refining the details, adding darker areas under the nose. Especially also the small crease that we'll define next. But once again, right here, I wasn't fully satisfied with my initial mark, so I adjusted them, and that's the essence of drawing. You experiment, you test things out. And if something doesn't look right, you modify it. The key is to find the right balance, to take risk, and to aim for the best result possible. Now, as I mentioned, there's a slight hollow between the nose and the mouth. To make this darker area stand out, I had lighter details beside it, like the ones I am marking now. Another important highlight runs along the edge of the mouth to make the leaves stand out and give them volume, I need this lighter area. And to ensure this highlight doesn't remain too flat and to add some texture, I use I'm going to use my blending stump because it already contains a bit of graphite, very light graphite from blending lighter areas. And so I will gently tap and scribble slightly to introduce some sole texture in these highlights. This helps create a natural looking, soft highlight rather than a stark and natural contrast. And overall, I would say that the cheek area is now complete, and we can move on to the next part of the drawing. 9. Drawing a woman portrait - the mouth: Here we are for the mouth. I had a small issue. The original video got lost right at the moment when I had finished drawing the mouth of the woman's portrait, and I realized it far too late. So I redrew the mouth, and we are going to see how to shade it to make it look realistic. So I did it on a ten by ten centimetros format, which is roughly the same size as on the full portrait, slightly larger, but it will allow us to see clearly how to work on it properly on our paper. To start the shading, I am using my two B pencil. Don't worry, the photo focus will adjust shortly. There was a small issue at the beginning, but everything will be fine from here on. So I begin with a quick to be shading over the entire mouth because I consider that all the elements of this mouth, especially the polyp, are at least as dark as a two B. Some areas will be slightly darker later, but starting with two B seems like a good base. I'm also using my precision eraser to soften the outline a bit because it was standing out too much. The edge of a lip isn't supposed to be sharply defined like it was, so I erased it. And now with these to be base in place, I can start blending. I use small circular motions with my blending stem to create a smooth result and a solid base, which I can then refine with more detail and work on more precisely. Now, I also notice that on the slip, there are areas that are overall darker, especially on the right side. So here I am using a four B pencil, and I press a little harder with the pencil, and I make sure to always work with the side of the lead to get a result that will blend nicely later on. So I darken the right side and on the left side as well, I see that some part are slightly darker. So I use the four B again, but this time with a lighter touch to keep the shading a bit softer. And then I'm going to blend this area again with my blending stump using some careful circular motions. Actually, I'm doing all the blending with the stump here since the lip is quite a small area and requires a certain level of precision. Now, with the six B pencil, I'm going to work on the areas with a bit more precision. I notice that some parts are slightly darker where we are starting to get more refined here, even though I'm not focusing on details just yet. I'm not trying to draw a specific line or lap crease. I'm just emphasizing certain zones a bit more precisely. In the upper part, for example, the values are darker, so I go in with the six B like this. And I also think that it would be a good idea to work on the line that separates the two lips because it's quite visible and it is a key element. And most importantly, it is fairly dark. And by emphasizing that dark element, I will later be able to compare the value of the other areas I add and ask myself whether they are too dark or not relative to that line. Because in some places like here, I can see that the separation line is very dark, almost black. So marking it clearly helps serve as a reference point when adjusting the overtones. And we also notice something important about this line. It's not the same value all the way through. In the central part, that is where it is the darkest. But as you move towards the right or the left, the line becomes a little lighter. Less defined. So it is important to observe that carefully, too. You should never assume that just because you are drawing a particular line, it needs to have the same value from start to finish. That's clearly not the case. You can see that some sections are darker than others on this line. Now I can start working on the edge of that central line because as you can see, the separation between the two leaves isn't just a thin little line. There are quite a few small details to add like little lines that go upward. So I am adding those now, and that helps make the area look more realistic. Here, I am using a 12 B pencil and I vary the pressure slightly to create elements that are darker or lighter than others. This way, I can work with more subtlety. I also notice that the central dark area wasn't shaded enough. It's actually a bit larger than one I had drawn, so I am adjusting it right now. It is always important to keep a critical eye on your drawing and not hesitate to change pins that aren't quite right. So I'm going to continue by working on the left side now, adding more leo lines like I did before. And just like I mentioned earlier with the central line, these lines also vary in value. They are not all equally dark. You will see that as you go upward, the strokes become a little lighter, so that's something to pay attention to. It happens often in portrator. For example, when you draw someone's eyelashes, the value often changes along the length of each lash. So it is something to keep in mind and to pay attention to. Now I will finish the upper lip by adding a few more details on the left where I see some small lines that need to be drawn to enhance the realism. And once we are done with this leap to really make it pop, we will use a precision eraser, my pencil style eraser to add those tiny highlights that you can see on the lip surface. I'm going to continue working on the details by adding some smaller lines on the right side. When I had these details and lines, I observe roughly where they are located, and then I place them accordingly. I'm not trying to position them down to the exact millimeter. What matters when adding these small details is to look at their approximate placement, observe their length, their value, whether they are darker or lighter, and also pay attention to their direction. You don't want to draw only straight lines or lines all pointing in the same direction. That's often not the case in real life. So it's important to stay attentive to that. And to finish of this leap, I had a few tiny touches with the eraser to lift a bit of graphite and create the small highlights that really make the whole thing pop. Then overall, we can say that this leap will be done. I will just darken a few areas on the right because I feel it's not standing out enough. It seems a bit darker in some places to me. So I am adjusting that slightly. Now I can move on to the lower wit. Earlier, we did a general shading over the entire lip. But another approach is to try starting with slightly more precise shading right from the beginning. For example, I noticed that on the whole right side, the values are a bit darker. So I go in with the eight B pencil and apply a bit of pressure. Then as we move toward the left, the tone becomes lighter. So I reduce the pressure, and more importantly, I switch to a slightly lighter pencil. In the upper part here, I'm trying to create a smooth transition from the darker eight B area, and the left side is clearly much lighter, so I make sure to show that difference, too. And these give me a solid base to work with. And then I will blend all these areas together, and something else to do is to erase the contour of the lip. Just like with the palp, we don't actually see a sharp outline here. There's no clearly defined edge. In fact, I talk about this quite a bit in the foundation course where we work on the difference between hard and soft edges. And here, the lip definitely doesn't have a sharp edge. So it's really important to pay close attention to that. So I am continuing, and here on the entire right side, you can clearly see that the values are much darker than what I have right now. There is a strong contrast between the shadowed area on the right and the more central or left area. So I am reworking it, pressing more firmly with my pencil to get a result that is both visible and consistent. I'm still working with the side of my lead, but I'm so slightly using the tip to add a bit more precision. My pencil is angled, but I can still use the point to the tip just enough to get some finer detail. Now, what I also realize is that the edge of the lip right where the fold is the separation between the two lips, it needs to stand out a bit more, both on the right side and later also on the left. And now that I have shaded this lower lip, it's become very clear that this line separating the two lips isn't dark enough anymore. And why that is because we should never assume that what we have already drawn is final. As I mentioned earlier, it's important to keep a critical eye, since once you had new elements around a specific area, your perception of it can change. Here after shading the lower lip, I can tell that the crease between the lips needs to be darkened in some areas. So I am fixing that. And in the central zone, I'm going to work also on the little details and fine lines that we can see. And in the end, this work on the lines and on the details, this work on the lip folds is very similar to the way we handle light and shadow as explained in the shading module of the foundation course, the basic course. You typically have a dark zone, then the cresline that is even a bit darker than the surrounding dark zone. And finally, a small highlight next to it that helps to create volume and give the illusion of depth and form, just like what we saw with the light and shadow module. The lip is coming along nicely, so I'm going to finish it off by using the precision eraser to bring out the highlights, those little lighter areas that really catch the light. So I work carefully with the eraser to make them stand out clearly. But keep in mind that the brightness of these highlights isn't uniform across the entire lip. On the darker right side, for example, the highlights won't be as bright as on the left. So to avoid making them too strong, I don't hesitate to go back over them lightly with the blending sum, redistributing some graphite to tone them down just a bit. I'm also going to refine the crease again. In some spots, it needs to be slightly darker. So I am adding those touches now, and overall, the lip is looking good. Now, I'm going to add a final detail to emphasize something important, the natural transition between the lip and the surrounding skin. So I really make a quick shading of the skin area. Nothing too precise in terms of value, since that's not the focus here with this video. You'll see more about skin rendering in the other parts of the tutorial. The main point here is to show that to properly finish the lip, I will have some tiny pencil strokes that slightly cross over the lips edge and spill onto the skin. This breaks up the idea of a perfectly straight and clean edge. In reality, lips have small irregularities, tiny extensions that fade slightly into the skin. These details show up as fine lines that just barely go beyond the lips contour and enter the surrounding area. So now I finish to blend this area very quickly, and I'm going to add those little touches now, these soft pencil strokes that will help to finalize the drawing of the lip. And this is something you should also do for the upper lip as well. So you're going to see it right now. I had some very small touches, some very small pencil strokes here and there to create that irregularity with the edge of the lip. And this will wrap up this work on the lips. 10. Drawing a woman portrait - the hair part I: Et's begin working on this beautiful hair. The first thing I'll do is start with the lower section because you have to start somewhere. In this lower area, I will begin by marking the darker elements. We can see that this hair won't be very dark since it belongs to a blond woman. Even the darker areas in this lower section won't be extremely deep in tone. That's why using a two B pencil seems like a good choice for these so called dark areas. So I use a two B pencil and work with the side of the lead to start shading these zones. By establishing these moderately dark areas first, I create reference points that will help me navigate this complex hair section. The real risk when drawing hair is getting lost, losing track of where you are, and ultimately feeling frustrated or even giving up on the hair altogether. And that's not what we want, clearly. So I start by marking these darker zones. One important takeaway from this process is that we don't draw hair strand by strand, single hair after single hair. Instead, we focus first on identifying large section and major locks of hair. These slightly darker areas work well because they are easy to distinguish and from there, I can position the rest. Now I can begin working between the darker zone, these darker areas using a lighter pencil and HB to mark the lighter section. And with this foundation in place, then I will be able to start refining the hair texture and defining individual locks more clearly. In here, by working with the side of my pencil lead, I can cover large areas of hair efficiently. This technique allows me to shade broader sections smoothly and work more effectively at this stage. Now that we have applied our base, we can start working on individual locks of hair with more precision. My approach will be the same for the entire hairstyle. I will try to identify groups of hair, focusing on large locks, and I work and I will work on them one at a time. Once I have completed one group of hair, I will move on to the next repeating the process until the entire hairstyle is finished. Right now, I have spotted a lock on the right side. We initially established the base using either HB or to B. I don't recall exactly for this one, but now I will start adding dark lines on top. I carefully observe the direction of the hair, its density, and especially its value to determine whether the strand should be very dark or remain a little bit lighter. Based on my observations, I had these details accordingly, and I will continue progressing in this way. And once I am satisfied with how a section looks, I will move on to the next. Repeating this method across the entire area will allow me to achieve a realistic hair effect. When placing these long hair strands, I am not aiming to position each individual hair with extreme precision. The goal is to recreate the texture, volume, and overall light and shadow play in the air rather than meticulously placing each single hair. Simply identifying the large hair groups and rendering them realistically will be more than enough to capture the essence of the hairstyle and make it recognizable. So now I have applied a rather dark base of gray, and I'm going to add even darker elements with the 12 B pencil on the strand. Little by little, by layering increasingly darker shades of gray, I will create volume. To finalize my work, I will add small touches with the eraser pen. For this element to look realistic, I will use it as if I were drawing individual hairs, making long and slightly curved strokes at times. And this is what will make the hair really stand out. At this stage, it's true that it might not look like much. Let's be honest, but once all the elements are placed side by side, the drawing will truly take shape and we'll be able to tell whether the hairstyle is successful or not. And so as you can see, I'm really using this razor pen as if I were drawing long individual hair with a pencil. Right there, you can see that I'm going to make my drawing process more efficient and so a bit faster because let's be honest, drawing hair can take time. So we might as well put in the effort and be as efficient as possible. So in the lower area, I am refining all the slightly darker sections at once. You can see that I start by marking all the medium dark elements with this pencil. Then I will darken slightly. I will darken the slightly deeper areas before working on the lighter ones. This method allows me to work more efficiently and quickly while maintaining a certain level of realism because the goal is not to rush the process. I still want my work to be consistent and realistic. So this approach works well for me as it helps achieve good efficiency and have a great realism with my drawing. Now that I have established a solid base for these dark elements, I'm going to work on the strands in between. I will mainly focus on the lighter areas as we can see that these strands stand out due to their brightness, especially next to the darker sections. This step isn't too complicated. It's just about carefully observing the direction of the airs being added and the flow of the different strands to make this area look realistic. I am mostly using the tip of my pencil with a very light touch to create movement and keep the strands looking soft. I am adding small touches here and there, and little by little, the air will take shape within these elements. However, patience is key here because this part can take time. Since we want to create texture in the air, we now work on individual strengths. At the beginning, we focused on broad areas with shading, but gradually we move towards realism and texture. At this stage, the airs need to be drawn more individually. Human. At first, I started shading with a two B pencil, and now you can see that I am switching to a four B. Once again, this variation helps create volume because even within the lighter strands, there are slightly darker elements. However, even though I'm using a four B, I continue to work with a light touch in my pencil strokes. Now though the lighter strands are shaded, I realize that the darker elements in the area aren't dark enough. So once I finish working with the four B, I will switch to an eight B pencil. With the eight B, I will refine these darker strands and had even deeper shadow. This combination of darker elements and the lighter strands I previously created will help enhance the volume. Right now, I feel there isn't enough volume because the darker areas aren't dark enough. It's really the contrast between light and depth that creates the illusion of depth. It's the contrast between light and dark, sorry, that creates the illusion of depth in the air. So in summary, We could say that contrast and shading help build volume while the individual strands we had on tops refine the texture and truly give the impression of realistic hair. To create even more volume and contrast in the air, I'm now going over the very dark areas with a 14 B pencil. Hopefully, this will have a lot more depth and dimension. And to finish this section, I think it will be also necessary to add a few lighter details on the darker areas. And for that, I will use my eraser pen just as I did in other parts of the drawing. You can also see that in the lighter strands, there are sometimes darker elements that subtly overlap. So I don't hesitate to use slightly darker pencil on these lighter strands as well to further emphasize the contrast and enhance the depth of the air. An important aspect to keep in mind when using the ras of pen to highlight lighter as is that, unlike the well defined strands we worked on earlier with clear boundaries between the light and the light and darker strands, these lighter hairs tend to overlap and transition from one area to another. So that's what I'm going to that's what I'm trying to achieve with the erasopen even though sometimes darker elements can make it a bit tricky, but by allowing these lighter strands to flow from one zone to another, I can further enhance the air and make it look even more realistic. Now I'm going to work on this very dark area that we have right here. So for that purpose, I am using my 14 B pencil. So you can see that I'm going to overlap a little bit on the cheek, but it's okay. I'm going to fix that with the blending stump and blend it with the cheek because the cheek was pretty dark in this area. So that should be fine. So now I'm going to also work on this element and try to uh, create a nice transition with the hair that are on the right, and how to create that transition? Well, I'm going to add some individual hair right here that will be pretty dark with this 14 B, but not as dark as these elements that we have just shaded on the left. So just like this. And next, well, I'm going to finish this very dark area, and we'll see each other again once it will be done. Now that this step is done, I'm going to blend these elements lightly to soften them and make the dark gray more uniform in certain areas. So just a few blending strokes will help refine the transition. Next, I'm going to enhance the transition even more by adding a few darker strands that extend from this very dark area. These strands are essential because they create more natural shifts from the black zone to the lighter parts of the air. And well this section is almost finished, I'm going to add a few final touches with the eraser pen in these dark areas to create more depth with some lighter details. Even in dark areas, there are always a few lighter strengths, and those are the ones I want to bring out. Since this area is very dark, I will need to apply a strong pressure with the eraser pan to make those highlights stand out as they should. And these will be the last details to had for this area. After that, I will refine the area a little more with a few lighter pencil strokes here and there. But overall, it will be complete. The area is already standing out nicely, so we can move on to the next section. 11. Drawing a woman portrait - the hair part II: I am going to work on the entire right side of the air. We'll do it together except for this initial part. I will follow the same process as before with the lower section. That is to say, I will shade each area according to its dominant value before refining the details, texture, and volume afterwards. At this stage, there's nothing too complex to do. That's why we'll see each other again once the shading base is complete, so we can focus on adding depth and movement. We will work on enhancing the volume and capturing the natural flow C in the central part with the little wave. So let's get this base one, and then we'll mit back to finalize the right side of the air. Now that I have applied a light base, I can start refining it by adding slightly darker elements. Here we can see that this strand is positioned between darker areas. Initially, the base is quite light, but now I will add very long lines on top. Similarly, for the strand along the face, although it remains pretty light, there will still be a few longer, slightly darker hairs. In the darker areas, I had already applied a somewhat dark base, but I can also deepen it further by adding more dark elements on top. So I will continue this process gradually adding darker elements throughout different sections to create more volume. Since the air is particularly long, I will try to reflect that by drawing a long flowing lines sometimes with subtle curves as seen in this upper section. If needed, we can also simplify the process by practicing the movement before committing the line. I mimic the gesture as if I were drawing the stroke, and once I feel confident, I can trace it for real. This way, I anticipate the trajectory of the line and make the task easier for myself. Now that I have a fairly solid base, I'm going to refine it further and enhance the texture by adding more individual and longer strands. Right now, I'm working with a 14 B pencil, focusing on the darkest areas of the hair. Whenever I identify a particular dark strand, I add it in. This method helps the hair evolve and improve gradually. So I take my time to observe which strand appears especially dark, and then I incorporate them into the drawing accordingly. I am continuing to add fairly dark elements with the 14 B pencil. I can place a few in slightly lighter areas as well. But overall, I would say that's about it for the 14 B. There won't be many more to add. Now I'm going to switch to a six B pencil, which is lighter, and I will apply the same technique across the entire area to continue refining the details, gradually making the air look more and more like these woman's. And as we did earlier with the other section of the air, I'm also using the eraser pen to had highlights. These highlights details that I'm going to afterwards will be essential because they enhance the volume even more, and it takes time, but little by little, the air is reaching the level of realism we aim for. So I really like the effect created with the erasopen. However, it has made some areas a bit too light. So now I'm taking my blending tool and redistributing the graphite over these tostrins. This helps to them down slightly by spreading the graphite across those areas, making them appear a little less bright. In the central area, there is this sort of wave like shape forming. So I'm going to start with what I'm going to start with is applying some intermediate tone while also trying to define the shape. The initial pencil strokes I apply followed a certain direction, helping to introduce some movement into the air. Now I am laying down a base shading in the area, not to define the movement or the texture, but simply to establish a foundational gray tone. This base will allow me to later add finer details that will refine the hair's texture and movement. At this stage, these initial gray tones don't contribute to the flow of the air. They just create the groundwork to build upon. I can also blend them slightly to ensure a more even base before adding more precise elements on top of them. When dealing with a complex hair shape like this, the key is observation and breaking it down into steps. The idea is to start with something straightforward that provides a solid foundation. In this case, I decided that laying down a base gray toon, blending it, and then adding the first curve lines would be a good approach for this section. Right now I'm working with a medium graton and later, I will have progressively darker elements. In just a few seconds, you might also notice that I place a sheet of paper under my wrist, and this will help me maintain a steady hand for better precision. If I rested my hand directly on the drawing, it could smudge the graphite and spread it unintentionally. With the paper as a barrier, it can protect my drawing and avoid unwanted marks on the face of this woman. So I continue adding even darker elements to the area, and we can now see that the movement has taken shape. We have successfully created this light wave effect in this section. Next, I will add a few lighter touches with my erasopen. And overall, I would say that this right section of the air is complete. As for the left side of the air, I didn't film that part because the same process was essential. Because the process was essentially the same, and this section was much simpler. There were fewer overlapping strands and we didn't have the same visible wave effect. That's why I didn't record it, but I'm confident that you'll manage just fine. You'll follow along up to this point, tackling the more complex area, so there's no reason you wouldn't succeed with the left side as well. And in just a few seconds, the final result of this portrait, fully completed with the finished left side of the air will appear. And here is the final result concluding this tutorial. Thank you for following along. I hope you found it helpful. Feel free to share your own drawing. I always love seeing what you create. 12. Drawing a man portrait - first eye: Here is my drawing. I initially created it on an A free format to have more space and to be able to work on each element with more detail. A free is approximately 30 by 42 centimeters. Let's get started and begin working on the eye. As you can see, to achieve even more precision in my drawing, I have drawn the diagonal lines within this small square. This allowed me to precisely locate the center of my square, making it easier to position the element accurately. I start by shading the pupil. You can use a 14 B, 12 B or ten B pencil. Anything that gives a really dark shade when applying pressure is fine, as the pupil needs to be extremely dark. So I go in with my pencil, making sure to use the tip. My pencil is well sharpened to ensure maximum precision. This way, I keep the shading within the tadin area while also preserving the white reflection inside the pupil. Trying to erase it later with precision eraser would be difficult, so I leave it untouched from the start. You will also notice that I erase the grid lines inside the iris beforehand because they might still be visible once I shade over them. This ensures that they won't interfere with the final result. Before shading the iris more precisely, I first mark certain details around the pupil where we can see noticeable value changes. It made sense to define these areas early on, such as the one in the upper right corner of the eye as well. Now that everything is mapped out, I'm going to shade the rest of the elements more easily. So first, I will lay down a light base over the iris, and I'll go in gently because I want a subtle base that represents the light blue of the eye. For this, I use a two B pencil, applying light pressure. At this stage, I can't really use the side of my pencil lid for shading because it will be too imprecise in such a small area. Instead, I use the tip while making small circular motions. This technique will help blend the area smoothly before adding finer details. Around the pupil, the shading is slightly darker, so I continue with my two B pencil, applying a bit more pressure to emphasize the shift in value. Now that I have established this base with my two B pencil, I'm going to start adding darker elements. For example, in the corner of the ID, the entire area is slightly darker. Overall, the average value here is a deeper gray just on the top of the iris compared to what I have applied elsewhere. So I continue with my two B pencil this time, but applying a bit more pressure, making it slightly darker. Now that I have built a solid base and established the dominant gray values in this area, I can blend everything to create a smooth surface. This will make it easier to refine the details. At this point, I switch to a four B pencil to achieve darker gray values and begin looking for details that will enhance the realism of my drawing. These details often appear as fine lines scattered here and there or as slightly darker contours in certain areas. So I carefully observe my reference image to identify the different elements that make up the eye, then I incorporate them into my drawing. Gradually, the eyes take shape and we start to give it a more expressive look. While the person's emotions are often conveyed through the smile, the eyes also communicate a lot of expression. In this case, the eye has a happy, lively appearance, and that's what I aim to capture through the details, the correct gray values and even the shape, something I defined earlier when sketching the outlines. All of these elements work together to express the character's emotions. So at this stage, I continue refining the details, adding a few more elements. I can also use an eraser, my eraser pen to highlight certain lighter areas. However, since this is a relatively light colored eye overall, there isn't much more to do in terms of darkening the iris. I would say I have now completed most of the work needed for the darker areas of this eye. Now let's move on to working the white of the eye. The white of the eye should be very light and delicate. To start, I erase my guidelines to ensure they wouldn't be visible. Then, I lightly shade the area using the side of my HB pencil to create a soft base. And now I blend everything carefully. If you look at my blending stump, you will notice that it's tip, it's quite dark. To avoid smudging unwanted graphite onto the drawing, I use the sight of my blending tool instead of the tip, making sure not to press too much. I also blend the edge of the iris very gently into the white of the eye to create a smooth transition between these elements, almost like a soft fade. Now, using a two B pencil, I had subtle darker touches to the white of the eye, particularly near the top of the iris. I also include a few lines, a few fine lines to suggest small veins, which adds to the realism. In the inner corner of the eye, there are some slightly darker areas as well. But overall, the white of the eye is complete, and I can now begin working on the eyelid. I also noticed that the right corner of the eye wasn't dark enough, so I added a few deeper tones. In the upper part, we can see that shading isn't uniform. Some areas are lighter than others. For instance, right here on the left side, the shading is softer, so I am using a two B pencil. And as I move toward the right, I will gradually darken the tones. And for the far right corner, I can even use a 14 B pencil. However, on the far right corner, even though I'm working with a 14 B pencil, I will work with the side of the lid to ensure smooth blending later. This way, the area won't appear as intensely dark as the pupil, but it will still have a strong contrast. That's why I believe the 14 B is a good choice for this part of the drawing. I finalize this area and then blend it with my blending tool, my blending stump as I need to be quite precise here. This way, I create a smooth base that will allow me to had the individual eyelashes in this area later on. Let's continue with the upper area just right here over this eyelid. So this area remains relatively light, so I start by applying a soft base layer. I use my HB pencil, working with the side of the lid to ensure smooth blending laser. Once this base is in place, I can refine the area, add texture, and make it more realistic. For now, I focus on evenly applying the grays in this section while maintaining precision and avoiding overlapping with other elements. Since this area is generally light, the HB pencil works well for covering a large portion of it. So now I can blend using a tissue instead of my blending stump since this is a broader area, a larger area. I wrap the tissue around my finger and blend in small circular motions to create a smooth surface for further detailing. Moving on to the detailed phase, I noticed that above the eye, there are some slightly darker areas compared to the lighter base I initially apply. So I had these darker touches, particularly along the lines separating the two zones as it appears more pronounced in certain areas. I continue refining the details, but for now, I focus on sort of one rather than deep shadow. For example, just above the dividing line, I observe fine horizontal lines that contribute to the skin's natural texture. So I carefully had these lines paying close attention to their direction and distribution. And by incorporating these fine details gradually, the area becomes more realistic and natural looking. Observing the reference closely, I replicate the many small horizontal lines present, ensuring they align with the overall structure of the eyelid. I would say that the upper area is looking good now. We have added a solid base and a nice texture. Now I can focus on the area where there will be where I will be drawing the eye lashes. Before sketching the individual lashes, I need to refine the base layer underneath them. Observing the reference, I see that the area beneath the lashes is darker, so I enhance it by adding deeper tones compared to what I had before. Now I can start drawing the eyelashes. I carefully observe the direction, their length, and thickness before committing to each stroke. It's important to use a well sharpened pencil here for maximum precision. I am using a ten B pencil for the eyelashes, even though I previously shaded the 14 B for the area. However, since I'm working with the tip of the pencil and applying more pressure, the lines come out darker. Adding these eyelashes is crucial because they significantly affect the character's expression. Even just a few of these fine hairs can make the eye look more recognizable and lifelike. I also notice that along the edge of the iris, um, Right here, there are slightly darker areas. So I emphasize them by pressing a bit more with the tip of my pencil to make them stand out. Continuing with this process, I work my way along the eyelid, adding the lashes carefully. I also see that the creams separating the eyelid from the brow bone right here should be darker. So I apply more pressure on my pencil to make it more pronounced. At this point, the eyelashes are coming together nicely. However, I realized that after blending with the tissue, I might have lost some of the depth in the iris because I wasn't accurate enough. Yes, this likely happened because the issue the tissue, sorry, redistributed some of the graphite, but it's not a problem. I simply go back over the iris reinforcing the shading to darken it again. Now I can start working on the lower eyelid. I noticed that there's a fairly dark line along this area, so I make sure to emphasize it. This line is important, along with the slightly darker shading on the left side because it helps to create depth and dimension in the lower eyelid. If you have followed my tutorial on drawing a woman's portrait, you might notice that I'm not working in the same order. In that tutorial, I started with the upper area, including the eyebrow before moving on to the lower eyelid. But in drawing, unlike painting, we don't have to worry about drying times, so the order doesn't really matter. I I could have started with the eye, then worked on the ear or the mouth, it would have been an issue. However, to maintain a certain coherent consistency and to see the drawing gradually come to life, I prefer to complete the entire eye area first. And that includes the lower eyelid and afterward the eyebrow. For this lower eyelid, in addition to the dark line, there is also a curved guideline where the lower eyelashes will be placed. I draw this line now and start adding the lower lashes. These are shorter than the upper lashes and slightly darker than the surrounding skin. I apply some pressure with my pencil, but since these lashes aren't as dark as the upper ones, I don't need to use an overly soft pencil. Now I can start working on the eyebrow area. But first, I erase any remaining guidelines to ensure they don't show through later. Around the eyebrow, there are natural skin areas, so I use my two B pencil to lay down a south base. Before doing that, though, I take an overlook at the adjacent areas and notice that the edge of my dark line isn't quite pronounced enough, and a few details are missing. So I take a moment to refine those before continuing. It's always a good idea to step back and compare previous elements with the newly added ones to maintain balance. Now I can shade the skin surrounding the eyebrow with my Tubi pencil, entering a smooth and natural looking base before adding further details. Next, the central area is slightly darker, so I use the softer pencil, in this case, a six B to deepen the shading. Now that I have established all the elements, I can focus on refining the eyebrow in detail. But before doing that, I ensure the surface is smooth by blending everything properly. Once the base is well prepared, I can move on to adding individual hairs and texture to make the eyebrow look as natural as possible. For this eyebrow, I notice that on the left hand, the hirs are quite light. I start by marking those carefully observing their direction since they don't all follow the same path. On the upper part of the eyebrow, there are also a few stray hairs going in different directions, and they are relatively light. So I sketch them in accordingly. When drawing eyebrows, it's important not to assume that all hair should be drawn in the same direction just because they belong to the eyebrow. Instead, take the time to analyze their natural flow, their density, and their variations in darkness. In this case, the man's eyebrow our rabo sparse without a strong density of hair. So I focus on drawing each hair individually rather than filling in the area too much. In the central part of the eyebrow, the hairs are darker, so I adjust my pencil strokes and switch to a softer pencil when necessary to ensure the right level of darkness. After adding a few more details, the right eye will be complete and I will move on to the left eye. I also pay attention to the areas where the hairs overlap or criss cross, making sure to capture the natural randomness of these individual hairs of the eyebrow. 13. Drawing a man portrait - 2nd eye: Let's begin working on the second eye and as expected, I will follow the same process. I start by shading the pupil with a very dark tone while ensuring that the we reflection remains untouched. I'm careful not to overlap onto the highlight, and I apologize if it was hard to see exactly what I was doing at this stage, but since the pupil requires a high level of precision, it was tricky to show you every detail. However, you can see that I carefully worked on the pupil using a very dark pencil. Next, I applied the light shading with a two Bi pencil around the eye, and now I'm blending it smoothly before refining the details. I notice that this left eye appear slightly darker overall, so I need to pay close attention to the tonal variations. To enhance the depth, I switch to a four B pencil and start adding darker details in keys area. Around the pupil, and in the lower part of the iris, I see some subtle graton, so I make sure to mark them properly. I also add similar details in the left and right corner of the eyes gradually increasing the level of definition. I can also emphasize the darker elements that frame the pupil, particularly around the right edge and lower portion. These areas feature a more pronounced dark outline, so I carefully reinforce them. To soften these elements slightly, I use the tip of my blending tool entering precise blending without losing the structure of my details. And as I continue refining the eye, I go through my usual process of detail hunting, closely observing my reference image and adding small details that enhance realism. Each time I notice an important feature, I immediately incorporate it while ensuring the correct gray values are applied in the right places. And step by step, the eye takes shape becoming more lifelike with each added detail. Now using a slightly darker pencil, I further deepen certain areas that need reinforcement. I carefully observe my drawing and decide that the lower part of the eye needs to be a bit darker as well as the upper right corner. So with my AB pencil, I enhance these areas to a more contrast and more depth to my eye. I also notice that on the right eye, a few elements need some slight adjustment. So I take a moment to make small refinements here and there to ensure everything looks balanced. As always, I continuously check my previous work to see if any areas require additional retouching. If I find anything that needs improvement, I don't hesitate to make corrections. This process might take some extra time, but it's worth it to achieve a more polished and realistic final result. Attention to these small details is what elevates the overall quality of the drawing. Let's begin shading the white of the eye. Observing this area, I notice that both the left and right corners are quite dark, so I make sure to emphasize them. Overall, this white of the eye appears slightly darker than the one on the right, though the difference is subtle. I carefully apply a light shading using my two B pencil, keeping a delicate touch. Then as I did on the over eye, I blend everything smoothly, ensuring a seamless transition into the eye rays to create a natural gradient. On the left side of the white of the eye, I notice some slightly darker marks blending into the surrounding area with the iris. So I add them for a more realistic incorporation. Additionally, I'm going to for more realistic transition, sorry. Additionally, I incorporate fine, slightly random strokes to suggest veins, giving the area more texture. And to further define the upper part, I darkened a little bit the contour. To enhance the contrast, and I then repeat this process on the right side of the white of the eye, adding faint line to represent veins and create a more natural texture. And to refine the highlights, I also use my eraso pen to add lighter elements. Moving on to the eyelid, I see that the upper edge of the eye is significantly dark. So I start with a four B pencil for the right side. While for the left side and the central part, I'm going to use an eight B pencil to achieve even deeper contrast. This section is where the eyelashes will be drawn. So I establish a very dark base to set the foundation. Just above this dark area on the left, I continue with my eight B pencil, but with a lighter touch to create a subtle transition. And as I move to the right side of the eyelid, I switch to a two B pencil since this area is visibly lighter. Comparing it to the right to the right eye, this eyelid appears slightly darker because this side of the face is less exposed to light. This means that all elements here will naturally be a bit deeper in tone. The same goes for the surrounding areas. I darken them slightly more than their counterparts on the right side as they receive less illumination. And the left side of the face is clearly more in shadow. Though, the difference isn't extreme. Now that the shading is done, I move on to blending the area smoothly. Since this process is essentially the same as on the right eye, I speed up to finalize the shading efficiently before refining details in this area. Now, let's work on the details of the eyelid. I begin by defining the dark line that runs along the eyelid. This line is relatively thick and well defined, but it doesn't have a uniform value throughout. The darkest part along the edge is along the edge while the surrounding areas are slightly lighter and blend naturally into the rest of the skin. So to achieve this, I carefully blend these lighter sections to create a smooth transition. Once the baseline is in place, I refine it further pressing a bit more with my pencil to emphasize its depth. Above the line, I softly blend the shading to introduce a subtle texture that merges with the surrounding skin. Now comes the meticulous process of texturing the area, which takes time and patience. Similar to what I did with the over eye, I started adding fine lines to give a realistic skin texture. In this part of the face, the lines tend to be more horizontal. So I follow that pattern to keep the texture natural. And as I work, I carefully observe the values, ensuring that not all lines have the same darkness. I adjust my pencil pressure accordingly to make the rendering as realistic as possible. Fortunately, there's no major difficulty here, since the interior of the eye is already well defined. These details that serve mainly to have volume and enhance the overall appearance. Similarly, in the area where the lower eye lashes will be drawn, I had some darker marks to define the skin texture. The solo touches create a solid base before adding the individual lashes later. Like on the over eye, there is also a dark band along the eyelid that enhances its three dimensionality, and I make sure to include it gradually refining the area. As I continue, the eye becomes more defined, bringing us closer to the final result. At this stage, I observe that the small lines in this area near the eye take a more vertical direction contrasting with the horizontal ones I applied earlier. So I continue refining this area, particularly where the eyelashes will be by adding delicate details to ensuring the transition is pretty smooth. In the central part, I'm using now my eraso pen to bring out lighter highlights as this area catches more light. Similarly, on the lower ID, there's a noticeable highlight, so I carefully erase to define it more clearly. And with this, the foundation of the second eye is nearly complete, and soon, I will be ready to add the eyelashes, which will further enhance the depth and expressiveness of the eye. Now I can had the individual eye lashes for the eye following the same principles as before, paying close attention to their length, their curvature, their thickness, and darkness. I also had a few lashes that slightly extend over the white of the eye. These small delicate details unlike the final touch that enhances the overall realism of the drawing. Even though they might seem minor and not very important, they actually make a huge difference in bringing life to the eye. Since eyelashes are thin and dark, it's important to be precise when drawing them as they can be difficult to erase if a mistake is made. So taking the time to carefully observe the natural shape before adding them is crucial. Once the upper eyelashes are complete, I move on to the lower lashes, applying the same method. They are generally shorter and less dense than the upper one, so I keep my stroke slight and well controlled. Once the eyelashes are defined, I shade the skin around the eyebrow in the same way that I done before. This part is fairly straightforward, applying a soft shading to create depth before adding the individual eyebrow hair. So since we've already gone through the shading process multiple times, I skip this part, and now we can start drawing the individual eyebrow hairs. Now, let's work on the eyebrows, following the same approach as with the first one. Since the eyebrow hairs are not densely packed, the skin underneath remains visible, making it important to draw each hair individually rather than creating a solid mass of shading. This approach ensures that the protrains remain as realistic as possible. As always, it's essential to adapt the technique based on the reference rather than applying a one size fits all method. I carefully observe the direction and density of the eyebrow hairs and replicate them with precise pencil. To finalize the eyebrow work, I will use a precisure eraser, my eraser pen to gently lift some areas creating light of strands that are naturally visible within the eyebrow. And this contrast between a darker and lighter hair enhances the realism. And with that done, the eyebrows the eye area will be complete and we'll be able to move on to refining other areas. 14. Drawing a man portrait - the nose: Now let's move on to the nose. First, I mark the slightly darker band that connects the two eyebrows. For this, I use a two B pencil. To create depth in the nose, I observe the different areas and identify the most prominent shapes that I should shade first to define the volume. Using a four B pencil, I darken the left side, which is quite shaded. I apply firm pressure while using the side of the lid so I can blend it smoothly afterward. Next, I will gradually work my way down to the lower area where I also notice darker tones. I am carefully shading the area to shade the nostril as it plays a key role in defining both the nostril itself and the central structure of the nose. So placement and shape accuracy are crucial here. On the side of the nostril, I continue using my four B pencil, but with a lighter touch as the value is slightly softer in this area. To further define the nose, I work on the right side using a two B pencil. As I mentioned earlier, this area appears more illuminated, so the shading is less pronounced compared to side. For the central part, I will use an HB pencil to keep it light and define the highlight zone. I could have raised to create the highlight, but since I haven't shaded over it yet, I'll take this opportunity to place it more precisely. Both approaches work equally well, so it's just a matter of preference. Finally, blend the entire area using my blending tool, my blending stump. I could have used the tissue since it is a relatively large area, but I prefer more control. I prefer more control and precision. So the blending stump seems like a better choice here. Once that is done, once I have blended this area, we'll move on to refining the nose details. Now that I have blended my initial shading, I won't focus on adding skin texture just yet. Instead, I will work on improving the shading to make the nose more precise and realistic. We have already laid down a good base. Now it's time to refine the shading further. For example, in the lower part of the nose, I noticed some slightly darker areas, so I carefully add them. The same goes for the separation between the nostril and the rest of the nose, where I see some deeper shadows that need to be reinforced. To do this, I can I can either use a softer pencil or simply apply more pressure with my current pencil. To make those areas stand out. At this stage, I am fine tuning the shading, making the nose more free dimensional and enhancing the natural contours. I also realize that my right nostrils isn't standing out enough, so I will go back and define it further. And it's all these small subtle shadows that will help make the nose look more dimensional. Later, when I will add the cheek and the surrounding skin, the nose will appear even more three dimensional. But for now, adding these additional shadows already enhances its depth. Since these details aren't about skin texture yet, but rather smooth shading, I blend them to carefully maintain soft transition and keep the surface looking more natural. Now that my shading is looking solid and I have a good base, I will refine it further and begin working on skin texture. I noticed that on the left side, the shading could be slightly darker. So using my eight B pencil, I reinforce the shadows in this area. To create skin texture, I had small strokes and scribbles, subtle marks that mimic the natural irregularities of the skin. At this stage, I analyze where darker elements should stand out more compared to my previous shading. So I look for small details that need to be emphasized and gradually add them making the nose appear more refined and realistic. On the right side, which is on the left side, sorry, it which is in deeper shadow, these details need to be more pronounced, so I ensure they stand out properly. I also refine the right nostriil which is less visible and less dark than the left one, significantly lighter in fact. And step by step, the nose takes shape, gaining more depth and realism. In the central area, I continue adding texture details mainly through small strokes scattered throughout. I am still using my mid tone pencil, my eight B pencil, but applying it very lightly to making the texture to avoid making the texture too harsh or blending too much into the existing shading. In this area, I am adding some slightly lighter details to create a better transition with the surrounding areas like with the ridge of the nose or with the eye on the left. And similarly, on the right side of the nose, I can add a few lines to improve the blending between different areas. At this point, the nose is coming together well. The texture looks natural, and the form is well defined, which is encouraging. I notice that the left side of the nose may appear too dark at the moment. However, this is simply because it's not yet fully integrated with the surrounding facial elements. Without the left cheek and additional details, it's difficult to accurately judge the contrast. But I'm confident that the value is correct and once I had the left side element, it would look more balanced than natural. Also reinforce the highlight by using a precision eraser, adding small strokes to make the brightest areas more visible. And overall, the nose is well defined, which is satisfying. To finish, I continue adding lighter details, including the highlight between the two eyes where a bit of light bounces off. And I carefully refine this area while also adding more subtle texture to blend everything seamlessly. For the nostril area, I will be able to go in with something extremely dark to define its edge. Then we can see that there will be multiple values within this nostril, and it's important not to use something extremely dark everywhere. As we move down to the lower part, the elements will become lighter, including the side of the nostril and its shadow. So be sure to carefully observe this value chain. Otherwise, there's nothing particularly complicated about this nostril. The main challenge is avoiding that mistake. Once this is done, I will blend everything to achieve a soft and even transition that covers the small area well on the paper. Then we will continue working on the cheek. Human. 15. Drawing a man portrait - the cheek: Now let's move on to the work on the cheek. I will start by applying the dominant tone that will cover a large part of the cheek. To represent it, I would say that the two Bi pencil seems like the right shade of gray. You can also see that in the area near the nose, I press slightly harder with my two B pencil to create a smoother and more natural transition in that zone. Next, I will avoid the highlight area for now, as I will shade it later using an HB pencil, which is lighter. Once these elements are in place, I will blend them. But before that, I also notice the crease on the cheek created by the slide, and I continue with the two B pressing just a little more to define it. Now I will blend my elements, and once that is done, we'll move on to the next step. Now that my two B areas are blended, I'm working with an HB pencil on the to zones. There's a very pronounced highlight on the cheek and also some very light areas under the aglid. I am applying an HB base here because not the entire zone will remain this bright. There will also be slightly darker touches. Using HB gives me a good foundation on which I can later refine lighter elements more gradually. Now that my base is set across this area, I start adding small details to enhance the texture. With a slightly darker pencil, four B, I'm adding subtle touches here and there to introduce more depth and refine the texture. This texture helps define the transition between the nose and the cheek more effectively. Using a four B pencil, I'm adding the small darker elements where needed, which not only makes the skin appear more realistic, but also helps the highlights stand out. By adding slightly darker touches next to the highlight, the lighted areas I'm about to work on will be more pronounced. I will continue this process and then use my eraser pen to refine the brighter spot. To do this, I will apply small tapping strokes roughly following the natural shapes of the highlight. It's similar to scribbling with a pencil, but this time with the eraser. And I will press down slightly. I press down slightly to make sure these areas pop and appear naturally bright. Finally, with my needed eraser, I can also lighten gently lighten certain areas where I just want to soften the gray a little. I will shape the eraser into a precise form to control where I leave the graphite, ensuring a clean and detailed finish. Now, we can move on to the left side, which is a much darker area. And I will start by defining the small wrinkles near the corner with my two B pencil, applying a bit of pressure. These wrinkle are subtle, not deep, but they are still quite visible, so I will carefully mark them with the two B pencil. Next, I will shade the area up about the height of the eyebrows. That way we can save the forehead for later. And I will continue using the two B pencil for this, but I will press a little more firmly because the shadow in this area is quite pronounced. Once the shading is in place, I will blend everything to refine the texture just as we did earlier. Another important detail to notice is that the skin between the wrinkles is slightly lighter. So when working in this area, I will use a much lighter touch with my pencil to keep it from becoming too dark. Of course, I will also blend this area as I will be adding subtle texture details on top later. Small carefully placed touches and even lighter elements will help make the wrinkles stand out naturally. And as you can see for the area between the wrinkles, I'm using an HB pencil to create a softer effect. This keeps the shading light while still allowing the structure of the wrinkles to remain visible. Um, human human. Now I want to refine these wrinkles more precisely because they aren't standing out enough yet. So I will add slightly darker touches by pressing a bit more with my pencil. However, it's important to note that a wrinkle isn't just a continuous, straight line dark and straight line from start to finish. Instead, the line is slightly broken and irregular. To achieve realism, I'm drawing a series of short, fragmented lines along the wrinkle rather than a single and unbroken stroke. Another thing to observe in these wrinkled areas is that there are also small and darker touches within the lighter zones we previously worked on. So once again, I will use a scribbling technique, adding small varied strokes, some darker, some lighter, some shorter, some longer, and this variation enhances the realism of the skin texture. To finalize everything and give this area even more dimension and depth, I will use small eraser strokes to refine the details and reinforce the three dimensional effect. Finally, I am adding a bit more detail to the upper part of this area as we can see a few dark lines appearing. But overall, I would say this section is now complete. Now I would like to work on the over check to enhance the contrast and make the nose and previous work stand out even more. Since I am left handed and started with the left side, I want to avoid smudging the graphite with my hand, which could leave wonded marks and alter the drawing. To prevent this, I place a sheet of paper under my wrist. This allows me to shade while keeping my hand flat on the surface, reducing fatigue, and ensuring better precision when applying my pencil stroke. For this area, I will follow the exact same process as we did for the left cheek. Nothing too complicated. You got this, I'm sure. So I'll see you once again once this part is done, and we'll continue from there. 16. Drawing a man portrait - the forehead: So this is how the cheek area looks now. You can see that it wasn't that hard. I think the left one was a little bit more complex due to the wrinkles and volume that was in this area. There is more volume. And now I can start working on the forehead. It's not the very complex area. It's a very big one, which can be discouraging because this process takes time, and you might make us might make us want to give up, but that's not what we want. So if you ever start feeling discouraged, take a break, step away from your drawing and come back to it later with a fresh perspective. I started with T B on the right, then HB on the center, and on the left side, I'm using a four B pencil since this area is pretty dark. To ensure a smooth transition with the central part where I had previously shaded with an HB, I have added a touch of T B. This helps the different values to blend more naturally. I can also work in this area and within the light zone, which will be very pronounced. I'm still applying light base here and I'll blend everything afterward to create a seamless transition. I am shading the highlight and remove the graphite to highlight it and make it stand out with my eraso pen. And since this is a large area and I want a very soft blend, I'm using a tissue for blending. I start with the lighter areas and gradually move toward the darker ones. This prevents my tissue from picking up too much graphite from the dark section and unintentionally darkening the lighter area. If I had started with the darkest area, the excess graphite would have spread into my highlights, making them darker than intended. Now that the area is blended, we can move on to refining the details. On the forehead, I'm going to refine this dark area on the left side. I'm using the side of my pencil lead for this step. Right now, I'm not focusing too much on detailing the texture or making it to look very realistic. I'm simply reinforcing the shading because certain areas need to be slightly darker overall. So I'm working with my four B pencil, applying it with the side of the pencil lead. At the same time, if the shading extends a bit towards the left, it's not a big deal, since it will help me gradually blend into the air area. Once these elements are in place, I will blend them to ensure they transition smoothly and naturally with the rest of the surface. Now I'm going to start working on the texture. I'm still using my four B pencil since we are in a slightly darker area. This step will take some time, and I will need to apply the same technique throughout the whole section. The goal is to a small lines here and there, creating a textured skin effect rather than a completely uniform surface. And this is what will make the skin appear realistic as it introduces subtle variations in pigmentation. Some areas will be slightly darker, over slightly lighter, adding depth and natural detail to the area. In the central area, we are getting closer to the center and the elements are becoming slightly lighter. So I will use the same technique, but this time with a two B pencil to keep the shading softer. Since this process will be the same for a while, I will speed up the video a bit. However, I will step in from time to time whenever I feel that there are important details worth explaining. The marks in this texture are a bit lighter compared to other areas. So at times, I use a blending system to soften the strokes slightly. This helps reduce the intensity of the lines where needed. For example, around the eyelid area, we worked on folds and small details that were more pronounced. But on the forehead, I want the texture to appear a bit softer, so I don't hesitate to tone down the strokes to achieve a more subtle effect. Here we have something quite interesting with this long wrinkle on the forehead. It's longer than any of the previous ones we've worked on. And as you can see, it's not completely straight or continuous. Some areas appear darker or lighter, and the line is slightly broken in places. So I first catch at the main line and then added small surrounding details to enhance the realism. In some spots, I will go over it again as certain areas of the wrinkles are naturally darker than others. Even for the small details, it's important to observe carefully and adjust accordingly to achieve the best result. I also found that the wrinkle was a bit too dark compared to the rest. So I softened it using the kneaded eraser. Additionally, I tone down the area above the wrinkle where we have a highlighted section that is significantly lighter. This allowed me to adjust both elements at once. Now that this area is really bright, I can go back over it with a few subtle strokes to a texture and refine the details a little bit further. I'm going to add some small details to this area and the central zone to refine the shading. Some details need to be slightly darker, which will also help improve the transition between different sections. For example, in this lower area, I think adding a few darker details and darker touches will help better connect the forehead with the nose. The same applies to the left side. I need to work on the transition between the darker area on the left and the central zone. Small strokes I'm adding here and there will help blend everything naturally. And finally, for the central area, I will enhance some highlights using my eraser pen. Once that is done, both the central and left zones will be complete. Now, this will be done, I will move on to the right side, but I will skip showing this part since the process is exactly the same as what we did on the left. The only difference is that the values on the right will be slightly lighter than the ones on the left. Other than that, nothing too difficult or different from what we have done so far. So once that is finished, we'll move on to working on the mouth. 17. Drawing a man portrait - the mouth: Now let's work on the lip area. These lips won't be very complicated to draw compared to others because they don't have a lot of false or intricate detail. The fact that a subject is smiling stretches the lip texture, making the surface smoother with fewer creases. So I will start by applying the base values for this area. And first, I identify the ltosones both on the upper and lower lip. The lights areas are mapped out using an HB pencil. Next, I switch to a slightly darker pencil, the two B to start defining additional elements. There's a subtle shift in values towards the lower part of this lip, so I adjust accordingly to create the darker areas where I needed. At this point, I will leave the highlight white, and I will adjust it later if necessary. Like in the female portrait that we did before, where I had worked on the lip separately. This time, I'm treating both lips as a whole, and at the same time. However, you could also start with the upper lip first, then move to the lower lip or change or in the other order, first the lower, then the upper. It doesn't really matter. The choice of method depends on your preference as it doesn't affect the final result. With the two B pencil, I have defined some areas, especially in the upper lip area and the lower part of the lip of this lip that touches the teeth. Now moving to the four B, I have reinforced some darker elements in this area. And at this stage, just by applying the right values in the right place, the lips will start to take volume and dimension. And as you have seen, I have blended everything to have a smoother base to work on. Now that all my elements are blended, my next step is to refine the shading even further while also starting to add some texture for small lines. Observing the lower lap, I notice that there are small darker elements across the lower area. So I had these carefully, paying close attention to their direction. These details have a slight curvature curving inward towards the center of the leap. I then do the same for the upper lap enhancing darker areas where needed to create a more natural and realistic look. This step by step refinement is what gradually brings the drawing and the mouth to life. A frequent mistake that many artists make when drawing leaps is to outline the lips with a strong and defined border. However, if we closely examine reference photos and the natural anatomy of the lips, we realize that there is no sharp contour. Leaps don't have a distinct border separating them from the surrounding skin. Instead, they blend smoothly into the facial structure. This means we should create a soft transition between the lips and the surrounding skin, making them appear as a connected and unified surface rather than separate elements. So after fine tuning my shading for smooth fur effects, right now, I have a blended again for a smoother effect. I can now focus on the very small details to enhance realism. So I carefully observe and ask myself, where should I add a small dark elements? Where could another subtle detail improve the texture? And by working in this way, I gradually refine the laps until I am fully satisfied with their appearance. However, since these leaves don't have many folds or complex texture, this final detailing stage shouldn't take very long to complete. All right, so I'm adding a few more final details, and that should complete the labs. So now I'm going to use my erasopen to emphasize the highlights which are quite pronounced in certain areas. As you may have noticed before using this eraso pen, I have also worked a little bit on the corner of the mouth because there's this small dark element, which is important to include for realism. However, I'll be able to accentuate it even more later when working on the space between the teeth, since that area will be extremely dark. And so using my eraser pen to add a few lighter details, particularly in the central part of the lips, where a strong highlight is visible. Now, once this done once this area will be finished, I will focus on the small space between the teeth and the lip, which is a very dark zone. And to render it properly, I would need to use a well sharpened pencil to enter accuracy. So let's move on to that next step right now. This step is not difficult at all, but it requires a lot of precision to avoid overlapping onto the teeth or the lips, especially since we are working with very dark values. So to maintain accuracy, I use the tip of my pencil for maximum control. And I start by carefully working on the contour of the tip, and this helps me establish clear boundaries and ensures that the shading stays in the correct area. One key detail to pay attention to is that this dark area is not uniform. Some sections will be slightly darker than others. So be mindful of the subtle variation to maintain realism. Other than that, this step is straightforward as long as you stay precise and observe the different value changes. Now, before working on the tif themselves, I first focus on the gums. The gums are well defined in the upper areas, creating a natural separation between the tif. I initially started shading with an HB pencil, but as I moved along, I realized that the areas I had done in HB were not dark enough. So I went over them with a four B pencil to achieve better contrast. I apologize if certain parts of the process aren't fully visible. I was so focused on achieving precise shading that I didn't notice some areas might not be as clear on camera. However, I continue refining the details to ensure a smooth and natural transition. Another important detail to include is this slightly dark line at the top of the teeth where they meet the lips. This small but crucial element enhances realism. Without it, you might feel that something is missing, even if the lips and gum seem well drawn. This kind of subtle shading detail is often what gives a drawing its natural and finished look. Now I will keep shading the gums, making sure to adjust the darkness levels. It gets slightly darker on the sides. Now let's move on to working on the TIF. I begin by applying a light shading with an HB pencil. Even though tif might appear white and very bright, they are never completely white in reality. That's why a subtle shading is necessary to add realism. However, in hindsight, while reviewing my drawing during editing this video, I realized that I shouldn't have blended the shading too much. A very light HB shading would have been sufficient. As a result, my tif turned out slightly too grayish. If I could adjust it now, I would likely erase some areas with a needed eraser to make them a bit brighter. So be careful not to make the central teeth too dark. They should still remain relatively light compared to the rest of the mouth. When observing the teeth closely, you will notice that there are subtle dark details in certain areas. These tiny shadows and variations help define the three dimensional structure of the teeth. If these small shading elements are missing, the teeth may look too flat instead of realistically shade. So I carefully shade the subtle elements to create natural depth with my teeth. To further enhance realism, I will also use my eraser pen to define the brightest highlights on the tif. These highlights will help reinforce the relief and structure, making the tif look more natural and reflective. The teeth further back in the mouth are noticeably darker because they receive less light. So these ones will need to be shaded more heavily to create a strong contrast between the foreground and the background. And this helps differentiate, sorry, then from the brighter, the more visible front teeth. And once this process on the left side will be finished, I will repeat the exact same technique on the right side to maintain consistency. And after that, we will move on to refining over facial elements. The remaining tif will follow the same approach as what we have just done here. Okay 18. Drawing a man portrait - the skin above the mouth: The mouth is now complete, so we can move on to the area above the mouth. First, I will work on this fold, which plays an important role in shaping the face. It helps to clearly separate the cheek from the rest of the face and give the cheek volume and structure. This fold is characterized by a very dark line, but next to it, there are over dark areas that are slightly lighter than the main fold than these main lines. So combining these two elements is what creates a realistic sense of depth in the cheek. And once these elements are in place, I blend them softly with the surrounding areas using my blending tool to achieve a smooth transition. Next, I take a two B pencil and begin shading the area between the nose and the mouth. Since this step is not very complex, I've sped up the process. I simply apply a two B shading across the whole area before moving on to add finer details. In this area, I am now adding darker elements using a four B pencil. These are mainly shadow areas, particularly the shading created by the nose, the fold between the nose and the mouth, and some sort of dark spots in area where facial air might be visible, though it appears shaved, which still creates slightly darker tones. But I don't necessarily question why certain areas are darker. What matters to me is that I observe where the darker values are and apply them correctly to create volume and realism. Now that these elements are in place, I blend them using circular motions with my blending tool to achieve a smooth and natural transition. Now that the shading in this area is blended, my next step is to add small details to make the texture more realistic. At this stage, I analyze the area and ask myself, does this spot need a darker element? Is this section dark enough, or should I adjust it? Did I add all the necessary details? And based on my observation, I make small adjustments accordingly. So in the shaped mustache area, I had small, slightly darker marks to suggest the presence of very thin facial hair shaved hair. Just above the lips, I will also include a few blended elements so that the lips naturally transition into the surrounding skin. Also in the shadow area below the nose, I will reinforce the shading to create a stronger contrast, making the nose stand out more. Going back to the fold we defined earlier, I observed that on its left side, there are some darker details that I will carefully at this in making sure they blend seamlessly with the rest of the shading. And step by step, I layer the small elements and the area quickly comes together. With these final touches, this section will be complete. 19. Drawing a man portrait - the ear: Now let's work on the ear. This ear is particularly interesting to work on because it is shown in the free quarter view, which we haven't really encountered in the rest of this portrait. Additionally, it is positioned in deep shadow. It's on the shaded side of the face, receiving very little light. Because of this, most of the elements will be quite dark. To build a solid base, I first mark the dark areas. These two specific zones stand out as the deepest shadow, so I shade them using the side of my pencil lead. Right now, they are not as dark as they should be, but I will adjust the darkness later once all the surrounding elements are in place. The answer is already clear. I definitely need to darken them more. However, for now, these shadows are defined enough to be distinguishable from the rest of the ear structure. For the rest of the ear, I apply a base shading with a four B pencil covering the entire area. This lays the groundwork for further detailing. Before moving on to refining the details, I will blend everything to create a smooth and even surface. This will ensure that when I start adding precise details, they will sit naturally within the shading without harsh or abrupt transition. And now that the base shading is in place, we can move on to detailing the ear structure. At this stage, I can start refining the details and defining the different shading zones with greater accuracy. In the dark section, we can see that the edges of these zones are often the darkest. So I make sure to reinforce them. Meanwhile, some areas contain lighter gray, so I adjust my pencil strokes accordingly. This is why it was beneficial not to press too hard earlier. It allowed me to establish a lighter base, preserving the brightest parts of this shadow area of the ear. Now I can layer darker values on top, refining the shading gradually instead of applying too much darkness all at once. One of the key aspects when working on an ear is ensuring smooth transition between different sections. Most elements of the ear are connected, meaning there are a few hard edges separating them. However, there is one clear exception, the upper ridge of the ear, which stands out sharply against the rest of the ear structure. But apart from that, almost everything else is interconnected, requiring careful blending to maintain a realistic sense of depth and volume. I also had a few darker touches to the ear lobe. But overall, the ear is almost complete. There are only a few small details left to refine. So I blend certain areas to create smoother transition between these different elements. And then also using my kneaded eraser, I will lighten specific spots to adjust the contrast. It's important also to shape this kneaded eraser properly so you can work with precision. And also I refine the edge of the ear because I noticed that some areas extend slightly beyond where they should, and the outline isn't as cleanly separated from the background as it should be. And now when this final adjustment will be made, the air will be well defined and finished. 20. Drawing a man portrait - the chin: Now let's work on the entire left side of the cheek. This left side will be interesting to work on because there's quite a bit of contrast between certain elements due to the slight relief created by this man's M. So we can see that on the cheek, there are a few folds that we need to emphasize properly. It will be interesting to see how to achieve this. So first, what I am aiming to do with my pencil is to apply the right values in the right places. For these darker areas, I start by laying down a base layer with a four B pencil. This way, it will be easier later on to add darker elements on top or slightly soften certain areas. By working with a medium tone, I can cover a good portion of the area. So I'm going to use the shade this gray to cover a large part of my zones. Of course, I work with the side of my lid. Then I will adjust the pencils for other areas that are slightly lighter. For example, I can use a two B pencil for areas adjacent to my four B shading. This will allow for a smooth transition before moving to even lighter areas, where I will start with an HB pencil. Once all my areas are in place, I will blend everything using a tissue, since this is a relatively large area. Then I can refine the details and add more depth. So far, there are no major difficulties. It's just about laying down the base tones and the dominant grays of the different areas before moving into finer details. This process is quite similar to what we did on the forehead area, for example. So I have blended everything in the area, as you can see. And when I have blended my area, I have redistributed a little bit of the graphite onto the area just under the mouth because it was a little bit too light with the HB I applied. So now I think the value is pretty fine. And so as you can see, with my six B pencil, I am now adding a little bit more of texture and darkening a little bit some areas like you can see right there, because in the shadow areas, there's not just one value. You can see that there are some elements slightly darker. So that's what I am adding. Also, in the fold of the cheek, you can see that there is a darker line, and I am adding it right now to create even more depth within this area. I will do the same with the folds that right next to the mouth on the left to create even more volume in this area. As you can notice, I hold my pencil in a strange way a little bit, but it's something that is very good for me because thanks to this, I can work on the lead with the lid of my pencil and having apply a strong and firm pressure on my pencil, creating dark elements. And so that's what is pretty fine with me. And even though sometimes your grip may seem pretty strange, pretty weird for certain person, it doesn't matter as long as you are comfortable with it and it helps you to have some good result. And that's the case for me and with this grip. And so as you can see, I am also working a little bit more the texture on the light areas. I'm still using the six B pencil. However, I'm pressing lighter on my pencil to have some shading that is not too dark. And so this area is getting pretty good at the moment. What I will also do later on will be to create some highlights in some areas with my eraser pen to have even more volume and realism in the area. And also, what I'm going to do is to add a little bit more of shading in the area that touches the mouth. This way, I can connect these two elements, the mouth and the skin, right now, you can see I am doing it. And I can connect this element because like we discussed earlier in the course, there's no sharp edge with the mouth. The mouth, the lips, they are connected with the skin all around. And so that's what I try to create. And what I try to do now by blending the skin area with the mouth. And I am blending also the skin area all around to have a texture that is a little bit more soft, more smooth. And then that will be it. I would do the same thing with the area on the right, and we'll see each other again for the shading of the air. 21. Drawing a man portrait - the hair: Now let's move on to working on the air. Before focusing on shading the air, I'm going to refine the inner contours of the air style a bit. This will make the shading process easier and help me give the air volume. So here I am with my pencil trying to identify certain areas. We can already clearly see his little quif a bit like Tintin, you know, the character right at the front. I'm joking, but I have to admit I have almost the same hair cut. So I'm trying to define the individual strengths more precisely in this area. To do this effectively, I rely on the contrast between lighter and darker elements. Now that the general shape is defined, it looks a bit like a small wave. So I'm going to move on to shading. On the left side, the shading will be quite dark right from the start. I had initially planned to use a four B pencil, but I think I can go straight to six B because I want a strong contrast with the skin next to it, which is already somewhat dark since it is in a shadow. So I am applying my shading across the entire area before blending it with a blending stump. This will help me create the texture of the air later on. Near the edge where the air meets the face, I will be applying a slightly lighter touch since we can see that this area is a bit brighter right here. So I will continue refining and then blending these elements with my blending stump. And once that is done, we'll come back to work on the finer details of the hair texture. Now, I am going to try to make the hair look more realistic and emphasize the darker areas. I'm working with my pencil slightly tilted, using more of the side to avoid making my strokes too harsh or too visible. I start by defining the darker zones that appear in certain areas, such as on the left side. I carefully mark all these darker elements that stand out clearly, and at the same time, I begin working on the hair texture. I also blend these marks a little because there are some kind of preliminary strokes. I'm not yet fully texturing, so I don't want them to be too prominent at this stage. Now is the point where I can properly develop the hair texture and emphasize it more clearly that my hair are blended, start with the fine strands of hair that appear on the side and slightly blend into the forehead. I make sure they extend slightly over the forehead as we don't want a harsh and defined border separating the hair from the skin. These two elements are connected, so we naturally see some fine hairs overlapping the forehead. And I'm now adding those subtle details. In the areas on the left as well, over the light base I previously added, I can now add a few darker strands here and there. This will help enhance the volume and make the area look more realistic. You can also refine the stray hairs on the left side, those that extend into the background to make the overall composition more natural and coherent. Little by little, the area is coming together nicely, which is great. Another very important step will be to introduce light to details using the eraser, fine Oh, yes, using my eraser pen. Since hair naturally catches light, we have strands that appear slightly brighter, and these highlights are essential for adding depth and making the volume stand out more clearly. So I will keep refining this area, adting the contrast and details until I am fully satisfied with the result. Now let's work on the central part of the hair. Before anything else, one crucial detail often overlooked and which can make a drawing look a bit of is the small transition area where the airline meets the forehead. This area consists of fine hairs that connect the forehead to the rest of the hair, preventing a sharp and unnatural boundary. So I started by lightly shading this transition zone. After that, I would had individual strengths to blend the two areas more naturally. This approach helps maintain a realistic connection between the forehead and the hair. Now moving on to the central section of my hairstyle, the hairstyle, my goal is to shade the different strengths by applying the dominant gray tones in this area before refining the details further. And step by step, I identify the different hair sections working broadly at first and gradually progressing through the entire area. Another key aspect when working on these larger strands is to introduce movement into the air. Air naturally curves in certain areas, so I want to emphasize this by creating subtle waves and curves within the strands. This will help realism and a more dynamic flow to the air style. At this stage, I'm focusing on shading all the key areas in the central section, establishing the dominant grays before diving into the final details and have the individual hairs of this area. Now, I am going to refine the entire hair a little more in detail. I will start with this area on the left side, which I find not dark enough. So I will work on it, adding a few darker strands here and there to improve it. Next, I will try to define the wave area a bit more. But before that, I will also add some small stray hairs on the side to show that the hair is not perfectly even. These little strengths that stick out help create a more natural look. Now, what I would do with this wave and this section is work on the individual hairs. For that, I'm going to mark some strands slightly darker than the previously shaded area. As I add these new hairs, I make sure to respect the direction and curve they follow to create a sense of movement in the air. I can start with the lower part by adding a few small strands and gradually move upwards, extending my strokes to create slightly longer hairs. Also, I don't hesitate to switch pencils to had some darker elements, as we can see in a reference photo that there isn't just one shade of gray. Instead, it's a combination of different tones that create the overall effect. Here, I'm also working on the fin hairs found in the lower section of the hair, which fall over the forehead. These are usually quite thin and not too dark. We can see that they fan out in different directions, so I had them accordingly. And this is how the air takes shape and leads us towards the final result. This area in the middle can sometimes appear a bit confusing. So to make things clearer, as I usually do, I will first identify the darkest elements of the air and add them in. This way, it will be easier for me to progress through the area and gradually incorporate over details, allowing the portrait to take proper shape. In the lower section right here, we can also see that some strengths are darker while others are lighter. So it's important to pay close attention to these value changes because in order to give the air volume, which is our goal, we don't want it to look flat. We really want to create a three dimensional effect. And for that, we need to vary the shades of gray, which is exactly what I am doing. Another detail we can notice is in the upper part of the air where there is also a value shift a shift in value. This area is much lighter, so I will apply softer pencil strokes later on. I also don't hesitate to go over areas I have already shaded to ensure that the right values are applied. And as I mentioned earlier, this section contains lighter strength, so I'm adding a few more to refine the texture. However, I won't apply much pressure as I did in previous areas since this part is not as dark. And to make the lighter elements stand out, I will use my eraso pen, which will allow me to create fine individual strands with precision in this area. And overall, this section of the hair is coming together well, so now we can move on to the right side. M For this area, once again, it might seem a bit confusing. You might wonder, where should I start drawing these hairs? It's not always easy to know where to begin. And as usual, I will start by working on the darkest elements first, because they seem to be the most obvious one in this area. They really stand out. So once those are in place, I can add the lightest strands. And around them and refine the texture then. The key is always to identify the most prominent elements. And in this case, I found that the dark areas stand out the most, so I will begin with them. Then I will move on to another slightly dark section nearby. And well, I walk between these elements using a lighter shading technique, blending everything smoothly, and finally refining the texture. Since the shading and blending are already in place, I can now focus on adding more details and refining the texture. Again, this part is slightly accelerated because the technique remains the same. So here I am adding mid tone elements darker than the base gray, but lighter than the darker section. And you can observe how I carefully follow the natural direction of the air, which in this case, flows towards the right. I've made sure to recreate this movement, and in the darker areas, I am also adding even deeper shadow, always paying attention to their direction to maintain that smooth, natural wave effect in the air. And the same technique I have used here will also apply to the right side since the hair in this section is structured similarly. The only difference is that we have two distinct groups of strengths. We have the first one we worked on and this one. And overall, the dark areas are complete. Next, I will also add some lighter highlights with my eraso pen, as we can see that this hairstyle has quite a few reflective strengths that create a shine effect. And this is what I will focus on now trying to bring out those natural highlights in the air. And as you can see in this drawing, I also carefully worked on the section of hair that connects to the forehead to ensure a smooth and natural transition between these two elements. Now I can also work on the small section of hair on the right. This part won't be very complicated since it is relatively small, and it's important to carefully blend the transition with the forehead by adding a few line fine strands that extend onto it, just as we did on the left side. In this section, the hair appears stiffer and straighter, so I will focus on replicating that instead of creating a wavy effect. I will add a few final details to refine this area, and then we'll be ready to move on to the final steps of the drawing with the neck. 22. Drawing a man portrait - the neck: Now let's move on to shading the neck. In this area, we can see a slightly darker band at the top, which is separated from the darker section under the chin by a slightly lighter strip. So I'll make sure to clearly define this contrast in value. Overall, shading the neck won't be too difficult, but it's important to pay close attention to value transition. For example, in the section I'm shading now, the tone is darker than this one that I'm going to shade right now. You can see that there is a slight difference in value, but it is important to create this difference to create more volume. On the side, there's also a more pronounced shadow caused by the shirt, which helps create a sense of three dimensionality and volume. It's crucial to account for this to maintain depth. The right side will also be slightly darker, so be sure to observe these value changes carefully. So I'm shading all of this using the side of my pencil tip for my pencil lead for maximum efficiency. Later, I will blend it to refine the details further. As I mentioned, the neck isn't the most complex part to shade, but since it comes at the end of the drawing, there's a natural tendency to rush. I know I'm eager to see the final result, but it's important not to rush through it. Otherwise, disappointment can set in, and the result may not meet your expectations. So take your time, take breaks if needed, and focus on achieving the best possible shading for this area. Now that my shading is well and blended, I have a smooth surface. I can refine this area further. One thing I have noticed is that the Adam's apple doesn't stand out enough, so I lighten it slightly using my kneaded eraser and soften some of my strokes. Now I will work a bit more on the texture of the neck. This texture is characterized by well placed lines here and there, along with a few darker elements that send out. So I would add those details to enhance the realism. Overall, the texture doesn't require too much detail, just a few subtle lines to suggest a natural skin texture. As I mentioned before, the neck isn't a focal point of the drawing. Viewers won't spend much time analyzing it. However, that doesn't mean it should be neglected. A few well placed details should be enough to make it look realistic and well integrated into the portrait. Regarding the Adam's apple, note that the direction of the lines in this area shifts slightly. So make sure to adjust it accordingly. As you can see, they don't have the exact same direction. So we are almost done with the neck. Next, we will work on the shirt and the left side of the collar, and after that, the drawing will be complete. Now we can start working on the shirt. As I mentioned earlier, there are some darker elements along the neckline, and it's important to emphasize them to enhance the depth. That's what I'm doing now with my pencil, pressing firmly on the darkest areas. Right next to the shadows, there is a very light section. However, I don't want it to be completely white. So I have added subtle marks, and then using my blending stump, I will likely apply some strokes to distribute the accumulated graphite on my blending stump, making the area slightly less bright. And I am also refining the upper part a little bit of the shirt which connects to the neck. This area is somewhat dark but not as intense as the shadows I applied earlier. For this section of the shirt, we can see various shades of gray. Here, I'm using a technique I don't apply often. I start by shading the entire area with the darkest gray present in this section. Then once everything is blended, I will use my needed eraser to lift out the lighter area. Essentially, I'm working from dark to light by removing graphite with my eraser. This approach helps me achieve the correct shades of gray in this section, creating light to tones where needed. And overall, I won't be spending too much time on the shirt, just like with the neck, because these are not the focal points of the portrait. The main focus should always be the face, even though the secondary element should still be well integrated. Just a few more pencil strokes, and then I will reveal the final result with the right side fully completed as well. And here is the final result. I hope you enjoy this tutorial and that you, too, have drawn the portrait of this man. Feel free to share your work with me. It's always a pleasure to see your progress and see you very soon.