How much realism do you need today? Well if you are just starting to draw or you feel your getting good at it or maybe your really good at it then I would say that realism is very important. 

We cannot accept anything less than being able to draw realistically until we can actually do it.

So this class is about making the FACE look fairly realistic. Not Photo-Realistic. Never could see why we ooh and ahh at someone's ability to copy a photograph or a screen shot using a color picker and a digital wonder pen. An artistic interpretation of the pic would be great but just to clone what we see seems fairly irrelevant as far as artistic expression is concerned.

Express Don't Copy!!!

Get the basics down and then look for your niche, your twist, your uniqueness. Ten thousand people can copy a Face but only an artist can interpret and create a face that is unique to them and the face they are representing.

Get those features in the right place and then start to be adventuresome. Be bold and be yourself. 

Matisse 

Look at the decorative effects here and how timeless the portrait is. Green blue is a perfect background color for any skin type. Do we really need a slick and smooth Face which is covered in digital make-up and cover up? 

Take a peek at this million dollar portrait below. Picasso did not waste anytime here. Be creative you will live much longer.

                                                         Paint, pencil

              More Paint And Colored Pencils

                                             Just Pencil And Lots Of Fun.