15 TIPS ON DRAWING REALISTIC HEADS

This workshop will take you through all aspects of my drawing method, which I’ve developed over the years and now pass on to my students as art professor at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University. Over the next few pages I’ll reveal my key composition techniques, which range from establishing a point of view to applying key illustration principles for creating an accurate and expressive likeness of the human head.

You’ll also learn how to apply what I consider to be the essentials of human facial anatomy, and explore how the concepts of value, shapes and plane changes affect a portrait’s underlying structure. Elsewhere in this article I’ll reveal my techniques for creating depth and dimension, and investigate how contrasting shapes are used to enhance depth in an illustration.

If your figure drawings are looking a little flat, then fear not – I’ll also be covering how to create the illusion of three dimensions when drawing on a flat surface. I’ll examine how edges – contours as well as changes in value – are used to convey three-dimensional form. And it’s important to remember that not all portraits have to work in isolation. In this article I’ll also be demonstrating how expressive hands, facial hair and the right choice of background can all enhance the finished piece, and make for a more pleasing viewing experience. So grab that charcoal stick and let’s start drawing!

1 EXPRESSIVE USE OF LINE

I drew these portraits with expressive lines by