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Description
By ~shley77

4 part series on creating realistic drawings
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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THE PICTURE IS VERY LARGE, FOR DETAIL PURPOSES, SO IT MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD

people have been bugging me to do a tutorial for so long, and now ive finally figured out how i can do it. there's so much thats involved in doing a portrait, so im going to show you a step-by-step 3 part process on how i do portraits.
first and foremost, before you even start the sketch, you must pick a picture, and i do consider this a step as well, lol. when picking a picture or subject to draw, you want to consider a few factors:
1. what you're best at : usually when i pick a picture, i pick one which i can emphasize on the eyes, because i'm best at that, and i also love drawing them.
2. what's challenging : you want to pick a picture that's challenging to you, but that's not so difficult you'll want to tear it into tiny little pieces, lol. for this one, my main interest challenge-wise was the bracelets. i know they'll be a new challenge for me, so i want to learn from them, but i know im able to do it.
3. what interests you: normally, you would want to pick a picture that seems like it would be fun to draw. for this one, i chose it mostly because i like gackt, but also because of the many different details i can highlight from the original picture
4. does size matter: lol, no, i mean the size of the picture you naughty people. i tend to pick a picture that is very large, normally the size, or almost the size of my paper. that way details are easy to see. but it depends on what you're comfortable with.

When you're done picking a picture, always try to find something to keep yourself from getting annoyed while drawing. whether it be a certain part of the picture you cant wait to draw, or just listening to music. i tend to do both. finally, get yourself hyped up about drawing it. even if its a commission and you're not looking foreward to it, find something in the picture you find really interesting, and get yourself excited to draw it, cheesy as it sounds

sketching: the reason this is so detailed is because i believe sketching the subject is the most difficult part of drawing a portrait. every detail in the face is of utmost importance to the overall look, feeling, or expression in the drawing. once you look at the steps in the picture above, youll see what i mean, but dont look yet, lol. also because once you start shading, its very hard to erase everything properly

firstly: sketch out the drawing by eye (i dont use grids so i cant tell you how to fiddle around with any of that) pay close attention to placement, and how certain objects, such as the hand, relate to other objects, such as the face, in the drawing. use your pencil to line things up in the picture and the sketch to match. for instance, if the inner part of the eye, lines up with corresponding the outer corner of the lips. when you're done sketching, scan the picture into your computer (given that you have a scanner, if this is not the case, ignore the part about the computer and just continue sketching from eye with the following tips) always begin at a spot which you feel is most comfortable, such as with the general outline of the face, the eyes, etc. some pictures, like this one, are very difficult in that they have no comfort zone. if thats the case, stumble foreward anyway, taking comfort in the fact that you have an eraser, and can always fix anything you screw up, teehee.
1. this screenshot shows my first draft of the sketch compared to the actualy picture. as you can see, there are a few things that need to be fixed, such as the eyebrow angle, the left side of the face etc. a lot of times i put my pictures on the computer because its much easier to tell where the mistakes are. now, while still looking at the computer screen, take the sketch out and fix the problems you see as best you can, erasers are you're best friend in this step.
2. scan your second draft into the computer and repeat the process, fixing any detail problems that you see. focus mainly on the face area, as that is the most important part of the picture. accessories, such as the bracelet, can be distorted slighlty without taking away from the final drawing.
3. scan a third time and repeat if necessary. it usually only takes me 3 tries before im satisfied, sometimes more, it depends on the difficulty of the drawing, and the fact of whether you want perfection or not, lol.

once you're finished and satisfied with your sketch, you can begin shading the shading tutorial will be posted tomorrow, as i finish the picture

Description
By ~shley77

4 part series on creating realistic drawings
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

-------

THE PICTURE IS VERY LARGE, FOR DETAIL PURPOSES, SO IT MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD

people have been bugging me to do a tutorial for so long, and now ive finally figured out how i can do it. there's so much thats involved in doing a portrait, so im going to show you a step-by-step 3 part process on how i do portraits.
first and foremost, before you even start the sketch, you must pick a picture, and i do consider this a step as well, lol. when picking a picture or subject to draw, you want to consider a few factors:
1. what you're best at : usually when i pick a picture, i pick one which i can emphasize on the eyes, because i'm best at that, and i also love drawing them.
2. what's challenging : you want to pick a picture that's challenging to you, but that's not so difficult you'll want to tear it into tiny little pieces, lol. for this one, my main interest challenge-wise was the bracelets. i know they'll be a new challenge for me, so i want to learn from them, but i know im able to do it.
3. what interests you: normally, you would want to pick a picture that seems like it would be fun to draw. for this one, i chose it mostly because i like gackt, but also because of the many different details i can highlight from the original picture
4. does size matter: lol, no, i mean the size of the picture you naughty people. i tend to pick a picture that is very large, normally the size, or almost the size of my paper. that way details are easy to see. but it depends on what you're comfortable with.

When you're done picking a picture, always try to find something to keep yourself from getting annoyed while drawing. whether it be a certain part of the picture you cant wait to draw, or just listening to music. i tend to do both. finally, get yourself hyped up about drawing it. even if its a commission and you're not looking foreward to it, find something in the picture you find really interesting, and get yourself excited to draw it, cheesy as it sounds

sketching: the reason this is so detailed is because i believe sketching the subject is the most difficult part of drawing a portrait. every detail in the face is of utmost importance to the overall look, feeling, or expression in the drawing. once you look at the steps in the picture above, youll see what i mean, but dont look yet, lol. also because once you start shading, its very hard to erase everything properly

firstly: sketch out the drawing by eye (i dont use grids so i cant tell you how to fiddle around with any of that) pay close attention to placement, and how certain objects, such as the hand, relate to other objects, such as the face, in the drawing. use your pencil to line things up in the picture and the sketch to match. for instance, if the inner part of the eye, lines up with corresponding the outer corner of the lips. when you're done sketching, scan the picture into your computer (given that you have a scanner, if this is not the case, ignore the part about the computer and just continue sketching from eye with the following tips) always begin at a spot which you feel is most comfortable, such as with the general outline of the face, the eyes, etc. some pictures, like this one, are very difficult in that they have no comfort zone. if thats the case, stumble foreward anyway, taking comfort in the fact that you have an eraser, and can always fix anything you screw up, teehee.
1. this screenshot shows my first draft of the sketch compared to the actualy picture. as you can see, there are a few things that need to be fixed, such as the eyebrow angle, the left side of the face etc. a lot of times i put my pictures on the computer because its much easier to tell where the mistakes are. now, while still looking at the computer screen, take the sketch out and fix the problems you see as best you can, erasers are you're best friend in this step.
2. scan your second draft into the computer and repeat the process, fixing any detail problems that you see. focus mainly on the face area, as that is the most important part of the picture. accessories, such as the bracelet, can be distorted slighlty without taking away from the final drawing.
3. scan a third time and repeat if necessary. it usually only takes me 3 tries before im satisfied, sometimes more, it depends on the difficulty of the drawing, and the fact of whether you want perfection or not, lol.

once you're finished and satisfied with your sketch, you can begin shading the shading tutorial will be posted tomorrow, as i finish the picture