Self portrait

[warhawk887]

and this is what my face really looks like

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4723/0212091544mz9.jpg
By troy2008 (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/troy2008) at 2009-02-12

[warhawk887]

here is another one in a differnt view
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/3420/0212091543bp4.jpg
By troy2008 (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/troy2008) at 2009-02-12

[Mboehman]

One thing that I would suggest doing is a self portrait by measuring. It's done to scale and you measure every little tiny detail. The result is the closest you're gonna get to looking exactly like you. Although you might not think it looks like you, other people will. That's because we all have this preconceived notion of our own appearance.
But seriously, this technique will teach you the right proportions and will make you better at drawing because right now, it doesn't really look like you.
Good luck!

[warhawk887]

One thing that I would suggest doing is a self portrait by measuring.

ya he has been talking about proportions but i think i followed it to much but i got all of feburary vacation to keep working on it so i will keep this up to date on changes

[DArcy1]

Yes, at this stage of your progress, don't try to use your reference as "inspiration". Do an exact copy of one of your reference photos. The tiniest details being off will mess up a portrait because as humans we are really good at noticing faces. Using a grid is very helpful and many professionals ( and old masters) used them. I use them for all my figure drawing.

This isn't a great site but it gives you the general idea: http://www.paintbygrids.com/articles/gridmethod.html

or this little movie I think is better:
http://www.darrowart.com/blog/podcast/grid_method.mov

Cheers

D'Arcy

[warhawk887]

Do an exact copy of one of your reference photos.

the hard thing about that was we were doing it in class with mirrors so we had to constantly look up then down so we never had a solid picture to really look at.

[Mboehman]

the hard thing about that was we were doing it in class with mirrors so we had to constantly look up then down so we never had a solid picture to really look at.

So you should still try one on your own. Do it at home or ask your teacher if you could use a different method to draw it. A grid is a good idea but you should still try by measuring. It takes a bit more practice to do one successfully from a mirror.

[DArcy1]

If it's from life, a common measuring technique is to hold your pencil out at arm's length between you and the mirror, and mark, for example the length of your head (e.g. "my head is as long as the distance between the tip of the pencil lead and the H in HB". Then transfer that to your paper. Now stick your pencil out again and mark the distance from the top of your head to your eyes, etc etc. Holding a ruler out at arms length serves the same function. I'm not sure if that is what Mboehman was referring to or not; if yes, well we all agree then :-)

either way, let's see your next one !

D.

[warhawk887]

ya right now i got feburary break so im going to go to the art shop and get some supplies. and next week ill be going back and we will have a new project. hopefully i wont get that bad of a grade since its the first project we did. only after 1 week of him teaching

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