How To Draw Portraits In Colored Pencil

Creating a lifelike portrait is a challenge no matter the medium. From cartoon to painting, techniques vary, simply the results can be amazing.

Ane technique is to use colored pencils to create a result that looks as complex equally a painting. In this tutorial I will exist showing y'all my ain technique for how to describe a portrait with colored pencils.

Each of united states develop our own set up of techniques made upwards of bits and pieces that we prefer from tutorials like this one, books, classes and, nearly chiefly, exercise. This is non necessarily the right style and it's non wrong either, it's just the process I have found I'm most comfy with and delivers the results I'thou after. In art there's no right or wrong way of doing things, there are simply sure guidelines that assist steer us in the different directions nosotros'd like to get and, in turn, help us brand upward our own rules as we continue. Take what's most useful for you from this guide and leave out what does not suit your preferred techniques and methods.

I will exist using Faber Castel Polychromos, only please don't experience like you need to go buy these aforementioned pencils in gild to paint a portrait. Aye, they are very practiced quality, definitely some of the best effectually, but they are certainly not a prerequisite for creating this effect. Feel free to use whatever brand you like or already own. I will be mentioning, throughout this mail service, the names of some of the Faber Castell colors I'm using and so that yous tin look them up online and find similar matches in your favorite brands.

Allow'southward go started painting with colored pencils!

First things first, we have to draw the basic sketch for our portrait. I cannot stress enough how important this step is. This step will define the whole outcome of your painting, then y'all want to have your fourth dimension and carefully depict a shut resemblance to the face you are drawing. This takes some time and plenty of do, so don't experience discouraged if you don't think it's right at outset.

Something that tin help yous get familiar with the face y'all are cartoon is creating some preliminary sketches on a different piece of paper. This will allow your heed to get into an observational mode and focus its attention on looking at the particular confront you are cartoon. Getting to know its lines, curves and shadows will certainly assistance to attain closer likeness.

Describe the basic lines with a medium mankind-colored pencil. I wouldn't recommend using graphite pencils because the lines will show through later on when you lot use layers of color over it. Drawing with a colored pencil will permit y'all to blend the lines into the remainder of the colors.

Paint the eyes

Once the basic outline of the face is drawn, nosotros tin start laying downwards the first layers of colour. Go on in listen that these layers will be very faint and we will build up the colour as we go along. Here I am using the colors medium flesh, Van Dyck brownish and burnt sienna.

After that first faint layer of color, nosotros will keep to pile on layers of color to increase the intensity of the colors. Here I keep adding shadows, refining the optics, adding depth to their deep blueish color and I showtime to paint her cherry eyeshadow.

Paint the top and lesser lashes with black and dark-brown pencils. Acuminate well your pencils first so that you become thin and tapered lashes.

Paint the skin

Slowly begin to branch out away from the eyes, painting the area under the eye and some of the darker shadows around the nose. I stick to the colors I used above and outset to contain some red for the cheek and burnt ocher throughout all of the skin to residuum out some of the pink from the medium mankind and cinnamon-colored pencils.

When you have reached this amount of definition throughout the whole face, you lot can bring in some sky blue and cream (the yellow pencil you see above) colors to accentuate the lighting effects. Add cream throughout the lightest areas and blend it in with the light flesh and medium mankind colors. Apply some of the sky blue in the areas of light shadow, like under the lower lip and on the right side of the olfactory organ of the portrait below.

At this point y'all have managed to define the main planes and colors of the face up so it's pretty much polish sailing for the rest of the skin. Y'all only need to keep building up the layers in the darkest areas and finish off by pressing down harder with some of the lighter flesh colors to alloy every layer of colour together.

Paint the eyebrows

Using a light yellow ocher pencil I drew in some of the eyebrow hairs and, with Van Dyck brown, I painted some of the darker hairs and shadows to add depth.

Paint the ears

Here you can see the step-by-footstep layering process I mentioned to a higher place for shading skin. We fist begin by painting the main dark areas of the ear with a dark brown pencil. As usual, lay down this colour in soft strokes and don't press down with the pencil besides difficult. You want these shadows to remain faint, a mere guide for later on.

Next, select your mid-tone — medium flesh in this example. Pigment over the areas we accept shaded as well as the lighter areas without applying as well much pressure.

Go over it with some accent tones similar yellowish ocher and orange coat. Depending on the lighting and peel tone, these could be blues, greens or, similar you can see higher up, orange. And so grab your shadow color again and go over the darkest areas a 2d time to accentuate some of the shadows.

Finally, get over the whole area with your lightest color, in this case light flesh, and alloy out all the layers by painting in circular motions and pressing downwardly harder than you did in the previous layers.

Paint the hair

For the pilus, we volition get-go by drawing over the flesh-colored outline with a darker colour, Van Dyck brown.

Utilise the same colour for the shadows.

At this betoken, I brought into the mix the post-obit colors to paint blonde hair: nougat, caput mortuum violet, light yellowish ocher and cream. Here, instead of painting in circular movement every bit we did above, you want to paint with directly and curvy lines following the natural direction of the hair and so equally to give it some realism.

Keep painting the hair and building up color through layers. Hither I started using cold greyness 4 to paint some of the mid-tones and shadows on the pilus simply it depends very much on the specific hair you are cartoon.

I moved on to the lips later. Here, I used the flesh colors I applied to the pare along with madder and fuchsia to give them a rosy hue.

That'due south just the tip of the iceberg! Learn more about drawing portraits with colored pencil in Craftsy's'southward Radiant Portraits in Colored Pencil class.