Hi everyone,
I'm trying to learn to do portrait work - I have the worst time at mouths and noses.
Meaning getting the gesture of the lips to make the person look like the person - usually I lose it at the mouth and or nose.

is there anywhere you might be able to point me to that can help me capture the person - how to get the right lines of the person I'm drawing. I guess I mean how to draw what I'm seeing.....something that will help me with this process.
Does that make better sense! LOL

Thanks!

Claudia

Sometimes when things just look wrong, I draw them upside down. But I think the better answer would be to measure everything in relation to everything else

Lance is correct. To effectively draw anything, it needs to be in proportion and to do that you need to measure constantly.

Drop imaginary lines from facial features to see where other features line up. For instance, the edge of the mouth usually lines up with the inner edge of the iris and the bottom of the ear aligns with the bottom of the nose often. But you must measure to get these in proportion.

Start to draw the mouth by drawing the edge between the two lips, that will give you the over all shape, then work on the top and bottom lips separately, remembering that they have planes and curves, not flat surfaces.

You can use a grid to get the main features in the correct place, but free hand drawing will train your eye/hand coordination better. Finally practice practice practice. I know it sounds old hat, but it really is the only way to develop your skills and improve. Secondly, take your time. You can't get a decent drawing in an hour if you're looking for realism. If you just want a sketch, you can probably pull it off in that time if you're experienced. But why rush? Slow down, take your time, think carefully before you make a mark on your paper.

Measure, recheck, observe and practice.

Claudia,

an easy way to start to measure is find your constant. When you draw a body we talk of the number of heads tall it is - the length of the head is what the rest of the body is compared to.

With faces I tend to use an eye width - then the rest of the face will be 2 eyes tall or 1/2 an eye wide etc. Makes it so much easier.

Sue

you tube has lots of how to drawing videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5F5a4-xwtU


hope that helps