Figure Drawing: The Portrait

Artists have been drawing the portrait for centuries. One of the best ways to practice drawing the head and features is to start with understanding the structure and proportion of the skull. Once that foundation is established, adding expressive features is easy. In this course, instructor Amy Wynne begins with an introduction to the skull’s key landmarks and proportions from three views: frontal, three quarters, and profile. Next, Amy shows you the facial features and the key muscles that act on them to create expression. She demonstrates techniques to simplify the head and features into easy-to-draw geometries that allow you to add basic tonal rendering. Amy also goes over the head’s attachment to the neck and shoulders, as well as compositional choices in portraiture.