Pencil
Portrait
Pencil
Portrait Step 8
Building
up tone in the hair
The
tone of the hair is created by hatched lines as opposed
to the soft graduated tone of the face. These lines
should be drawn fast and forcefully and must follow
the natural flow of the hair.
Build
up the tone of the hair in sections according to its
natural layers. Use a heavier concentration of lines
to shade the darker edges, especially where layers
overlap.
Ease
off gradually to capture the lighter areas, leaving
the pure white of the paper to highlight the natural
sheen of the hair.
Pencil
Portrait Step 9
The
tone and texture of the t-shirt
The
tone of the t-shirt should add to the solidity of
the figure and form a substantial base for the head.
Softly
graduated shading is used to convey the volume of
the figure, while the more detailed folds act as contours
to define its surface.
The
graduated shading technique naturally lends itself
to reproducing the soft texture of the t-shirt's fabric.
Pencil
Portrait Step 10
Using
tone to unify the image
As
this drawing was built up by concentrating on each feature
individually, some broad areas of tone are now added
to unify all the separate elements.
At
this stage, some of the detail has to be sacrificed
in favour of the overall unity of the drawing.
Finally,
a dark background has been introduced to create a dramatic
counterchange in the tonal composition of the portrait:
the right side of the image now appears light against
a dark background in contrast with the left which is
dark against light.
