Over the past few lessons I’ve told you about Pillar #1 & #2 of portrait drawing. In this lesson, we will cover Pillar #3: Capturing The Likeness Of The Portrait.Ā
Pillar #3 is all about getting all the subtle details of your portrait right so that when some one looks at your portrait, he/she will instantly recognize who you drew.
Now the shading and drawing techniques that I’ve showed you in the previous lessons will help you to make your drawing much more accurate. And that alone will capture the likeness to some degree and make your portrait more recognizable.
But in order to take your drawing to the next level, you need to pay attention the the subtle details of the subject as you are drawing. These are the little details that gives a person’s face its character.
This aspect of portrait drawing is not encompassed by a single technique. Rather it is more of a process and a skill. The more you draw, the better you will get at it.
But I will do my best to point out the important details to you and tell you what you should pay attention to. So with that said, let’s begin today’s video where I will show you how to draw eyebrows:
So as you can see, drawing the eye brow is actually not all that difficult when you use the right technique. Try it for yourself.
If you wanna learn more about portrait drawing, check out my “Portrait Fundamentals Made Simple” course.
It’s a very beginner-friendly course that walks you through all the basics of portraiture, from constructing a basic head, facial proportions, drawing the features, and finally drawing a realistic portrait step-by-step.
![Drawing Realistic Portrait Series [1 of 8] – Intro & Materials](https://mydrawingtutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Portrait-Lesson-1.jpg)
![Drawing Realistic Portrait Series [2 of 8] – The Fundamentals of Shading](https://mydrawingtutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Portrait-Lesson-2.jpg)
Thank you Ethan for your generosity of sharing so much knowledge with all of us. You certainly have a teachers heart! I truly enjoy ALL of your videos, plus you have a very nice voice. š wishing you great success in all you do…thanks again!
What kind of blending pencil are you using again? Twirlon?
It’s called a “tortillion” or “blending stump”. You can also use a Q-tip, tissue paper, or even your finger if you don’t have those tools. The point is to smooth out the tone. Hope that helps š
Thank you, I know draw and shade the eyebrow better, I have struggle with this.
What kind of a pencil should I buy?? Thanx
I would recommend you start with an HB, 2B, and 4B pencil. These are just basic pencils of different softnesss and many brands out there offers them. You can just do a quick Amazon search for (drawing pencils) and find a whole set of them for very cheap.
Oh!one thing forget to mention that I’m sending my drawing to your email.Please check it & tell me your views.
Hello Ethan I completed the eye brow. Grid method is really a nice technique. Waiting for the next class & Iām very excited.
Sorry wrong email address-type-o fat finger. Thanks for a reply.
I am finding that the more advanced the class in number the more difficult the process. The drawing becomes faster to finish the video in the time alotted. The fast drawing strokes makes it hard to follow the technique in the strokes. Not sure how to follow differently besides pause and start the video but that does not help with your speed in the strokes. What can I do differently. Thanks for your reply.
Hi Kathy,
Are you saying that the speed up video is making it hard for you to follow what is going on? If so, I will try to slow it down a bit in future videos. Although I try to show the technique at regular speed at first before I speed it up so you can see what I’m doing. Thank you for you input.
gtg going to school
Thanks for the tutorials but I have one problem and thats eyelashes I get the drawing just where I want it then I try to do the eyelshes and it ruins the whole picture need help
That’s a tough one. The eyelashes are definitely easy to mess up. I would say you just need a lot more practice. I would recommend just practicing and playing around with drawing eyelashes by themselves on a scratch piece of paper until you feel like you got it down. Then try it on the actual drawing.
Interesting to watch someone draw, it,s a learning experience. Thank you.
good explanations helps a lot:-)
Good explanations helps a lot..
A big thank you for all the lessons.
I like this video. Thank you, sir.
You’re very welcome, John!
could you please bring how to draw in 3d an how to draw celebrities realistically especially justin bieber i’d really like to learn how to draw him
this can only help those with the desire. thanks again
Thanks for videos Ethan. Need to what pencil number do you start off with. Im having trouble what number pencil to start off with and so forth. Ive even tried using charcoal for richness and pop on top of graphite and it just doesnt mix well. Help me. That seems to be my weak area.
For these lessons, I used a 2B lead pencil (although HB lead would also be fine). When it comes to pencil, I like to keep it simple. It’s better if you don’t rely on your pencil to much and instead train yourself to make the different tone yourself (using hand pressure).
That’s not to say different pencils don’t have their place. But if I were a beginner, I would stick with just 2 -3 pencils (maybe HB, 2B, & 4B) and just focus on training my shading skills.
Hope that helps.
hello ethan, can you show us how to draw animals like lions, cats and all?
I am thinking about creating a course on animals. But I don’t know what it should focus on. Do you want to draw realistic animal portraits (just like the Realistic Portrait course except with different animals) OR do you want to draw the entire animal (head, body, legs) without using a model (draw from your mind)?
things like fur – grass – trees – leaves – ground diff types – a bit of perspective and getting it right –
awesome, thanks for the suggestions. I’ll work on those right away.
i did not get 1,2,3,4 lessons please help
Hi Ally,
Sorry about that. What probably happened was the emails I sent you must have gotten sent to the “SPAM” folder by mistake. To make sure you get all future emails from me, please go into the “SPAM” folder, find my emails, and mark them as “NOT SPAM”.
Also, here’s the links to the previous lessons:
Lesson #1 – http://mydrawingtutorials.com/drawing-realistic-portrait-1-of-8/
Lesson #2 – http://mydrawingtutorials.com/drawing-realistic-portrait-2-of-8/
Lesson #3 – http://mydrawingtutorials.com/drawing-realistic-portrait-3-of-8/
Lesson #4 – http://mydrawingtutorials.com/drawing-realistic-portrait-4-of-8/
cant wait to draw the eyes – one of the things i like about drawing people – i do have a question – will you do landscapes – animals – in the future –
Thanks for the question, Cheryl. Yes, I am planning on covering landscapes, animals and other topics in the future. Do you have any specific things you would like me to address in these future lessons?
I am enjoying your videos and it is giving me an incite as to how you get the perfect drawing. that also looks realistic. Thank you.
God bless you Christopher for sharing the talent that God has given you with others . I believe that is why God has chosen you to bestow the ability to draw such wonderful drawings .I believe the more that you share , the more he will strengthen your ability to draw . Please keep up the good work , for God’s sake . Jf
Thank you, Jeff. Yes, I agree that making these tutorials has really help me as an artist. And seeing all the positive responses have really made my day.
Short but sweet
very good
great video but no sound
Huh, that’s odd. Thanks for telling me, Ronald.
I just re-watched the video and the sound seem to work for me. There might be a problem with youtube so you could want try downloading the video (using the download link right below the video) and see if that fix the problem.
Is anyone else having trouble with the sound?
once again thankyou fo letting me share your tuition.
You’re very welcome, Eira! It was my pleasure.
I really thank you.
another enjoyable lesson [ can you use the same technic on cartridge paper]
George
Hi George,
Yes you can use these techniques on cartridge paper. In fact, I like to use Bristol Smooth paper. I find the the smoothness of the paper helps the graphite blend better.
Like the lessons very much.Thanks
Thanks
Great vid. Helped me lots. Thank so much Ethan. Improved so much ever since I found ur site.
need to be longer , just get started and happy, then we stop. SO SAD
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback. I try to keep the videos focus on a particular topic so that it doesn’t get overwhelming. There’s other videos on the site too if you like to see more. Thanks for watching.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maly85/sets/72157631484441904/with/7964176384/
i spend about 5 hours to draw this picture
thank you so much for your comment and yes you can do what ever you like with this photo
your blending techique really helped me out
and the video with sphire was really cool helped me a lot with understanding how to blend graphite
i spend about 5 hours to draw this picture
p.s sorry for my english im form Poland
Awesome, thanks so much. I will post it up on the site as a case study. Can I use your full name as the author of the drawing? (it is Sean, right?) Thanks again.
how do you like it ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maly85/7963967720/
OMG, that looks AMAZING! Did you create a “before” drawing or were you always that good. WOW. Great job, Sean, and thanks for sharing. Do you mind if that posted that on the website and share it with everyone?