My Portrait Gallery

I have always been interested in realistic drawing, but I have never participated in an art class. I tried to teach myself. And there is something to learn from every picture. See for yourselves. After reading Lee Hammond's book, "How to Draw LifeLike Portraits from Photographs", I started off with a picture of Steve Martin.


I was very satisfied with the result since it did resemble him. However, a careful look reveals some basic mistakes. First, the grid lines were not completely erased. And second, the tones filling and blending were done sloppily. In fact all the details in the face seem sloppy. Nevertheless, the proportions seem right.
I think every fine artist was once a beginner. This should only encourage us to continue practicing.

My attempt at drawing Sandra Bullock came two months after Steve Martin. The grid lines were now completely erased, but blending was still a problem for me. The grid really helped with the proportions, but fine details should have been done very patiently. I didn't know it by then, but it takes a lot of time to make a good portrait.

Nicole Kidman was done with pastel pencils. In fact I used two brown tones, a black and a white. It came out more interesting and even, more artistic if I may say. However, it was difficult for me to draw fine details, since these colors tend to be smeared. I like this style and maybe I will give it another try after I master the secrets of fine details.

Now Albert Einstein was my favorite portrait for a long time. His eyes seem to be expressing real emotions. Indeed the upper part of his forehead could be improved, and his hair..., well it seems unnatural, as if he has just been electrified....

This picture taught me not to be afraid of abrupt changes in the lighting. If done correctly, a real three dimensional effect can be observed.

My beautiful daughter Inbal is another step forward. The hair looks ok, the shades look ok and the hand has its magical effect. Even the ear which usually comes out distorted seems rather healthy.

On the other hand, blending is not as smooth as I have seen in the works of professional artists. There is also something in the neck that seems a little bit weird.

Still, I was very proud of my creation. Inbal's picture was done exactly two years after the first picture of Steve Martin.

Adi is my younger beautiful daughter. Her curly hair posed a real challenge for me.

The pictures of my daughters are the only ones I framed and hang at home, and not only because they are my daughters. I became confident with other people seeing my work.

Mr Inon Beracha is my ex-boss. People say I captured his true character in this picture. The main criticism I heard is that my picture makes him older.

At least the hair was no problem here.

I made this picture on an A3 size paper with a single 2B pencil. I think its the best portrait so far.

Older people seem to be more suitable for my drawing style. With enough patient, all those wrinkles give the portrait a somewhat more realistic character.

The cheek came out too dark, and it seems as if it has some unnatural bending. I think I will correct it someday.

The hand however, was a real problem. It took me longer than the whole face.

Notice the shirts in the last two portraits. They make a lot of difference.

Daniel Radcliffe, or better known as Harry Potter, came out with one big eye and one small eye. Always use a circles template for the eyes. They even seem to have a different tone, even though Harry is looking straight forward. And his face, well, it looks simply dirty rather than shaded.

This is a portrait I will surely do again. (I can do better than that).

The next two portraits are of a beautiful girl called Limor.

Even though its the same person people tell me that by looking at the pictues they get the impression we have here two different girls. In fact, they usually recognize her from the second portrait.

I have also been told that drawing all the little wrinkles in the face makes the subject look older. (Sorry Limor). Here is something to remember. Since drawing is not photographing, making a person look younger is much easier.

Galit has blue eyes. I tried to add the blue tone to her eyes without making it too pronounced.

I tried a new style of hair, something that might have worked well with charcoal, but here, it just came out less realistic.

I tried to fill in the dark shirt with a very soft pencil (6B), since I wanted it to be very dark. However, maybe the paper wasn't smooth enough, since the dark shirt is filled with tiny white dots. (You can only see it on the original).

Children don't have any wrinkels, they are innocent and have other proportions. (The head is relatively bigger, compared with grownups).

Its harder for me to draw good pictures of children.

It took me quite a long time to draw Hadar's hair. In fact it took me more time than drawing her entire face. She is only 7 years old, but she looks more than that in my picture.

Tali's portrait was made to the request of a friend of mine.

I made Meitav's picture to the request of the same friend of mine.

This time I had to draw the whole body.

But her feet were cut off from the original picture.

Since my friend did not accept a girl with no feet I came up with the following solution:

Drawing the full person is much more satisfying and impressive than just the face.

Thanks for visiting.

Comments are more than welcome.

Tsachi.

The Best Pencil Portrait Artists

I started sketching after visiting the sites of some incredible artists. The list is very long but here are some of my favorite.




Kevin Candon is a self taught artist, who uses several pencils, a black marker and some blending tools. All the pictures in his gallery include portraits, sometimes with a related object in the background. His style is very realistic. You can actually percept the emotions of his subjects. You can even feel the materials in his drawings (cloths, glass, etc.)

Here is a sample picture.

http://www.kevincandon.com/









Linda Huber is an artist who makes you shiver. She is insanely talented. She write poems, she is a photographer, and above all, she draws. Each one of her drawings in the gallery is a masterpiece. Her subjects include portraits, which sometimes include the whole person in the background, or still life objects. She works patiently on every little detail. You MUST see her site.

http://midtel.net/~imaginee/




James Garner presents only portraits in his site. He has several sytles of drawing. Sometimes he draws only the face of his subject, showing only strands of hair. The effect is very artistic, as you can see in the picture I selected.

Don't wait. Click on the following link.

http://www.jamesgarner.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.html










Lee Hammond is the author of several art books. As a beginner her books gave me a big push forward. Thank you Lee. Since you are also so talented, I selected one of the pictures in your site for my blog. Lee draws almost anything. From portraits, flowers, animals and still life to car-races and landscapes. She uses either colored pencils or graphite pencils. And the outcome - judge for your self.

http://www.leehammond.com/

















Speaking about colored pencils, Lisa Stapor is certainly one of the best. Her site also has a short tutorial on colored pencils drawings. But the main reason to go into her site is the way she uses colors. Her portraits are amazing, and the colors are so real.

http://www.stapor.com/











Clearly, there are plenty of other very gifted pencil artists. A simple search yields hundreds of internet sites with beautiful pictures. However, I selected those who inspired me.

I consider myself a novice artist, striving his way up. You are welcome to view a blog with my own creations.