How to Get Better at Drawing Portraits
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 มี.ค. 2024
- If you draw portraits, you're probably looking for ways that you might improve. This video suggests 5 ideas that will improve your skills by changing the way you practice and the way you think about portrait drawing in general. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments below and I will do my best to answer them. Thanks for watching!
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I’m a retired illustrator and graphic artist. For well over 30 years, I did art to meet the needs of my clients, and I did very well. After retiring, I have struggled trying to get back to the joy I had as a kid doing art for fun. For me, it’s like starting over learning new skills. Your advice is definitely helpful. Sometimes you need someone to remind you of the basics and to try a different philosophy from time to time.
Thanks Loren, I worked in the printing industry (prepress) for many years. Taking up drawing again after years of mostly digital work was like a revelation for me. I wish you all the best with your drawings!
That's the problem with a lot of adults...they don't like to do the things they once did as a child. I never lost that feeling of being a kid
Jeff, I love to draw and have shifted my focus at different times from the figure, to faces, to buildings and environments, and landscapes sometimes. I have to say, that faces are very elusive and require the most time to regain facility. I can construct buildings and spaces, but to get a true likeness seems to be 80% frequent practice and 20% alchemy. Thanks for posting this; it’s quite inspiring to me.
Sage advice. As the Chinese say, there are many paths to the top of the mountain. As someone who's struggling in the foothills I always value the guidance given by those who are capable of the kind of quality portraits you post here.
Thanks so much for the poetic comment, love that!
Nice
As a fellow traveller stumbling towards Base camp I really appreciate your comment and this great encouraging video. Thanks to both of you for posting
This is my first comment on TH-cam ever... but I saw your first videos two years ago... I copied every one of your pictures in charcoal... you draw people's souls. I learned that from you... when I draw I'm scared, but I learned from you how to capture the soul... I rarely show my pictures but when I do, people are amazed, thanks to you... thank you very much again
Thanks so much for commenting. I really love hearing things like this. I wish you the best with your drawing.
5:11 is great advice. As a child I was discouraged from drawing because I was drawing from references that I really liked a lot, but friends and family simply saw it as "copying". I cannot stress this enough, a healthy practice from references are invaluable. Art professionals in the animation, and game industry are prime examples that working with references never stop being one of the many tools in your toolbelt. Furthermore, drawing from a reference, still life, and/or from Life will continuously build an artist's "visual library", thus giving you increasing familiarity and understand with shape, form, structure, proportionality, how light interacts with the subject, and three dimensionality.
Thanks for commenting! I agree with you. :)
Some of my greatest leaps in progress were from a specific artist, 30 days straight or less.
Thank you! I will put into practice your suggestions!
What a great points. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Thank you Jeff for making this video. Much good advice and information.
I'm very grateful for this man's advice, and hard work.
Best kind of informative video Jeff! Thanks!
Thank you very much for the advice. Everything you said is all great advice, to me it was about not spend too much time with details especially when practicing. Thanks
Much needed words, thanks a lot.💖
thank you for your work sir.
Thank you Jeff!
I agree and appreciate all your instructions. Very good!
I can sit and listen to you all day.
I'm really glad I watched this particular video. All of your points are valuable, but the quantity over quality exercise is probably something I need to do. Thanks for posting this, and keep posting!
This video was really motivating and I agreed with everything you said. I feel like I have learned my methods through watching videos and taking parts of other artists methods and combining ones that worked for me, such as the loomis method and measurements for the face. Now I’m working on preserving gesture as I know that’s my current problem area. Thanks for sharing! 👍🏻💯
3:28 is like a trap, I've been told to do this specific thing. What nobody told me is proportions can change, there are a lot of parameters that can be changed in the facial structure.
I very much agree on your opinions.
You're very correct. I've been following the advice "The nose is always the middle third of the face" until I looked in the mirror and realized that was a lie. took me a while to notice
@@vaukest5888 proko? I read the head and hands book of loomis and rewatched proko's oldest head vid. Loomis never indicated a 2/3 measurements and relationship.
And it took me 5 years to realize and break out of that fixed proportion thing.
@@vaukest5888l knew this was a lie by observation.People with big foreheads has slightly bigger heads and l suppose their proportions vary slightly. Some people have a small cranium no matter the race and young black boys have bigger craniums. People like my brother's cranium is not completely circular but has a heart like curve at the back.
As an old school Parsons student, I'm 56 now, I wish you could have been my teacher... what you said in this one video rang so true for me... THANK YOU SIR
and a hello from Central Mexico...
Hello and thanks you! Very kind of you to say.
Really good advice. More important than the sketches shown. Listen, think and then draw. And draw, and draw, and draw, and draw.
No substrate for practice.
Substitute
Great video! Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
wow, I love that head construction between 3:09 and 4:00, so quick and so effective!
Jeff, really thank you man about the advices, your work is sooo nice, your portraits so unique..keep us learning with the right way mate!
Happy that you liked it!
Thank you for a splendid video.
Great advices, thank you so much
Great video! I’m getting back into drawing after not doing it consistently for a decade. I’m trying to start with the basics & work on fundamentals. I draw regularly but I’m guilty of trying to to complete things & spending too much time rendering. I need to work on structure a lot more.
very helpful, very true. Thankyou
I really like your teaching style. Your explanations are excellent.
This is great a masterpiece. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for this.
Excellent advice....thank you.
Ohmahgod Im inlove with your Art, AMAZINGG.
This is the video I needed at this time of me doubting my art journey. Solid advice, not sugarcoating it, straight to the point and informative. Thank u so much for this. The part where u said that some people or artist take offense in u learning and drawing from reference is true. Most if not all veteran or professional artists would tell you to draw from reference and it's often times the amateurs or people who have no idea how drawing works and put it on to "talent" that says otherwise.
Thank you for commenting! Happy that you're getting something from the videos that you find useful!
excellent video. I really appreciate the runtime of your videos btw. Very wise formatting decision.
I like your opinion and it ran true to me. Thank you!
golden advice here Jeff!
Thank you for posting this, Jeff! It is very helpful and inspiring!
Glad you liked it Gio!
GREAT wisdom here, every artist needs to hear this. Actually, every person needs to hear it.
Thank you David!
Wow, Jeff your advice is spot on and pure gold. The quantity over quality, was especially insightful. This was the first time I enjoyed one of your videos, but you caught a devoted follower all the same. Thank you !
Thank you Kim! Welcome to the channel.
This video is an absolute masterpiece. Beautiful drawings, beautiful advice. Thank you for this.
Thanks so much! Glad you liked it.
Awesome, quick guide!
Thank you. Very encouraging
Thank you for sharing your opinion !
Thank you. Very good advice.
I just found you and subscribed; love the use of the phrase/point "healthy dissatisfaction" (re all one's previous work). I will be working with overwhelmingly organic forms, mainly animals, but bringing in effective figures with true likenesses is a plus, for all that formal human portraiture was never studied - thank you!
Love your videos Jeff and I find this one to be one of the best. Golden advices to the aspiring portrait artists 🧑🎨 thank you for sharing your wisdom and expertise 🙏 ❤
Thanks! Happy that you liked it :)
There is so much I like about this video
I'm told that I am far too critical of my work. I don't fish for compliments. I just see what can be better with practice and when I get it right I am the first person to say that I love it.
So helpful advices..❤️
Really excellent advice.
This video was totally golden for me!! Thank you for these tips. It’s time for me to go back to practicing portraits again. This was a very inspiring video for me.👏👏👏
I love hearing that! Good luck Karen!
Greetings Jeff - wanted to say thanks so much for uploading these videos. Your work is a real inspiration to someone like myself that used to enjoy art as a kid and now returning to it many years later just for the enjoyment, and challenge of it. So cool! Please consider making more tutorials or commentary vids they are so immensely helpful! If you had a course for sale I'd buy it in a heartbeat (I'm sure I'm not the only one). Thanks for sharing your work and your thoughts, looking forward to more.
Thanks so much! Glad tat you enjoy them :)
Thank you!
Very good videos your portraits are distinct in style.
Makes a lot of sense
Jeff, I follow you on your Facebook page and have benefitted from the drawings posted. Charcoal at first intimidated me because of the dustiness plus getting the lifelikeness proportion and value being issues I struggled with, my artwork wasn't pleasing. So I am happy for your knowledge and for sharing with us vital techniques to get better results. Thank you, Mr. Haines
Hey Kevin! Good to see you here and thanks for your comments!
WOW thankyou.
Thank you, thank you!!! Everything you said is true. Best for me, thinking that there's a specific way/rule to drawing/painting. I searched so hard and and I tried to copy every one else, and in the process I forgot myself. It's my way, my painting, my look at the world!
Thank you kindly
Glad that you liked it!
Your art is wow
From syria
merci beaucouppour cette brillante explication j'adore votre art👍👍👍👍
You're very welcome, thank you for watching!
You actually made my drawings better,even tho I have been doing portraits for as long as I can remember
I always try to do things in different ways just to learn more
Thanks for everything you do
Thank you Michael, I appreciate your comments :)
this man is so wise
I love it❤
Awesome thanks
This is a fantastic video! The drawings are exquisite throughout too.
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Like many others, I’m getting back to drawing that I enjoyed when I was a kid. This video is very helpful and inspiring. Thanks.
I've always like to draw....
I'm a kid again 😄
I value your opinion, and you've won a subscription. Beautiful drawings, all of them.
Thanks so much! Welcome!
Thank you
Great advice! straight to the point and very practical. I once attended an atelier school where student spend months working on perfecting a painting. I completely agreed with you take that it is more beneficial to paint more less perfect painting and working on only one perfect painting. Needles to say, I quickly quit the atelier and paint daily on my own.
Think of it as necessary and unnecessary. Very quick, timed sketches of just a few minutes is a good exercise in recognizing what’s necessary. Good luck!
Very helpful. Thank you!
Glad you find it helpful!
This helped alot !! totally agree sir! 👍your work is beautiful !
Thanks so much! Glad it helped.
Interesting vedio it is true for example I been using the Loomis method or the oval or the cross method so many of them but I made it easy to understand it making it my way, for example the Loomis method can be changed in son many ways even Loomis him self you can tell from his sketch es he does draw in different ways he did not only use the ball method or dividing the ball he does all kinds of alternative s
Great video and very concise. So many good statements under advice.
Btw! I could listen to you voice for hours. 😊
Thanks Stefan! Glad you liked it :)
Thanks for posting- very insightful! This must have taken quite a while to put together!
Thanks Shari! Yes, it took forever but it I enjoyed it. Thanks for noticing!
Good stuff. If my friend is more receptive to a video than being on the spot... Thanks.
Good info thanks
great ideas! Subscribed.
thank you.
I think at first people tend to hyperfocus on the details in portraits! Great advice!
Thank you, this video was very helpful. I’ve just subscribed.
Glad you liked it! Welcome!
I respect you
Thanks
Oh waw you got a deep voice..🤩
First time seeing your videos. I gotta say, what an awesome voice you have! 😮
It reminds me of the old radio voices of the 1920s! Subscribing for that and the art! XD
Haha, Thanks! Welcome to the channel!
This is a great video! The advice is spot on. I'm an anime-stylized artist and everything here applies just the same to my type of work. I feel like I'm being held back by the lack of quantity, and planning to fix that by regularly doing copies/studies. It's a bit weird that copies can be a bit controversial whereas drawing from nature isn't. But I think it's a fair game if we're honest and upfront about the work being a copy/study.
What I like the most about this type of practice is that it shortens the time to start drawing -- no agonizing over the subject, the pose, the burden of being creative 😅 And I hope (well, I know) that these skills will transfer to my original work in the future.
Thank you! Best of luck with your work.
You have an old-school audiobook voice or instructional voice
you have a nice voice, I cant get the same effect in videos as you with my voice
Great video Jeff
Thanks Simon!
Really enjoyed your talk. All good and welcome advice. I'm not a professional but I've been drawing on and off my whole life and about drawing from references. I completely agree that drawing from life is great, if only because one tends to do it infrequently and it presents new challenges. Just setting up little still lives under a lamp to really observe shadow, I think every artist should do this. But most drawing I think is done from photo reference and that's completely fine, and please let's not overlook drawing from other drawings. So called, "copying" -- it's one of the oldest training methods and it's a good one! In 8th grade when I first began drawing seriously I stumbled into a wonderful resource and it became my private tutor, it was a book called "Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters" and I began copying images that inspired me ... copying Rembrandt and Michelangleo and Duhrer and Rubens etc etc... these things combined with my own life studies taught me sooo much, taught me about the worth of every line, taught me how incredibly intensely these great artists looked at their subjects and how sensitive they were to contour and form, taught me sooo much anatomy. If I have one regret about drawing and art it's that I let myself stop drawing many years, and stopped thinking of art as a possible career because I became discouraged by meeting artists my own age who were even more accomplished than I was. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you're good! You meet someone better and suddenly you are in a crisis! Don't compare yourself, at all... it's a trap! Just draw what you love, train your eye... and train your .
Thanks for your thoughts! I agree with all of it. Especially regarding master studies. They are indeed wonderful practice and seeing another artists interpretation can be very enlightening. Thanks again!
This is very important information. Thank you for the valuable educational video.👍
thanks
Lots of good stuff Jeff :)
Thanks Tony! I’ve watched a few a your videos over the last few days. Love your style and philosophy.
@@JeffHainesArt Thank you my friend that means a lot come from you :)
Wow what a beautifully succinct way of conveying how to get better....really appreciate this video Jeff, thank you for posting. Do you do workshops?
Thanks so much! I love doing workshops when I have the opportunity, I've not been doing them regularly though.
That live model was really working it!
Right? Haha!
Watching this video right now in Batavia Il 5th grade art class!
TBH, I've been learning to draw faces for quite some time now yet I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. I want to be a comic book artist but I feel like I may never get there. I've been on Udemy for a year now and I just want it SO MUCH and SO BAD but who knows what's gonna happen years from.
All the best to everyone still grinding!
I’ve had long periods where it seemed like I was making no progress at all. And later when I did seem to have some breakthrough, I realized I was improving the whole time, I just didn’t know it yet. Drawing progress can seem unpredictable sometimes. You’ll get there.
A year isn't "quite some time" lol. Especially if you are just starting out you barely scratched the surface. However if you really do practice in a structured way things fall into place naturally and you gain an understanding. Once you "get it" your knowledge gain accelerates quickly. Then you'll plateau sometimes you'll yo yo. Its never as bad as the beginning though. Once you make a process for yourself you always have it.
@@ducksoff7236 I just want it so bad at the end of the day you know? Whatever happens happens!
@@ducksoff7236 at the end of the day, I just want it SO BAD and SO MUCH you know?
Great Advice, I have recently started to try to learn how to draw, to try to not get demotivated i started posting one daily videos both here on TH-cam and on Instagram where i draw something every day to document my progression. The problem i have right now is that i do jusr what you suggested not to do, that being not to draw one detailed but multiple less detailed instead but since i now have gathered a small following of ppl watching my daily updates i feel a little pressured to draw the best and most detailed i possibly can which means that all of my drawing time i have in one day that being around 30-60 min is spent on one drawing instead of multiple ones.
Other than that i have also started going to a place in my town where you can do different artistic things for free such as paint or draw or woodwork etcetera.
In Total I probably spend about 6 hours a week drawing.
Thanks! Glad you liked it! If you're drawing every day you're on the right track, and I wouldn't say 30-60 minutes was an overly long time to spend on a drawing. Maybe just mix up you'e routine some, so you don't get too stale.
Great video! These tips are so helpful. Does these tips apply to figures too?
Thank you! I think this absolutely applies to figures as well, maybe more so.
Ah, thanks you for not making us copy a technique that disects the face into parts!!! Lovely video - thank you.
I really like how you mentioned that those who claim that there is only one way to doing things are trying to sell you something. I'm not a beginner, but I'm certainly not crazy good yet and that bothers me a lot. I've been drawing on and off for the last 10 years, and if i had invested more time into drawing, I would be miles ahead from where I'm at right now.
Nonetheless, what matters is that I draw almost every day now. However, I have discovered that drawing without measuring is often more enjoyable and I can get the likeness faster. The problem is that I tend to get stuck a lot. Drawing people is insanely hard. Like, I'm improving fast with my anatomy and perspective, but drawing people seems to be the ultimate challenge I can't surpass right now and it hurts my pride as an artist.
My goal right now is to draw realistically and to get really good at it, but I know progress is not linear and that it will take me a lot fo time before I can get 90% or more accuracy. I'm stuck in the 60/70%.
Hope I get to improve soon though. Drawing get more fun the more you do it and the better you get at it!
You're right, drawing people is insanely hard. The fact that you're continually improving is something to celebrate. Just keep drawing, and enjoy the process. Frustration will only hinder your progress, so try to relax and you'll get there. Good luck!
How does one know in a drawing demonstration that a device like the Camera Lucida app or the Da Vinci Eye app is or is not being used? I believe recording in time lapse is an indication. Also the camera seemingly is between the artist’s eye and hand. Never making a mistake while drawing is an apparent indication, too.