Head Construction

I was very excited to be doing some portraiture. For this task, I studied head construction and tried to sketch my friend as accurately as possible. I watched the videos on this topic and tried my best to represent formats and shapes of the human facial structure as best I could. To add some simple shading, I used a mixture of blending and cross hatching. I originally started out with just a blended portrait but then decided to add some hatching as further shade and sharper shadows. I noticed that the face has been constructed using both soft shading and hard lines and shades therefore I thought I could utilise this technique to achieve some of this. I wanted to ensure that I was observant of any fat on the face and how it was distributed around the features so that I could accurately construct a similar drawing. I tried my best to get it to look as close to the model as possible; however, I did make some errors with the shape of the top of the head and eyes as I was slightly distracted by the eyeliner and did not draw the eyes as accurately as I could. I need to study how eyes fit into the facial forms around them in order to improve at this and produce a more convincing piece. I was pleased with how I was able to represent the hair and how it flowed around the face and from the scalp. Another pointer I need to work on and from feedback is the mouth area and how the lower jaw looks in terms of being on a skull. I think I will attempt drawing some human skulls in order to gain a better understanding of how the actual bones work together to influence the shape of the facial structure. 

This was the basic sketch of the model after I had rubbed out any of the construction lines I had used. I need to further consider how the skull of a person looks in relation to the person as this will definitely help me to create a more convincing piece. When I began shading, I made sure to draw the basic tones first and then start building up harsher and sharper lines. If I was to do this piece again, I would definitely use more sharp shadows and less soft ones as I feel that, even though my model has very soft facial features, it looks a bit too soft and not structured enough.

This is what my sketch looked like before I added any harsher shadows and crosshatching. After feedback, there were some elements that needed correcting and further refinement. Overall, I think I need to study the skull more and then to use that basic structural knowledge to apply it to my work with portraiture.