A Sketch Blog Recording my Attempts to Render Pretty Feminine Faces in Pencil with Occasional Use of Charcoal, Crayon, and other Artistic Media

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Short on time for sketch viewing? See the first 272 (or so) sketches I've posted in a 34 second music video!

Sketch #25

I can't say that any particular details of the woman's face in this sketch stands out for me - I've drawn better eyes, noses, lips, etc. I did find it interesting the way her expression turned out though. It looks to me like she is listening intently to a conversation, perhaps feeling a little bit of surpressed anger. I did like the way her neck came out too.

Ted

Sketch #24

Now that I look at the woman in this sketch, I think I'd like to see what she would look like if I gave her longer hair, continuing in the direction that it is flowing ... Oh well, maybe I'll do a tracing from this sketch at some future point.

Ted

Sketch #23

I think I possibly drew one eye a little too high relative to the other, but other than that I like the way she turned out. She seems to have a happier expression than the preceding two sketches. Maybe I was in a better mood when I drew her.

It's interesting to me how every sketch turns out differently - no two are ever exactly alike ... much like people.

Ted

Sketch #22

I am not sure her face is one of my favorites overall, but I do think her ear turned out better than most of those I've drawn before, and I also like the way her hair ended up. The lighter section of hair gives the impression that the sun (or lightbulb if she is indoors) is shining on the top of her head. I don't remember if I was consciously trying to produce that effect, but sometimes you just get lucky :)

Ted

Sketch #21

Here's another try at the "glancing over the shoulder" look. I think I drew the head a little large relative to the rest of her and perhaps made the nose a bit too long, but I like the way the hair turned out.

Ted

Sketch #20

This sketch is probably the closest I have yet to the traditional "3/4 angle" view. I think this angle might work better than the "straight ahead" view in terms of producing a cleaner and crisper look to the drawing, while still conveying the three-dimensional aspect of the face.

I think she looks somewhat "elf-like" with the large eyes and her ear off at a somewhat unusual angle.

Ted

Sketch #19: "Glancing Over Shoulder" Pose

As the title implies, this is the first drawing I've posted where the subject is glancing over her shoulder. Having her looking slightly off to one side creates a whole new set of challenges in terms of how to draw the nose, how to adjust shading, etc.

I like the way the shoulder turned out - Maybe I should try starting with a head with no features (no eyes, nose, mouth, etc. - just skin) and then add the features after I get the head approximately the way I want it.

Ted

Sketch #18

... and back to straight hair for this sketch. I've been accused of drawing faces that are too "round" as opposed to realistically shaped, and I'd have to plead a bit guilty on that score, but I think she looks pretty anyway :)

Ted

Sketch #17

This one makes me think of a young woman out on the prairie in the 1800's, mostly because of the way I drew her hair. It would be fun to redraw here with a hat sometime.

Ted

Sketch #16

I think with this sketch I am finally getting the nose to come out closer to what I would like. I like the placement of the hair, but I see some things about the hair itself that I would do differently - odd curls, sections of hair looking somewhat snarly, and so on. Oh well, maybe she is just having a bad hair day! I'll have to try a little image editing on the computer at some point.

Ted

Sketch #15

I tried a couple of new things with this sketch - a shawl/wrap and more disciplined hair. I think her facial expression is a little different than is typical for my sketches too. To me she looks like she might be in a very contemplative mood, perhaps a bit sad.

It would be interesting to see what she would look like if I made the eyes a bit more symmetrical, reduced the chin a bit and made a few other minor adjustments. Maybe I'll do some tracing and modification and post the results in a while.

Ted

Sketch #14 and a little experiment

I decided to try a little experiment with sketch #14. Supposedly symmetry is a characteristic which humans find univerally (regardless of culture) to be attractive. So I took one side of the drawing and combined it with its mirror image to produce the second image. I do think the second face looks a little more attractive than the first in some ways ... maybe. There are a couple of obvious oddities which resulted: the strange effect with her hair at the peak of her forhead, a somewhat excessively pointed chin, and perhaps a little too much of a "thinning" effect. I'll have to try this again sometime with a sketch that is more symmetrical to begin with.

Ted

Sketch #13

This one is a little more of a "closeup" view than the others. As is often the case, the nose is the part of the sketch I am least satisfied with, but I like the way the eyes, mouth, and hair turned out (other than that one eyes seems a little larger than the other).

I like the overall expression. She strikes me as someone who looks like a trustworthy person with a zest for life.

Ted

Sketch #12

I wasn't really happy with the way the lower part of her neck turned out so I cropped her head a little higher than I usually do. She probably has the curliest hair of any of my sketches, at least the ones I've posted so far.

Ted

Sketch #11

Another day, another face ... As usual in the light of 20/20 hindsight I see a few areas that could stand some improvement. I think I made the right side of the face (our right, her left) a little wider than appropriate compared to the other side. Also the side of the lower lip on the right looks a little thin relative to the other side of the lower lip. Maybe the mouth should be just a tiny bit higher and closer to the nose too.

So far every sketch I've posted has been a "version 1.0". That is to say I've restricted my adjustments to erasing/darkening/etc. At some point I'll have to use tracing paper and see how I can do if I redo the same sketch over and over a few times.

Ted

Sketch #10

... and back to straight hair for this one. I think I overdid the shading on her neck and her nose is a bit off, but other than that I'm pretty happy with the sketch. I plan to focus on drawing better noses a bit as I think that is one of the areas in which I am most in need of improvement.

Ted

Sketch #9

For some reason the woman in this sketch strikes me as a southerner ... maybe from one of the Carolinas or Tennesee. I'm not sure why - It's just the impression I get. One of the fun things about drawing without a model is that I never know exactly what's going to end up on the paper until I am done.

That being said, it might also be fun to try working from some old public domain photo's or paintings at some point.

Ted

Sketch #8

I think I may have drawn the head a little large relative to the neck in this one, but I like the way the hair turned out.

Ted

Sketch #7

Well, after seven posted sketches (and a far greater number that I have not posted) I have to say that I am really enjoying this. I do think the practice is beginning to help as I like my more recent sketches more than my earlier ones overall, not that I don't still have lots of room for improvement. I've also noticed that I am succeeding more often in producing one that I like on the first attempt, whereas initially I'd always have to make several tries before I came up with a "keeper".

I've been experimenting with different hairstyles recently. I'll be posting a few with more curls soon.

Ted

Sketch #6 and the Advantages of Pencil

I think her expression is among the best I have posted so far, but I may have gone a bit too narrow on the mouth.

I do use other art media, but I thought doing this blog entirely (or nearly so) with graphite pencil sketches would have a couple of advantages. For one thing, with pencil I don't have to spend any time waiting for paint to dry, so I can create a lot of sketches in a relatively brief time (and so get more practice in than if I were working with say watercolors or oils). I also like the ease of recovering from mistakes when working with pencils - I just erase! (Although having worked with computer paint programs a lot, I do sometimes find myself wanting to reach for the undo key for a fraction of a second before I realize that's not an option).

Ted

Sketch #5

Well, for this one I varied the pose a little at least, switching from "straight ahead" to "face ahead over shoulder".

I've drawn all but my first sketch on a Strathmore "Sketch Papier a' croquis" sketchpad (45 lb, 74 gsm). So far I'm pretty pleased with it. It's acid free, tolerates a lot of rubbing and erasing without falling apart, and has a nice texture to it. At under five dollars for 100 sheets it's also reasonably economical.

One thing I've noticed about the paper is that it is somewhat transparent. That might be something I can use to advantage if I want to do a tracing at some point. On the other hand, I have to remember to put something uniform, like another sheet of blank white paper, behind a sketch when I photograph it - Otherwise the sketch or whatever else is behind it will show through.

Ted