I feel like it is important for me to remind you guys that I am self-taught. This means that the techniques I use to create my artwork could be the right way to do things, or completely wrong, or some mix of both. So if you’re in art school, listen to your teachers. If you are doing this as a hobby, see what works for you. This is just my approach and what I’ve done to get to where I’m at now.
Since I first began to draw on a regular basis (circa 2013) I was interested in realism. I wanted to draw a picture of Amber Rose…and have it look like Amber Rose. I wanted to draw a picture of Kevin Hart…and, you guessed it, have it look like Kevin Hart. Instead, Amber ended up being like…
And Kevin…
I put all of those ‘Ha, Ha, Ha’s behind his head because I think he’s funny. But, looking back, the joke was actually my drawing. Anyways. You get the point. I wanted my drawing to look like someone. Instead, it looked like someone else.
There are 3 major things that I did to try and get my drawings closer to the real thing:
Grid the reference photo and your paper
Draw what you see, NOT what you think something should look like
Practice, practice, PRACTICE
If I really want to make something look real, I grid things out. I draw a grid over the reference photo, and then do the same with the paper that I’m drawing on (scaling up if necessary for larger pieces of paper). This way I can focus on each square and make sure everything within a square looks the same in my drawing as it does in the photo. Some people scoff at the gridding technique and think it makes you less of an artist if you do this. That’s fine if they feel that way. My response would be…If gridding things out makes it easy, you do it. Who cares what the haters say!
Using a grid helps ensure that everything is proportionate. It is especially hard when working with large pieces of paper, to make sure everything is the right size. You have to constantly step back to make sure things look right. Gridding makes this a lot easier and more realistic looking.
The second key to making things look real is to draw what you see and not what you think something looks like. Anyone who has ever watched a 6 year old draw a human will know what I’m taking about. In our minds, we know that a person has 2 legs, 2 arms, each hand has 5 fingers, each foot has 5 toes. So, if we were to go back in time and pretend we were 6 again (or maybe you don’t have to go back that far…maybe this is still your technique at 35, that’s fine too) and drawing a picture, we would draw a circle for the head, a line for the body, 4 lines sticking out, 2 circles for hands with 5 little lines sticking out of the circle for fingers. We are drawing what we know to be there, but it doesn’t look real because we aren’t actually drawing what we see. Our mind is getting in the way.
When you are drawing a nose, you aren’t just drawing 2 nostrils and 2 sides of a nose. You have to pay attention to the shadows. The way the underside of the nose blends into the upper lip, the way the bridge of the nose is highlighted while the sides are in shadow. Just look at what you’re drawing and try to replicate it, don’t let your mind trick you into drawing something else.
The third and, maybe, most obvious key is to practice. Do me a favor and go back up and look at my Kevin Hart and Amber Rose sketches that I did 5 years ago. Now, look at this drawing I am working on now…
Looks like I practiced a bit, right? RIGHT! Practice is so important. I can’t tell you how many times I would have an idea of what I wanted to draw, start drawing, and have it turn out nothing like what I had set out to do. This can be hard and frustrating, but if you are passionate about your work, you’ll have no problem putting in the countless hours to perfect your craft. I’ve been practicing hours every day for 5 years and I’m still working on my art and learning so much. When you practice a sport for 4-5 hours a day for 5 years….you’re going to get better. So why wouldn’t this apply to your artwork?
I hope these tips help you! Check out my Instagram to see some of my progress timelapse videos. YouTube channel coming soon!