Drawing From 0 to 100: Week Four, Portrait Orientation and the Eyes

Many of this week's examples come from Tony Ryder, Artist and student of Ted Seth Jacobs. Here is a
Classic frontal view showing 3 main stages of drawing: 1. the envelope and block-in to achieve the contour 2. even toned shadow shapes 3. cast and form shadows, looking for core shadows and edge definition.

We see different views of the head and it's good to know what to look for on each view.
In doing any portrait we will be drawing from observations, but there are some things that hold true for each view point. '

Frontal View, This is the textbook view where things line up nicely, proportion are just like they should be. We hardly ever get to see that! In looking at the frontal view, we see a lot of symmetry. However, the 2 sides of person's face are rarely the same. Add to that some kind of side light and the lighting will instantly make the two sides different. Think of ways you can make a frontal view asymmetrical: hair, shadows, background, or slight enhancement of a dominant eye. It's natural to bounce back and forth from side to side with symmetrical compositions, so do what you can to make each side different or more unique from the other side.

As the head shifts up or down, the eye-line will change high or low. Mark in the eye-line and note that the ears will be high or low, depending on the fore and aft position of the head. Look for a possible tilt side to side and keep the eye line at exactly 90 degrees to the tilt. Looking up, the nose shortens and the underside of the nostrils become more visible. The eye line is no longer half way to the top of the head.

Slight ¾ View, as the head starts to turn, the portrait becomes more asymmetrical. Less of the far side cheek will be showing, less of the far side mouth will be showing. The inside corner of the far eye may still be visible, mark in the eye-line, the contour of the far check will have a nice shape of the cheekbone, zygomatic bone. The asymmetry gives a natural opportunity to favor the closer eye. This is a great view to measure across the form the get the width of the cheeks correct.

¾ View Now it's time to think of the head as a cube. The forward edge is the front check and one eye is definitely forward and more dominant than the other. The first aspect to consider is your own eye level or the horizon line. If you are looking down on the model, then the eye level is high. If you are looking up at the model the eye level is lower. This all comes into play when you determine your VANISHING POINTS. How does this work? Think of the head as a cube.

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The second eye may be partially hidden by the bridge of the nose. This all makes sense when you set the eye line and set the mouth line. They will not be at the same angle, they will be based on vanishing points.
7/8 View, Not much of the second cheek is showing, and most of the second eye will be hidden.

Side view. Work an envelope from the base of the nose, down and up and back towards the brow line, don't worry too much about the nose early on, get the overall angles of the facial planes correct first. Then go back in for a block-in. Remember the front of the ear takes off at the end of the jawbone and shoots up to the top of the head.

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Eyes some things to note:

Round ball sits within the orbital socket.
Upper lid is often lit.
Eyebrows start below the brow line and go up and over the brow line.
The eyes are small, even though we think of them as big and important. The truth of it is that often when portrait drawing, we don't even see the eyes. We suggest them. We may only see light on the eyelid for example.
Start by placing the inner corner or what is known as the medial canthus, where the tear duct is and the pink cul-de-sac officially known as the caruncula. Usually we see a strong crease above the eyelid, look for the crease. The eyes are not diamond shaped, infact the high and low point of eyes is offset. The upper high point is 1/3 from the inner point and the lower low point is 1/3 from the outside end, approximately, they are offset. See where they are on each individual and don't assume the eyes are evenly diamond shaped.

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The colored disc is the Iris. It is like a little camera lens, with the aperture dilating to let in light. The iris sinks in to the eyeball, it is concave, while the cornea sits on top of the eyeball, like a convex contact lens. These qualities influence how much light comes into the cornea lens sideways and hits the opposite side of the iris. Check this out on your own eyes, you'll have to look closely.
The iris is round, ROUND. You often don't see much of them. They can be concealed by the upper eyelid. But, they are still round even though part of the iris can be cut off.
What happens as the head turns? The round iris becomes more oval shaped. The eyes work in unison, keep them even. Do one eye and then make the second one match.
Inside the iris is the black pupil, very dark and round. Because the eyeball is wet, it is highly reflective. A highlight will often traverse the pupil and the iris, BUT DON'T OVER do it!!! There's nothing worse than a big window shaped highlight in the eye. You may have to plan for a small highlight, save some clean paper for the highlight and a dark contrasting pupil, go slow.....Next, The whites of the eye are NOT WHITE. Just because they are called the “whites of the eye”, do not leave them white. Look on both sides of the iris on both eyes, there could be 4 different values, look and see what's going on. Another thing about the whites of the eyes: notice the upper lid and lashes creating a ledge over the eyeball, that ledge will make a shadow, all the way across. The lower lid will tuck under the upper lid. Sometimes on the lower lid, if you are sitting very close to the model, you can see a thickness and because it is wet, you can see a small highlight on that thickness.

Long term project, Continue with your self portrait at home, this week evenly tone in shadows only. No core shadows, look carefully at shadow shapes. Here is a nice Tony Ryder drawing where he is starting to block in shadow shapes. Bring your drawing up to this stage this week.