Best Tattoo For You

Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing – Composition

Composition refers to the manner in which your subjects are positioned relative to each other on the page. More formally, it is the arrangement of forms and spaces within the format of the page.

Balance – The main characteristic of a good composition is that it creates a feeling of balance in the viewer’s mind when looking on your pencil portraits. This balance should be present on at least two levels.

First, there is the balance of position. This means that the forms and spaces out of which the portrait is made up should be balanced relative to the vertical and the horizontal going through the center of the page.

Second, there should also be a balance with respect to value. The darks and lights should balance each other out in an overall sense.

Experiment – Having said that, do not be afraid to experiment with the distribution of forms, spaces, and values. Sometimes an unexpected deviation from the perfect balance gives excitement and interest to a drawing.

Follow your artistic sensibility. With practice, this sensibility can be developed and soon you will acquire a natural sense for good composition.

Shapes – When considering the composition of your drawing you should think in terms of four major shapes: the triangle, the circle, the rectangle, and the square. Any of those shapes can be the point of interest of your portrait.

All other shapes should be arranged in support of that point of interest. Essentially, this means that the viewer should be led or guided towards the intended focal point of the drawing.

Focal Point – One common compositional mistake occurs when the subject matter outside of the focal point is arranged in such a manner that the viewer is led in a direction away from the center of interest. In other words, the viewer is discouraged from looking at the area the artist thought was the most interesting.

In this regard we should remember that in the West, the viewer’s eye tends to enter a drawing or a painting from the left (just as we do when we read from left to right). Therefore, a good composition often has an entry point on the left of the drawing and from there leads the viewer’s eye to the focal point.

Detail – The focal point should also be the area where you add the most detail to your portrait drawing. Areas deemed less important can be less developed and left to be finished by the viewer’s imagination.

Ideally, the personality of both the subject and the artist should be reflected in the end product.

Check Balance – Another way of assessing whether or not you have a good composition is to cover up one shape or another and see if it improves the balance or not. A good composition is such that if you remove one shape, the whole drawing is clearly thrown out of balance. If you feel that by removing a certain part of your drawing the balance improves, by all means, leave that part out.

Entire volumes have been written about compositional rules and processes. However, developing the idea of balance on the levels of position and value will give you a very good start.

Looking for the artistic tattoos for the back – read how not to get into troubles when choosing one.

Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing – The Hands

Drawing hands takes much practice. Hands are typically quite complex with many smooth transitions between darks and lights. Shapes overlap and need to be studied very carefully to yield acceptable realism. There are also lots of edges, crevices, and creases.

Hands are much more angular than our ingrained memorized image would suggest. Therefore, it is very easy to make the mistake of portraying the hands too chubby and rounded which leads to an unnaturally rounded.

Here are a few pointers that will give you the basic memory pack for drawing hands. I mean a set of memorized issues about drawing hands that should be in the foreground of your thinking whenever you draw hands.

Simplify – Generally, any kind of photographic subject will have so much detail that it becomes necessary to simplify, i.e., leaving out much detail. Of course, you must develop a facility to leave out the right details and keep the important ones. This is where your artistic sensibilities play a major role. Making the right choices makes all the difference.

It is a good exercise to look at pictures in magazines and practice the simplification process. Ask yourself the question: What can I eliminate in this picture while still retaining the essence of the subject? In fact, as you get more experienced you may ask yourself the question: What should I add to obtain an even more convincing rendition of the essence of the person I am portraying?

The same is true with drawing hands in pencil portraits. The hands have usually so much detail in them that you must discard the unimportant details.

Remember, at this stage, try not to think too much of how a hand is supposed to look like, just draw the shapes as they are.

Males and Females – There are many differences between male hands and female hands. On average, male hands are larger and squarer. For example, the fingers are less tapered and thicker than those of the female. The female hand is slender and the finger tips are much more tapered compared to the male fingers. The fact that females (generally!) do not have hairy hands adds to the lightness in color.

Values – First, avoid outlining the hands at all cost. Let the edges be formed by applying the correct contrast in values. Study the hand very carefully. Note where one finger overlaps another and be sure to include all the cast shadows.

Also, it is very important to render the reflected light on each finger because that is what will give the finger its roundness and three-dimensional look.

Angles and Planes – Hands are surprisingly angular, not as much rounded as we sometimes think they are. The joints and knuckles have various planes to them which need to be carefully rendered.

Blending – Keep the blending of the hands very smooth. Blend the darks into the surface they belong to. This way there is no confusion as to which surface the dark line belongs to. Again, do not forget the reflected light between the fingers. This will create the illusion of roundness of the fingers.

The hands can be used to enhance the visual impact of your pencil portrait drawing. For example, the addition of hands to a baby picture makes the whole thing much more endearing. Therefore, adding hands to a portrait is always something to consider. With this, I think you can have a good start at drawing hands. And remember, practice, practice, and practice some more. Drawing is a hands-on art, so to speak.

If you want a tattoo to be like an art? Read about tattoos for the back.

Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing – Clothing

Drawing clothing can be quite challenging. The challenge usually centers on the drawing of the folds. There is a lot of reflected light, lots of darks, and many lights. But it is exactly this variety of values that makes the drawing of clothes very attractive but also challenging. Learning to draw fabric well requires a concerted effort and a good deal of practice.

Here are a few tips to memorize:

Folds – There are five types of folds we must recognize when drawing clothing:

1. The column fold

2. The drape fold

3. The inert fold

4. The coil fold

5. The interlocking fold

Of course, in a typical situation, more than one of these fold types are present. Here are the definitions.

Column Fold – This type of fold is the most common and is typified by its cylindrical shape suspended or originating from one point. The value pattern is that of a cylinder which involves a hard edge followed by a parallel line of reflected light, a shadow edge and a soft edge. The column fold also shows highlights here and there depending on the location of the light source. You can find such folds frequently in scarves, curtains, and skirts.

Drape Fold – This fold comes about when a piece of fabric is suspended from two opposing points. The fabric in between the two points is long enough so that it can hang freely and form a somewhat semi-circular shape. The picture is that of a series of alternating narrow dark and light semi-circular strips that begin and end at the two points. This type of fold is often found in blouses.

Inert Fold – This type of fold occurs in a piece of fabric that is not suspended but lies on a surface without being stretched. Here, the folds can go in many different directions. However, each fold relates to its neighbors in a particular manner. You should study these patterns and render them in a consistent way although the whole thing seems at first to be a mess.

Coil Fold – A piece of fabric that is wrapped around a circular rod will invariably show this sort of fold. It has a spiral-like appearance and it can be found in sleeves and pant legs when the sleeve or pant leg is somewhat twisted around the arm or the leg.

Interlocking Fold – Fabric that is piled on a couch or is wrapped around someone’s neck will often show folds within folds or on top of each other. With this sort of fold it becomes imperative that you trace how each fold works itself into the other and apply the appropriate cast shadows.

As mentioned above, in typical pencil portraits involving fabrics, you will find combinations of these different types of folds.

You should identify the areas where the fabric is in tension and where it is not and see where the darks and lights are. In addition, there will always be hard edges and soft edges that must be rendered faithfully for your drawing to look realistic.

Finally, there is also something called: “lost and found” edge. A lost and found edge is an edge that, at first, can easily be seen, but then peters out and becomes invisible, only to reappear a little further down the line. Although the edge consists of two disconnected lines, the eye through the brain recognizes that the two disjointed line pieces belong together and form one edge.

As you can see, drawing clothes is not all that simple. Sometimes clothes are dismissed and often underestimated in their difficulty to draw. But, if you know that they are not so easy, you should not feel bad if, at first, your clothes drawings do not look very realistic. Sorry to say, but learning the art of drawing clothes requires much practice and careful observation.

Looking for another piece of the art – upper back tattoos – read more here.

Drawing hair is not all that difficult but it does take quite a bit of time to make the result to look real and natural. In fact, it usually takes two to three times longer to do the hair than it does to do the rest of the portrait drawing. So, do not get frustrated and know that you will have to spend the time.

Here are some pointers to help you succeed at drawing the best hair possible.

Line Drawing – As always, the first step is to produce a line drawing that shows the overall shape of the hair and maps out some of the main value areas. At this stage, you should look at the hair as a shape and ignore all details such as strands. Do observe however how the hair flows, i.e., take note of the growth directions of the hair.

Values – Next, using the map you created on your line drawing, start laying in the major values, i.e., the major darks and lights. Make sure you always follow the growth direction of the hair. This is very important. Follow the flow.

Blending – At this stage, you can blend the darks out towards the lights. Then, reapply the darks and pull them into the light areas using a tortillon or a pencil. Work from the dark areas into the light areas. After that, use a pointed kneaded eraser as a drawing tool to pull the lights into the darks.

This process should be repeated several times until you reach the desired look of fullness.

Curls – You should treat each curl as a separate object with its own darks, lights, and highlights. At the same time, make sure that each curl fits into the overall layout of the hair.

Shadows – Often the hair cast a few shadows onto the forehead. These cast shadows should always be rendered in the correct value. You will be surprised how much they contribute to the realistic appearance of the hair and the subject in general. They very much help to show the fullness and three-dimensionality of the hair.

Forehead – The forehead, like anything else, has a certain value. When the hair falls over the forehead, it is important to apply the same forehead value to the areas of the forehead that are visibly located under the hair. If you leave these areas white, you will loose a lot of realism and it is a veru crucial thing in the pencil portraits.

Gray Hair – The illusion of gray or white hair is created through using pencil strokes sparingly and through more blending with a tortillon or a paper tissue. A soft and silky look can be created by using the kneaded eraser to lift out the appropriate.

Much more can be said about the drawing of hair. This includes such subjects as hairstyles, men’s versus women‘s hair, thin hair, hair color, etc. However, the above remarks will suffice to set you on the right path. Later, you can always consult an advanced work on hair drawing.

Check this resource for tattoos for the back information.

If you are someone who enjoys being close to nature and could spend the time appreciating its beauty and wonders, there could be a great way where you can incorporate that with our inner desire to create artistic things or through having a creative output.  And one of the most popular ways where we could do that which could also depict different kinds of ancient beliefs is the designs of tree tattoos which were truly remarkable when you come to know its different kinds of meanings.

Here are some of the best meanings that could be derived from having a design of tree tattoo on your body which is rooted to the deep and rich history of symbols in many countries and cultures.  So whether your tree tattoo may represent variations of beliefs from other countries like in different continents of the world, we can be sure that the tree only represents what is known to be something that is very sacred and shows off the true good nature of every human being.

Trees All Over The World

When you go to Asia, a tree tattoo may often symbolize one’s quest in finding completion or being in a state of sacredness because one of the most popular characters that have something to do with trees in that region is Buddha.  It is with the tree that he has achieved what we may call, “nirvana” and enlightenment and that is why having the Bodhi tree as your tree tattoo not only generates the symbol of oneness with one’s self but also is a powerful symbolism of rejuvenation and regeneration that is associated with the cycle of life.

And when you come to European countries, the Norse tradition of representing the Sacred Tree is the Yggdrasil which is also a popular choice when it comes to choosing a design for a tree tattoo.  Because not only the Yggdrasil is representing a sacred tree, it also is considered to be the center of the Norse universe literally where its branches reach out to the Nine Worlds and its roots were believed to be from the world of men to reach the world of the gods.

Another great fact that is also mesmerizing about different tree tattoos and their meanings when we come to incorporate it with the Celtic tradition.  Trees were believed by the Celts to be mystical beings and keepers of the souls and they also represent the ancient wisdom that provided us with the alphabet, the calendar, and the entrance to the gates of the heavenly gods.