Advice on Pencil Portrait Sketching - The Slanted Head Pose

To produce interesting fluid portraits that radiate life you must understand the effect of the spine on the head and shoulders.

To craft a relaxed feeling in your portraits quite often you will need to draw the head tilted. Most people when they are at ease will pose with their head slightly tilted. In this article we will point out what to look for and how to tackle the tilted head.

In the tilted head pose the subject will show a clear change of bearing from the action of the torso to the tilt of the head. Also take note of where the shoulders are. The subject's shoulders will almost be aligned with the base of the nose.

With this information in mind, the first step is to measure the angle of the head's tilt (from the base of the chin to the top of the head) before drawing the construct. To do this hold your pencil (or a knitting needle) at arm's length, looking through one eye, and adjust the angle of the held pencil so that it corresponds to the angle of the tilt. Keeping your arm straight and locked you can now transpose this angle onto the drawing.

Now that the angle of the tilt is found you can sketch the construct and validate the height/width proportion.

The axis of the features is vertical to the tilted facial angle. A common tendency while drawing is to straighten out the features so that they are horizontal to the paper. Be aware of this and ever on-guard because this tendency is subtle and is constantly trying to sneak into the drawing.

It is not a recommended practice to establish all of the features at this stage. It is actually more accurate to first fix the brow line and the base of the nose and work from there.

When the head is tilted you should also be conscious of the effect that gravity has on the face. The skin, especially on the underside of the jaw, will be somewhat pulled down. This effect is quite delicate but for those of you who are expert portraitists you should capture this in your initial construct. If you are a novice just file this information away for future reference.

Take note, also, of the neck. The major visible neck muscle is stretched out. Its companion is compressed. This opposing muscle action is referred to as abduction/adduction. This action of the neck always renders a striking effect.

Once the construct is situated and you are satisfied with its accuracy relative to size and shape you can sketch in the features and block-in the chief big darks and lights. Keep the tone simple. The more complicated the lighting arrangement, the more this applies.

The tonal arrangements are worked further, but are still somewhat crude and unresolved. The chief concern is the overall light effect.

There are a few items to keep in mind as you prepare to finalize the drawing:

1. Determine how far you want to carry the drawing. You can get a real nice effect if you give the shoulders and upper torso an unfinished quality. Remember, sketches are not meant to resemble photos.

2. As you gain a deeper understanding of the facial structure the tendency exists to draw what you know rather than what is actually there. So make sure you always pause to observe the life model or the subject in the photo.

In conclusion, the tilted head pose is special in that the features will be centered on a tilted axis and that the tension in the shoulders will be different from one side to the other. Also the transition from the torso and shoulders to the head should be carefully observed.

Download my brand new Complementary Pencil Portrait Drawing Course here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-portrait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled sketching instructor. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Rendering - The Slanted Head Pose.

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