Project - Portraits in Perspective

Lesson by

156K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 620Lesson NotesDownloads 6

Project - Portraits in Perspective

Lesson by

Stan Prokopenko

in Drawing Basics

156K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 620Lesson NotesDownloads 6

In this project we'll practice applying perspective to organic forms. Heads, while organic, adhere to the rules of perspective similar to boxy objects, so we'll start by constructing 3D heads. Look for clues of the angle of each axis such as angles from brow to ear, the vertical center line of the face, and the horizontal side to side angles of the features.

I've prepared a range of portrait photos for you to work with, that you could find in the downloads tab under the video. You'll notice each photo is numbered. Please label your drawings with the corresponding photo you're drawing to help me and the community give you a critique. Otherwise it would be very difficult to know which box matches each photo.

Level 1: Basic Box Construction

Draw a box representing a simplified version of each head.

Try to match the orientation and dimensions of the head in the photo
Rely on your intuition to imagine each head's rotation and dimensions
Iterative process: Redo and refine as needed

Level 2: Head Construction

Start with a small box representation of the head, same as Level 1. Then add linear head construction with accurate perspective.

Use primarily straight lines to draw, emphasizing plane changes
Find angles in the organic shape that correlate with the simple box (ex: top and back of the head)
Observe, analyze, then draw
Avoid drawing tiny heads; aim for at least 4 inches in height

Deadline: Submit by 1/15/2024 for a chance to be in the critique video!

Art Stark

•

Level 1 Head 1. I got the feeling this was more 3 point, rather than 2 point, perspective. Anyway, I gave it a go.

Melanie Scearce

•

Love it! I tried moving the center line over a bit because I thought it might have been a bit too far to the left. What do you think?

David D

•

Even though these a boxes, I felt like when I got it right, it portrayed the feeling of the pose. Some more successful than others. I have a tendency to rotate planes towards the viewer and break the perspective illusion. I tried to be more cognizant of that in the later poses. Would love to hear how I could make these perspective more convincing! looking forward to including people in my drawings and I feel like this sort of construction is going to be important to making it correctly!

David D

•

Watched the demo video and I think the most apt description of my assignment is “missed the forest for the trees” I think I got too distracted by the organic lines and missed the (now) glaring errors in the perspective boxes. Some are worse than others, but the demo was both helpful and illuminating. definitely going to redo some, if not all, of these.

Chauncey Holder

•

This was pretty fun to do but I had a lot of trouble thought through it

J. Menriv

•

11d

Project - Portraits in Perspective | Level 2: Head Construction No. 14

Martha Muniz

•

Great work!

Antonio Santiago

•

16d

I thought this project was really fun, definitely learned a lot about using two point perspective to represent an object. Will definitely practice more, some of them I was able to do quickly but others took a while just to analyze. Any advice is appreciated.

Naomi

•

19d

messy lines I know.... Im trying my best

Melanie Scearce

•

19d

Messy is fine! Try to lighten the pressure and when you find a line that you like, then darken. These all look great, and I think starting a bit looser/lighter can help with clarity of your lines.

Michael Longhurst

•

20d

Here’s some of the ones I did. Struggled on 10 and 12 to get the shapes right. Still need to watch proportions, as I often have to extend the head after I start adding features.

Martha Muniz

•

Keep at it, you're already at a great place! Keep an eye on the placement of the features, making sure that they continue the perspective set by the box, especially that the eyes follow the horizontal guidelines on the box in relationship to each other as well as constructing the nose as if it were a smaller box following the same original perspective.

Nikita

•

24d

@roddangelo

•

25d

Natasha Johnson

•

26d

I have no words , funny i loved the 1 point perspective . But I just couldnt see the vanishing points on some those faces . I guess my eye is not trained to see it YET . The faces that it was clear it took 30 secs . On the harder ones 10 min ( yeah i know)hope you guys had fun 😎

Carlo Julian

•

30d

First three attempts. The boxes were very helpful for the first two. For the third one I really only used the centre line to position the features of the face and then drew from observation. The guy's hair is so puffy it was hard to think of it being in perspective.

Carlo Julian

•

30d

ahhhh... I just realized I missed the "draw with straights" part of the assignment. Will try it again.

@makartsy_24

•

1mo

Demo - Portraits in Perspective - Level 2 Need Critique on this

Em Wilkins

•

1mo

This is my result from the level 1 basic box construction around heads 1-19 - all feedback welcome!

Michael Koch

•

2mo

@solobo

•

2mo

Four attempts at level 2

Rachel Dawn Owens

•

2mo

Looking great! Thanks for sharing! I know this assignment isn’t about anatomy, but I think this could benefit your drawings. Overall, great stuff! Keep it up!

Evan Wray

•

2mo

First four attempts pre-demo. Sort of level 1.5, just for fun.

Evan Wray

•

2mo

@sknight

•

2mo

Totally blanked on uploading these. When I check them against the photos it seems that I will get the proportions right for the face and head individually, but sometimes the face will be too big for the head, or the angle will be slightly off, etc. Any other critiques welcome.

Thien Minh Pham

•

2mo

here is mine little attempt pre demo. What can I improve? I especially have problem with picture 3 the line is blurry I dont understand it any help would be great. I have a little critic for myself too, but i don't know if the critic is right.

Melanie Scearce

•

2mo

I think the issue with #3 is that we see the top of the head instead of the bottom of the chin, which is more visible in this pose. This is how I would draw it. Hope that helps!