Guidelines for Pencil Portrait Sketching The Problem with Seeing

By Alex De Mostafa

For inexperienced artists the trouble with seeing lies in the conflict that exists between the concrete visual reality of an item
and the way the mind tries to characterize our perception of this reality on the drawing paper. This trial always involves the tendency to draw our iconic preconception instead of the concrete reality.

Symbolic preconceptions are part of a subconscious visual lingo that uses icons to characterize known entities. This lingo of icons evolved as a mechanism to help us endure as a species. These icons aid us, for example, to instantly recognize food sources or dangerous predators.

When we note an unknown item our subconscious mind immediately tries to form a new symbol to characterize and store the item in memory. Often novice artists will more correctly sketch unknown entities than known ones because they are not yet wedded to the new icons.

However, when they attempt to sketch the same item a second time, it is likely that a more iconic picture will emerge because ready to use icons have already been stored in the mind.

Consider, for example, the word "head". At once an picture comes to mind which is iconic for the head. Unfortunately, this symbol is only a iconic picture of a head and is invariably a gross simplification of a actual head. Nevertheless, there is a strong subconscious pull to draw the icon instead of what we actually see.

It is this inconsistency that artists must learn to overcome. This is particularly a difficulty for pencil portrait artists. When drawing a portrait the artist must resolve numerous layers of icons to realize a realistic effect.

We now will describe a very good exercise to learn to overcome the problem of icon drawing.

We will be drawing from an upside-down image. This way our iconic preconception of the head is interrupted. We will be forced to draw without our icons. The effect will be a purer drawing experience unfettered by a contaminated observation.

As you sketch the lines and hatch-in the values you will feel quite ill at ease in your drawing. This is a good thing. Do not be concerned with the quality of your work. This is an exercise in seeing.

When practicing line and tone this way, novice artists often get better outcomes than from the right-side up way. Trust yourself and throughout the exercise only look at your photograph in the upside-down position even though it may feel quite uncomfortable.

You will learn to see and sketch tone as forms and will be able to break down hard edges into short, straight lines instead of the usual icons your mind will assign to the nose, the ears, etc.

Thinking of and naming perceived entities will lead you down the garden path of almond shaped eyes, two circles for nostrils, a bunch of lines for hair, cauliflower ears and something that looks like an M perched on a bowl for a mouth instead of what is actually there.

Artists will never be free of iconic predeterminations|fixations. The icons actually change and become more sophisticated. It is only by constantly analyzing and abstracting form that we are able to sketch realistically.

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About The Author
Download my brand new No Cost Pencil Portrait Drawing Course here: www.remipencilportraits.com/PPDT/pencil-port rait-tutorial.html target="_blank">Pencil Portrait Drawing Course. Remi Engels is a practicing pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled drawing teacher. See his work at Pencil Portraits by Remi: www.remipencilportraits.com Visit Tips on Pencil Portrait Sketching - The Trouble with Seeing.