Imagine that we have a profile where the skull, arm, and fingers are visible and are in contact. Very often, the starting artist will attempt to draw each of these elements independently. The approach will invariably lead to frustration and ultimately often to failure.
Instead of drawing each entity independently, the first step in your drawing should be to strike the “total” arabesque, i.e., the complete contour of the picture. The complete arabesque which includes parts other than the head (in this case the skull, fingers, and arms) is called the “construct”.
For the beginner it is best to reduce the construct to its simplest shape thereby ignoring all the minutia such as the bumps in the fingers and the hair. With experience, you will be able to add all these bumps without much difficulty as you go along.
A good construct (also known as a complete arabesque) also contains a singular gestural cadence that subordinates all minutia. In other words, this rhythmic gesture exists independent of the details.
When you are sketching a single entity or skull the checking of the height/width sizing is fairly easy. As a general rule the width of the skull is checked against its length utilizing the base of the chin as the primary landmark.
If, for some reason the chin is hidden (e.g., behind the arm or fingers), an other landmark must be found. The arm, the jaw, or the lines of the fingers are good spots to find a new signpost.
Once you have sketched a satisfactory construct it must be checked for accuracy. To do this, we can, for instance, look for vertical and/or horizontal distances that are supposed to be equal and see if they in fact are the same. Use all your gained knowledge of sizing. Also use your general knowledge of anatomical placing of the eyes, ears, etc.
Once you are happy that the construct is properly sketched you can proceed to hatch-in the prime light/dark blueprint and take your first tentative stab at drawing the facial area, i.e., the placing of the brow, the eyes, the nose and the mouth. Again, if the usual signposts for those elements can for some reason not be employed you should be original enough to determine appropriate substitutes.
Keep hatching-in all elements as soon as you draw them. This includes the fingers, arms, and hair if any of them are noticeable in the given profile you are drawing. Remember to always work from the general to the specific.
Also, always use a sharp pencil, take into account your knowledge of anatomy, and always look for mistakes and, of course, correct them.
Next, the pencil portrait sketch must now be worked-up value-wise by cross-hatching with 8B, 2H, and 4H pencils, by stumping down the pencil dust with your fingers or a stump, and by using your putty eraser to define the lights. All this should be done in a sculpturally manner.
Lastly, you can choose how much minutia you want to put into your sketch or how unresolved you may leave the drawing. For instance, you can leave some parts of the fingers or the arm unfinished. Or, if you want to emphasize a particular region of the portrait, you can increase the munitia in that region and leave the other regions slightly unfinished.
These are a few of many considerations that go into sketching a more complex portrait that has a complete arabesque. One essential thing to remember is to sketch the construct first so you do not end up sketching one item after another without preserving cohesion. Following these rules will surely put you on the proper path of sketching more intricate portraits.
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Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and practiced drawing teacher. See his work at pencil portraits.
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