"As long as humans have been alive, we have drawn." ~Justin Maas Drawing is the most essential of all visual arts. Everyone, from sculptors to painters, draws in one form or another. It is also the simplest and most affordable form of artistic expression. All you need is a pencil and paper to make something magical. But to create a successful portrait, one must understand how to capture a person’s likeness--their spirit--and portray it in graphite. In Drawing Realistic Pencil Portraits, artist and teacher Justin Maas provides a step-by-step guide for both novice and experience portraitists looking to enhance their skillsets. His tried-and-true techniques for mastering the basics and accurately rendering proportion, placement and nuance when drawing the head and face will help you add energy and life to your drawings and create recognizable and moving portraits. In this book: • Lessons in drawing basics, including value, line, shadow, light and anatomy • How to work from both reference photographs and live models, plus tips for selecting your subjects • Step-by-step demos to create crucial features, such as eyes, ears, and hair • Methods for building successful portraits, including the grid method, the tracing method and the author's own Maas method • 15 detailed step-by-step portrait-drawing demos with subjects of different ages, genders and ethnicities • A gallery of additional portrait examples in both black-and-white and full color

This book contains some of the best pencil portraits in the world, collected from over 20 countries.

Colored pencil painter Alyona Nickelsen reveals how to use the medium to push the limits of realistic portraiture. Colored Pencil Painting Portraits provides straightforward solutions to the problems that artists face in creating lifelike images, and will prime readers on the intricacies of color, texture, shadow, and light as they interplay with the human form. In this truly comprehensive guide packed with step-by-step demonstrations, Nickelsen considers working from photo references versus live models; provides guidance on posing and lighting, as well as planning and composing a work; discusses tools, materials, and revolutionary layering techniques; and offers lessons on capturing gesture and expression and on rendering facial and body features of people of all age groups and skin tones.

From the best-selling artist and YouTube art instructor, this book features step-by-step lessons that show you how to draw professional-quality portraits, landscapes, travel sketches, and animals using only two ordinary pencils. Great art doesn't have to be expensive. For the cost of a regular graphite writing pencil and an equally ordinary black colored pencil, you can create drawings worthy of framing and displaying. In this straightforward, aspiring artist's guide to rendering a variety of popular subjects with only two pencils, artist and art instructor Mark Crilley presents a direct, approachable, and achievable method for drawing just about anything. The Two-Pencil Method breaks down Crilley's techniques across six chapters of five lessons each. In each lesson, you'll learn how the two-pencil method can add depth and shading, allowing you to create bold and distinctive drawings that go beyond mere sketchbook doodles. The book moves from a primer on drawing basics to step-by-step examples of still lifes, landscapes, animals, travel sketches, and portraits. With each chapter, Crilley's confident and encouraging voice and expert insights demonstrate how to achieve stunning artistic results from the simplest of art materials.

A Dream Team of colored pencil artists ready to teach you... 200 pages of colored pencil portrait WOW! Everything you could ever dream of learning about portraits in colored pencil is in this single most remarkable volume. You could easily expect to pay hundreds to be taught by 29 top portrait artists, but not only is this book a combination of thousands of hours of experience and an absolute encyclopedia of numerous techniques - for the stunning depth and amount of instruction inside, it's also a steal. An impressive number of colored pencil brands, paper surfaces and dozens of styles and techniques can be found in Draw Colored Pencil Portraits - a true powerhouse of step-by-step instruction and eye-candy. What's Inside? - 11 complete portraits, each featuring 16 large, step-by-step colored pencil images and crystal-clear instruction. - 18 step-by-step colored pencil tutorials of specific portrait elements outlined in detail, like hair, eyes, facial hair, clothing and more. - 200 pages. Full Color. Soft cover. This all-inclusive book will transform your portraits from average to exceptional. CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: Kate Clark, Noriko Dewitt, Brian Duey, Titika Faraklou, Lori Garner, Karina Griffiths, Christina Iotti, Nancy Jones, Christine Karron, Markus Klein, Cynthia Knox, Sharon Kow, Julie Podstolski, Sheila Theodoratos, Carol Maltby, Cindy Wider, Debra Yaun.No other book of this kind exists for colored pencil portrait artists - comprehensive, exhaustive compilation of techniques, pencil brands, surfaces and approaches. If drawing portraits is your thing, you'll find inspiration, instruction and at least a handful of valuable lessons that really resonate with you!

Geof Darrow's slick, precise inks and stunning detail have amazed comics fans for decades, from his early work with Moebius; to Hardboiled, his first collaboration with Frank Miller; to the overwhelming excess of his current series, Shaolin Cowboy. Now Darrow provides incredible insight into his process by sharing the pencil drawings behind his meticulous inks in a huge hardcover collection. Featuring the pencils behind well-known covers and never-before-seen drawings alike, Lead Poisoning is a behind-the-scenes look that reveals perfectionism at its best, showing how clean and perfect the initial drawings can be, as well as the bizarre alterations that appear to happen on the fly.

Draw the best portraits with form and spirit. Drawing techniques from a master! Mau-Kun Yim learned to draw as the Old Masters did and believes that to render the essence of life in portrait drawing, one must continue to pursue the old ways. This philosophy and methodology relies on a holistic approach to observation, analysis and critical-thinking honed through time and patience. • Start with a solid foundation - Classical bust drawing is a must. These lessons aid in constructing volume in your drawing and introduce concepts of structure. • Move on to sketching - The best way to train your observation skills. Anatomy, value and state of mind are the focus of these lessons. • 12 step-by-step tutorials put it all together - Form and spirit combine along with more clearly defined details to bring life and dimension to your portraits. • An extensive gallery of beautifully and classically executed portraits, figures, sketches and busts serves as inspiration.