Whether you’re drawing from a photo or from life, lighting is extremely important to the overall feeling of your portrait. Lighting can influence the mood or atmosphere of your drawing—intense lighting creates drama, whereas soft lighting produces a more tranquil feeling. Lighting can also affect shadows, creating stronger contrasts between light and dark values. Remember that the lightest highlights will be in the direct path of your light source, and the darkest shadows will be opposite the light source.
USING BACKLIGHTING Here the light source is coming from behind the subject—the face is in shadow, but the hair is highlighted. When drawing a backlit subject, try leaving some areas of paper white around the edges of the head. This keeps the hair from looking stiff and unrealistic, and it also separates the hair from the background.
STEP 1 I sketch the basic shape of the head, neck, and hair with an HB pencil. My subject’s head is turned in a three-quarter view, so I curve the guidelines around the face accordingly. (See page 7.) Then I lightly sketch the facial features, indicating the roundness of the nose and the chin.
STEP 2 Switching to a 2B pencil, I define the features and fill in the eyebrows. I also sketch a few creases near the mouth and around the eyes. Then I add the collar, button, and neckband to his shirt.
STEP 3 Using a 2B and frequently referring to my photograph, I shade the right side of the face: First I apply a layer of light, short strokes; then I go back and apply a layer of longer strokes, still maintaining a light touch. To shade the hair, I leave several white areas to indicate that the light is shining through it. I apply long strokes, staggering them at the top of the head to produce an uneven, more realistic shape.
STEP 4 Still using a 2B pencil, I continue shading the face, keeping the left side a bit lighter in value to show that the light source is coming from the subject’s left. I also refine the left eye, leaving the right eye more in shadow. I shade the neck, again making his right side a bit darker. Then I add more definition to the hair, leaving some white space around the edges to suggest the light shining through the hair.