As people age, their skin loses elasticity, causing loose, wrinkled skin; drooping noses; and sagging ears. In addition, lips often become thinner, hair turns gray, and eyesight becomes poor (which is why many elderly subjects wear glasses). Accurately rendering these characteristics is essential to creating successful portraits of mature subjects.
STEP 1 I block in the face with an HB pencil. Then I add guidelines, which I use to place the eyes, nose, ears, eyebrows, and mouth. The lips thin out and move inward as a person ages, so I draw them accordingly. I also sketch the wavy outline of the hair.
STEP 2 I draw the basic shape of the eyeglasses, then begin to suggest my subject’s age by adding delicate lines around her eyes and across her forehead. I also round out the jaw and chin to show where the skin has begun to sag. I draw loose skin on the neck and deep lines on either side of the nose.
STEP 3 Switching to a 2B pencil, I begin shading the hair and developing the eyes, adding light, curved lines around and under the eyes to create “bags.” I magnify the wrinkles slightly where they can be seen through the glasses. (See “Rendering Wrinkles” below.)
STEP 4 Still using a 2B, I shade the face and neck, adding strokes to the side of the neck for wrinkles. I finish shading the irises and the eyelids. I shade the area between the right side of the cheek and the jawbone to show the prominent cheekbone, and I add shading around the nose and mouth to make the skin appear puffy. Then I add darker values to the hair and earrings.
STEP 5 As I continue shading the face, I add more definition to the wrinkles around the eyes so they don’t disappear into the shaded areas. I am careful to keep them subtle, smoothing out the transitions with a blending stump. (See “Rendering Wrinkles” at right for more on blending.) Finally I add a button to her collar and create the plaid pattern of her shirt. I stand back from the drawing, making sure that I’m pleased with the effect the angular bones, loose skin, and wrinkles have on the subject’s face and that they suggest her age.
RENDERING WRINKLES
The key to drawing realistic-looking wrinkles is to keep them subtle. Indicate wrinkles with soft shading, not with hard or angular lines. You can best achieve this effect by using a dull pencil point. You can also use a cloth or a blending stump to softly blend the transitions between the light and dark values in the wrinkles. Or use a kneaded eraser to soften wrinkles that appear too deep.
When drawing a subject with glasses, as in the example here, try to magnify the wrinkle lines that are seen through the lenses. You can do this by drawing the lines of shading a little larger and spacing them farther from one another.
