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A profile. |
If
you measure the full distance of the profile you have drawn,
from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin, and
take that measurement and put it horizontally starting at the
bridge of the nose, the other end of the measurement should
give you a rough idea of where the back of the head will fall.
Measure that on your subject to verify it. Then measure it out
on your drawing and make a mark where you measured. Because of
your subject's hair, you'll have to guess at the shape of the
skull. Lightly draw a curve representing the top of the skull
that connects the forehead line to the back of the head mark
you made.
If
you measure the space between the back of the head and the ear
measuring at at the bottom of the ear, you can find another
point and continue the contour
of the back of the head. This
point at the back of the head, by the way, is about at the
point where the neck meets the skull.
Now
you should have the head almost done, only the neck isn't
drawn. Continue the back of the head contour line along and
draw the back of the neck of your subject. Where you left off
with the jaw line, continue that line down and finish the
front of the neck.
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Some measurements you should look for
in profiles. |
Before
you draw in the hair, you should tighten up any measuring you
need to do. For example, measure the width of the eye you drew
and gauge it against the height of the ear you drew. Compare
these measurements with your subject. If the measurements are
off a little, try and correct them by re-sizing and re-drawing
the ear or eye. Measure from the lower lip to the bottom of
the chin and gauge it against the lower lip to the bottom of
the nose. Does a vertical line connect the tip of the brow
with the tip of the chin? What about the top of the forehead
and the point where the jaw turns to neck? Is this exactly
vertical? Doing measurements like this will tighten up your
proportions and negative spaces. Getting likeness
in a drawing
is all about getting the right proportions and negative
spaces.
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Some measurements you should look for
in profiles. |
You've
got a bald profile head. Now, if your subject is bald, you're
just about done, but if not, you have to draw the hair. You
have to find the hairline. Do this by measuring horizontally
starting at the bridge of the nose and going across until you
get to the hairline. Make a dot marking that point. Now slide
up the forehead a bit and take another measurement at the line
of the forehead to the hairline and make another dot. Then,
right on your forehead contour line, mark off right were the
hairline meets the forehead. Using these three points you can
connect the dots and draw a contour of the hairline. If your
subject has long hair that goes over and below the ear just
add more dots you can connect, doing the same horizontal
measurement starting at some point on the profile contour. Now
just guess as far as placement, and draw the outside contour
of the hair all around the skull.
Finally,
erase any construction lines (like the lopsided egg), add any
missing details like the few lines to make up the inside of
the ear and the line indicating the mouth in between the lips.
Draw the nose lobe and the nostril. Does the nostril look a
little like a sideways teardrop? Draw it that way, then. That's about it for a simple profile.
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