The sketching of children demands freshness and directness of purpose. Regrettably, there are not too many quick and ready rules. Let us just say that children’s portraits demand a sharp and patient eye.
For those who intend to do commercial portraiture the good news is that kids’ portraits can be profitable. There are very few artists who can competently sketch children.
Soft lighting works best for portraits of children. The kid could be looking towards a bright light source. This sort of light source will light up the kid’s face and create an introspective facial expression. The value range goes from light to medium with the eyes really dark.
Addressing the facial proportions of children in a general sense is somewhat of a waste of time. Their facial proportions change dramatically within a six month time span.
Suffice it to say that the younger the child is the smaller the face in relation to the head. The eyes also appear larger although this can be deceiving. A kid’s nose can be very difficult to draw – there is nothing really to hold onto. And the mouth is very fine and sensitive not to mention its constant motion if you draw from life.
If you do want to list some broad proportions you can say that whereas an adult face is about 1/2 the size of the frontal head side, a kid’s face is about 1/3 of that size. Also, observe how little an infant’s neck is compared to the size of the head.
At its widest section, a baby’s face is about five eye widths wide. The width between the eyes is a tiny bit more than the width of an eye. Both the mouth and the nose are approximately the same width of an eye. Once more, we must stress that these sizes are only a general rule and individual face proportions can vary. The above general rules can be employed for comparison purposes when you do your own careful observations of a particular face.
As always, start your drawing by striking the arabesque and then correcting the height/width proportions as necessary.
After establishing the primary facial proportions (i.e., the brow, nose, mouth, etc.) block-in the major light/dark patterns. Then, stump down the graphite using your fingers or a stump. To render and re-shape the lights utilize a clean kneaded eraser.
Now the features are carefully placed, sized and partially sketched. There are two things to take into account here:
1. Your pencils must be very sharp, and
2. At this time, you should never fully complete a feature. Sketch each feature no more than 50%.
Once the features are sized and located as best you can, you can now further develop them. Do not neglect the hair and sides of the face. Everything should be brought up together. As you proceed to render you should always be on the lookout for mistakes in proportions and value.
In conclusion, the fundamental methods used to render a kid’s portrait are of course always the same. Above, we listed most of the differences in proportion and form between an adult skull and that of a child. Your frame of mind when rendering a child should be one that reflects the innocence and the softness of a child.
Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing course here: pencil portrait tutorial.
Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled drawing teacher. See his work at graphite pencil portraits.
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