The Artist's Complete Guide to Drawing the Head

by William Maughan

Overview

In this innovative guide, master art instructor William Maughan demonstrates how to create a realistic human likeness by using the classic and highly accurate modeling technique of chiaroscuro (Italian for “light and dark”) developed by Leonardo da Vinci during the High Renaissance.

Maughan first introduces readers to the basics of this centuries-old technique, showing how to analyze form, light, and shadow; use dark pencil, white pencil, and toned paper to create a full range of values; use the elements of design to enhance a likeness; and capture a sitter’s gestures and proportions. He then demonstrates, step by step, how to draw each facial feature, develop visual awareness, and render the head in color with soft pastels.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823003594
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	01/01/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	709,518
Product dimensions:	8.52(w) x 10.99(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

William Maughan has taught advanced head drawing, head painting, and landscape painting at both the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He lives in Napa, CA.

Table of Contents

	Preface	10
	Introduction: The Drawing Method and Materials	13
	Chiaroscuro	14
	Sfumato	15
	The Materials	16
	Substitute Materials	16
	Working with the Pencil	17
	Drawing Shadow Shapes	18
	Sharpening the Pencil	18
Chapter 1	Principles of Chiaroscuro	21
	Line Versus Value	22
	"Lost-and-Found" Line	23
	Value and Form	24
	Paper + Two Pencils = A Full-Value Range	25
	The Shadow Shapes and Their Edges	26
	Form-Shadows	26
	Cast-Shadows	26
	The Shadow Edges	28
	The Form in Light	29
	Analyzing Form	30
	Negative Shapes	33
Chapter 2	Principles of Drawing the Head	35
	Two Masses of Light and Shadow	36
	Lighting the Head	37
	Artificial and Natural Light	38
	Light Advances; Dark Recedes	38
	Single Focal Point	43
	Perspective and the Three-Quarter View	45
	Perspective	45
	Planes of the Head	47
	Foreshortening	48
	Value Pattern	52
	Addressing the Background	53
Chapter 3	The Drawing Process, Step-By-Step	55
	Sculpting the Head	56
	Gesture	57
	The Tilt	59
	Proportions	60
	Placing the Features	62
	The Anatomy of the Eyes	65
	The Orbicular Cavity	65
	The Natural Slants of the Eye	67
	The Eyelids, Pupil, and Iris	68
	Positions of the Eyes	69
	Drawing the Eyes	70
	Highlights on the Eyes	72
	Using the Paper Value	75
	Examples of Eyes	76
	Nose and Mouth	82
	The Structure of the Nose and Mouth	84
	Examples of the Nose and Mouth	86
	Ears	94
	Placement of the Ear	95
	Hair	100
	Troubleshooting Example	105
Chapter 4	Putting it all Together	107
	The Five Essential Drawing Steps	108
	Review	108
	The Demonstrations	109
	Going Forward	118
	Practice Ideas	118
	Self-Critique	121
	Taking Your Skills to the Next Level	121
Chapter 5	Drawing from Multiple Sources	123
	Combining References	124
	A Demonstration	126
	Examples of Composite Drawings	128
Chapter 6	Working with Color	133
	From Drawing to Painting	134
	The Color "Wheel"	136
	Complementary Colors	136
	Color Intensity	138
	Mixing from the Tertiary Colors	138
	Color Temperature	140
	Color Relationships	142
	Warm Advances; Cool Recedes	142
	Family of Colors	143
	Expressive Color	145
	Pastel Painting	148
	The Materials	149
	Caring for Your Pastel	150
	Applying the Charcoal Pencil	150
	Applying the Tone	150
	Applying the Pastel	151
	Painting the Background	152
	Pastel Demonstration	153
	Pastel Demonstration Two	156
	Index	160

Editorial Reviews

This solid effort uses a drawing method based on value, rather than line, and on the centuries-old principles of chiaroscuro. The latter creates an illusion of three-dimensionality by studying light as it falls across the structure of form. It attempts an exact rendering of both form shadows and cast shadows. Maughan cites the Mona Lisa as the supreme example of chiaroscuro in portraiture. He supplements chapters on drawing technique with a good section on using color and a bizarre, extraneous chapter on using pig snouts and elephant ears to create grotesque portraits. For a good beginners' book on portraiture, see Pat Clarke's Painting Heads and Faces. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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