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Sketching in always entails four separate elements: line, tone, texture, and form. In the special case of pencil portrait drawing we can refine the list of elements to six: form, proportion, anatomy, texture, tone, and planes. In this article we will give a detailed description of each of those pencil portrait drawing elements. (1) Form Shape or Shape - The illusion of three-dimensionality in sketching and art in general has been central to Western art for a long time. The carving out of form using line, structure, and tone was essential to almost all Renaissance art. On the other hand, eastern and lots of contemporary art stress flatness of form although this period in contemporary art is drawing to a close. All form in sketching can be reduced to four fundamental three-dimensional solids: cones, cylinders, spheres, and bricks. The proper use of these shapes together with perspective and tone leads to the illusion of three-dimensionality even though the drawing is, in actuality, located on a 2-dimensional piece of sketching paper. In portrait sketching, the arabesque of the head, the square structure of the head, and all elements within the head (nose, eyes, etc.) are all 2- and three-dimensional shapes that contribute to the overall illusion of three-dimensionality (2) Proportion - encompasses all sizing and placements of form. Proportion refers to the concept of relative length and angle size. Proportion gives answers to these 2 questions: 1. Knowing a defined unit of length, how many units is a given length? 2. How large is this given angle? Answering these two questions every time accurately will yield a drawing with the correct proportions and placements of all shapes. (3) Anatomy - refers essentially to the underlying structures of bone and muscle of the head. It is essential to study as much as you can about anatomy. There are a lot of studies available on anatomy for the artist. For a portrait artist it is particularly significant to study the anatomy of the head, neck, and shoulders. Anatomy texts unfortunately include many Latin terms which makes it a bit complicated to grasp. The idea is to study slowly and a little bit at a time because it can be quite exasperating. (4) Texture - in portrait sketching expresses the degree of roughness or smoothness of the shapes. The texture of a concrete walk way, for instance, is quite different from that of a cloud. There exist quite a few methods and tricks to assist you with the creation of the proper textures. Creating textures gives you the opportunity to be very creative and to use each possible type of score you can make with a pencil. In portrait sketching textures appear in places such as hair, clothing, and skin. (5) Value - refers to the degrees in light or dark of the pencil marks and hatchings. Commanding portrait sketches use the complete palette of contrasting lights and darks. Starting artists often fail to reach this full "stretch" of tone, resulting in retiring, washed-out drawings. (6) Planes - produce the sculptural sensibility of a portrait. The head has many planes each with a unique direction and therefore with a different tone. The goal is to think of the surface of the head as a collection of distinct planes with a particular direction relative to the light source. You should try to identify each of the planes and draw its correct shape and tone. The correct handling of planes adds very much to the likeness of your model as well as the illusion of three-dimensionality.
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