ZenART's Membership Plans Terms & Conditions

(Updates effective 17/08/2020)

These terms and conditions (“Terms and Conditions”) govern the ZenART Supplies Rewards & Referral Plan as well as Subscribe & Save Plan (“Membership Plans”), and members of the programs will earn zen coins in connection with the purchase of qualifying online products and online activities that are redeemable towards the purchase of certain products online. For the re-occurring members (Subscribe & Save Plan) this includes exclusive gifts & content.

1. REWARDS & REFERRAL

  • Free. No purchase is necessary to obtain membership in the Rewards & Referral Program, but you must establish an account at https://shop.zenartsupplies.co/account/register . Please see our privacy policy, located here, to understand how information you provide us will be used. This program is void where prohibited.
  • Eligibility. In order to be eligible for the Rewards & Referral Program, you must create an account as outlined in these Terms and Conditions. You may create an account if you are at least seventeen (17) years of age, have Internet access, and have a valid mailing address. If you are between the ages of 17 and 18, you must have your parent’s permission to register for an account. If you choose to create an account, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account, username and password and for restricting access to your account. You are responsible for keeping such information current, complete, accurate and truthful. You agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account, username and/or password. You agree to provide only current, complete, accurate and truthful information. If you are accessing and using the Site on someone else’s behalf, you represent that you have the authority to bind that person as the principal to all Terms and Conditions provided herein, and to the extent you do not have such authority you agree to be bound to these Terms and Conditions and to accept liability for harm caused by any wrongful use of the Site or Content resulting from such access or use. You may only have one member account per natural person. Persons who are discovered to have more than one account forfeit their zen coins and will be unsubscribed from the Loyalty Program.
  • How To Enroll in the Rewards & Referral Program. (a) Create an account: Visit www.zenartsupplies.com (the "Site" or "Online") and become a registered user of the Site. Click here to be taken directly to the registration page. You will be asked for your first and last name, your email address, and a password. You will also be given the option to sign up for our newsletter. Once you have submitted the requisite information, you will be sent an email to the address you listed confirming your membership. Once you have confirmed your email address, you are automatically enrolled in the Reward & Referral Program and are a member (“Member”).
  • How to Access/Change Your Member Information. You must keep your personal information on your Account up-to-date. To do so, click on the "My Account" section and access your account by entering your registered email address and current password. From your dashboard you can access your account information; review your current and past orders; change your profile; manage your subscriptions and applications, and access your previous purchases.
  • How to Cancel Your Membership. You may cancel an account at any time. To cancel your account, please send an email to support@zenartsupplies.co and write “cancel membership” in the subject line. The email must come from the account currently listed on our servers as being associated with your Rewards & Referral Program. If you no longer have access to that email address, please email our customer service department and we will verify your status and cancel your account. Upon cancellation, you are no longer a member, and any unused zen coins accrued in your account will be forfeited and cannot be redeemed. Zen coins maintain their value only on valid accounts in good standing, and except as otherwise provided here for redemption, have no cash value outside of their redemption value on the Site.

2. EARNING ZEN COINS

  • General Members can earn zen coins on the purchase of qualifying online products at zenartsupplies.co. To receive zen coins for your Online purchases, you must be signed into your account. You may check at any time to see if you are signed in to the Site by looking in the upper right-hand corner of the site. Gift cards do not qualify for zen coins. Other products that do not qualify for zen coins are noted on the Site.
  • Earning Rate. Members earn 5 sen coins for every $1.00 spent on qualifying purchases (in other words, one (5) zen coins for every one dollar ($1) spent). Zen coins are based on your order subtotal, after any discounts, only. Zen coins are rounded down to the nearest whole number. For example, if you spend $9.99, you will receive 9 zen coins. The calculation is as follows: $9.99 x 1 zen coins per dollar = 9.99 zen coins, which is rounded down to 9 zen coins. This program started on August 17, 2020, and initial levels were set on the 2020 amount spent on ordering products. Note: Shipping and Taxes are not taken into consideration. If an item is return and/or price adjusted that will also be removed from your rewards calculations.
  • Gift Cards. Gift card purchases are not eligible to receive zen coins. However, once a gift card is redeemed, zen coins will be awarded to the recipient for the subtotal after any gift card values, provided s/he is logged into the account, as outlined in these Terms and Conditions.
  • Addition of Zen Coins to Accounts. Zen Coins will be added to your Account under the following conditions, and will generally show up immediately. You will receive zen coins:
    • At the time of account registration
    • During the purchase of qualifying products
    • For other activities outlined on the Site that may show up from time to time. Note that for these other activities, including “bonus zen coins” accumulations and other zen coin promotions, zen coins may show as “pending,” depending upon the activity.
    • Joining the Birthday Club. Birthdate must be entered 30 days before your Birthday to qualify.
    • For Liking the ZenART Supplies Facebook page and sharing the ZenART Supplies Facebook page with your following. This is good one time only.
    • Following ZenART Supplies on Instagram. This is good one time only.
    • Referring a friend to ZenART Supplies. Your account will be automatically awarded the discount only if the referral friend used the link sent to them from your referral account and makes a qualifying purchase. Discount will automatically be applied to account if stipulations are met.
  • Exclusions. Members earn zen coins only on the purchase price of: (i) qualifying online products. Calculation of zen coins excludes payment by the Member for shipping charges and all taxes, including without limitation, federal, state, and local taxes or use taxes. Zen Coins will not be earned on any discounts or other credits offered in connection with a product or service. For example, if a product that is normally $50 is on sale for $25, a Member will only earn zen coins on the purchase price of $25. Purchases of gift cards, redemption of vouchers, and any type of price adjustments, including merchandise returns, are not eligible for zen coins. All purchases made: (i) by a Member prior to such member joining the Program, (ii) Online without a Member being logged onto the Website with the Member's Account number linked to the Member's Online account, are not eligible for Reward & Referral Program credit. The purchase of ZenART Supplies products outside the Zenartsupplies.co website are not eligible for the Reward & Referral Program.
  • Returns/Order Cancellations. Zen Coins earned for a purchase that is then the subject of a return, cancellation, refund, declined credit card or gift card, or other credit will be deducted from your account in an amount equal to the zen coins earned for the original transaction, including any bonus zen coins that may be applicable. Any rewards discounts that are applied to the order, will be distributed equally to the applicable items in the order when completing a return. Zen Coins redeemed on an order will not be reapplied back to your rewards account for any reason on a returned order. If a return/cancellation will cause your account to have a negative zen coin balance, you will not begin earning zen coins again until your zen coins balance is returned to zero (0), by making purchases, or engaging in other promotional activities offered from time to time. If an item is exchanged (different product) any redeemed rewards on the initial purchase may be transferred to the exchange one (1) time only. Rewards used on an order that is canceled cannot be reapplied as they are good for just one use.
  • Bonus Zen Coins Promotions. From time to time, ZenART Supplies may run certain bonus zen coin promotions. Under bonus zen coin promotions, Members can earn additional or "bonus zen coins" in connection with the purchase of certain online products. When you purchase these specially marked products or make the purchase during a bonus zen coins time period, you will earn bonus zen coins on each product, as specified in the offer. Bonus zen coin promotions are subject to the terms and conditions of the offer and may be offered at any time in ZenART Supplies sole discretion. Bonus zen coin offers cannot be combined with any other offer.
  • Limitations on Bonus Zen Coins and Zen Coins, Generally. These terms apply to zen coins and bonus zen coins accruals. If you purchase a product during a promotion and the product comes with an additional, free product, zen coins will not be issued on the retail value of the free product. If you redeem zen coins towards the purchase of a product and pay a portion of the retail price after the zen coin's redemption, you will receive zen coins only on the leftover retail amount you pay, and not on any value attributed to the zen coin you used. If you redeem zen coins towards the purchase of a product in an amount equal to the full price of the product, you will not earn any zen coins.
  • Non-purchase Options for Earning Zen Coins. You may also earn additional zen coins on non-purchase activities. From time to time, ZenART Supplies may offer you the chance to win various prizes, and earn zen coins, for entering into promotions. For sweepstakes promotions, there is NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO PLAY OR TO WIN. Rules and restrictions will apply to such promotions and may be found on the entry page of any promotion.
  • Referring a friend to ZenART Supplies. Email a friend an $8 off coupon on $50 order by clicking “ Earn Zen Coins” then “ Refer a Friend”. Enter the email address of a friend who has not purchased with ZenART Supplies before (if your referral has shopped with us before the referral link will be automatically voided by the system). A referral link will be sent to your friend with an $8 off coupon on a $50 order. $8 off coupon on $50 order will automatically be rewarded to your account only if the referral friend used the link sent to them from your referral account and makes a qualifying first-time purchase with ZenART Supplies. Your Referral friend will receive an $8 off coupon on $50 order, 200 zen coins for signing up, and zen coins from their first purchase made while signed into their new ZenART Supplies account.

3. REDEEMING ZEN COINS

  • How To Use Your Zen Coins. Zen Coins must be used in increments outlined in these Terms and Conditions. The maximum number of zen coins that may be used in a single transaction is 10,000 zen coins. Zen Coins may only be used Online at the ZenART Supplies website. Zen Coins towards Products: Members can use their zen coins to reduce the purchase price of a product or to receive a product for free based on the following scale:
    • 500 zen coins = $5.00 off
    • 1,000 zen coins = $10.00 off your at least $50 order
    • 1,500 zen coins = $15.00 off your at least $50 order
    • 2,500 zen coins = $25.00 off your at least $50 order

    Zen Coins can only be redeemed in any combination of the zen coin and increment amounts set forth above. Redemption of zen coins towards purchases of products is subject to product availability. Any rewards discounts that are applied to the order, will be distributed equally to the applicable items in the order when completing a return.

  • Gift cards. Once available, zen coins cannot be used towards the purchase of gift cards. Gift card redemption, however, is eligible for zen coins. Zen Coins accrued pursuant to the use of a gift card will benefit the gift card user, provided the user has an account in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
  • To Redeem your Zen Coins. Before you begin shopping with us, sign in to your Shop account on our site. Select “Redeem Zen Coins” from the red tab housed in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and select the amount of zen coins you would like to redeem. You will be issued a custom code that you can copy and paste into the discount bar during check out (Please note - only one code can be used). Your total payment amount will be discounted by the amount of zen coins you allocate to the purchase. Note that zen coins may only be redeemed for the purchase price of the product. Sales tax, shipping, and other handling charges assessed in addition to the price of the product are your responsibility and zen coins may not be used to discount these additional charges.
  • Exclusions. Only one account per natural person. Only one discount code can be redeemed per transaction. Rewards redemption codes may not be combined with any other discount codes. Zen Coins may not be transferred or gifted at this time. Zen Coins cannot be used on past purchases. Zen Coins accumulated on different accounts by different members may not be combined or aggregated to make purchases of products or for any other reason. Zen Coins earned in a transaction cannot be redeemed in the same transaction. Redeemed zen coins cannot be retroactively applied to any past order or receive a price adjustment on any order where redeemed zen coins were not applied. Zen Coins have no cash value outside of the ZenART Supplies website and are available only to members in good standing.
  • Zen Coins Expiration and Time Lapses. All zen coins acquired, whether standard zen coins or bonus zen coins, shall expire 180 days from the date the zen coins are added to your account. Zen Coins expire 180 days from the date in which they were assigned to your account. Specific onsite activities in which zen coins will be awarded are set to accrue zen coins based on a time-lapse at the discretion of ZenART Supplies.
    • Sign up: zen coins are added to your account instantly
    • Order: zen coins are added to your account when your order is placed.
  • Once zen coins are redeemed, a discount code will be assigned and we are unable to cancel the discount code and reapply the zen coins to your Reward & Referral account. Discount codes generated by redeeming zen coins do not expire until used. They are a one-time use code, so once it is used it is gone. If an order is returned zen coins will not be reinstated.

4. Subscribe & Save Plan

  • Re-occurring purchase. Purchase is necessary in order to participate in this plan. The plan is worth $6.95 and will be charged to your account on the same date of the month that you purchased the plan, i.e. if you purchased the plan on 19th of January, you will be charged for the plan on the 19th of each month you are a Subscribe & Save Plan member.
  • 15% re-occurring discount. As a member of the subscribe & Save Plan, you are eligible for a 15% discount every time you put an order in place. You are qualified for the discount as soon as you purchase the plan.
  • Cancellation. After a purchase made with a Subscribe & Save Plan, you are not able to get a refund for the plan for the month the purchase was valid for but you can cancel for the following months.
  • Free samples & accessories. These are included for members of Subscribe & Save Plan only. These are not included in each order but the member will be informed when they will receive "extras" in their order.
  • Access to exclusive content. Exclusive access to tutorials, guides, tips & tricks in video, pdf, or audio format will be part of the membership program. Not all exclusive content is available but what is and will be available is up to ZenART Supplies sole discretion.

5. GENERAL

  • By registering with Zenartsupplies.co and joining the Reward & Referral Program, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in these Terms and Conditions, as well as any other terms that may be associated with the Reward & Referral Program. ZenART Supplies reserves the right to cancel, modify, suspend or restrict the Reward & Referral Program, your account, the redemption of zen coins, or any aspect of the Program, including, without limitation, the zen coin conversion ratio and the zen coin expiration policy at any time. Any changes can be made without advance notice. ZenART Supplies may make these changes even though such changes may affect your ability to use zen coins already accumulated. You are responsible for remaining knowledgeable about the Program Terms and Conditions. A Member's zen coins balance, as reflected in ZenART Supplies records, shall be deemed correct. ZenART Supplies reserves the right to determine the amount of zen coins in any Member's account based on ZenART Supplies' internal records related to such Member's account. In the event of an inconsistency between the amount accrued in a Member's account as stated on any Member's receipt and ZenART Supplies internal records, ZenART Supplies internal records will control. ZenART Supplies assumes no responsibility for errors caused by incorrect Member information. Your right to transfer zen coins earned or granted under the Program is strictly limited. The sale of zen coins is prohibited and may result in the confiscation or cancellation of your zen coins as well as suspension or termination of your membership, which in each case shall be final and conclusive. All transactions involving zen coins and all Member accounts are subject to review and verification by ZenART Supplies. The zen coins balance in a Member's account may be unavailable for use when an account or transaction is under review. ZenART Supplies may revoke any Member's membership in the Reward & Referral Program at any time if such Member engages in abuse of the Reward & Referral Program or fails to follow the terms and conditions of the Program. Fraud or abuse relating to the accrual of zen coins or redemption of rewards may result in revocation of membership in the Program and may affect a Member's eligibility for participation in any other ZenART Supplies program, present or future. Zen Coins are non-transferable and cannot be redeemed for cash. The interpretation and application of the Program's Terms and Conditions are at the sole discretion and determination of ZenART Supplies. For more information or other questions, click on Contact Us.
  • The Terms and Conditions of the loyalty program are subject to change at ZenART Supplies’ sole discretion at any time and without notice to customers. Upon customer’s at-will termination of their Zenartsupplies.com registered account, or if a customer is termination for violation of these Terms and Conditions or other activities in violation of the intent and good faith intended use of this Site, all zen coins will immediately be forfeited and will no longer be redeemable. ZenART Supplies will make reasonable efforts to award zen coins as outlined above to all 1. registered and 2. qualifying Zenartsupplies.co customers but is not responsible for any technical or unforeseen errors that may occur.
  • Zen Coins are nontransferable, nonredeemable for cash, are nonrefundable and are not valid outside of Zenartsupplies.co. Purchases made outside Zenartsupplies.co are not valid for zen coin accrual (this includes, but is not limited to Facebook resell groups, Ebay, and Amazon).
  • Employees of ZenART Supplies are not eligible to participate in the Reward & Referral Program.

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Toolkit

How To Draw A Basic Portrait

How To Draw A Basic Portrait

Step by Step Guide To Portrait Drawing | How To Draw A Face | How to Draw Facial Features | Tips and Tricks

After learning the basics of portrait drawing here, you might also be interested to learn how to colour mix and paint realistic skin tones in oil - just head over to our previous article Oil Color Mixing: Figurative Painting & Skin Tones. Not only will you discover color mixing tips for various skin tones, but proper lighting and color temperature techniques as well. There are many more useful tips that you'll find there, so best check it out! 


TABLE OF CONTENTS: Looking for something in particular? Jump ahead using the links below:

How To Draw A Face
Step-by-step Guide of Drawing A Basic Portrait
Outlining the general shape of the head
How To Draw The Facial Features
Working on the finer details


 

Drawing realistic portraits can definitely be a challenge, but this holds true at the beginning for any new technique that budding artists wish to learn. The key to conquering portrait drawing is by mastering each facial feature, in this case the sum of all the right parts will make an accurate whole. It is very important to train your eye to observe the essential details that give each face its own individual identity - the drooping of the eyes, the slant of the lips, the slightly arched eyebrow, and many other particularities that can help you achieve a realistic portrait.

Not to worry, though the human body may seem too complicated at first, it can be simplified and broken down into easier and more manageable parts! Let's give thanks to the generally symmetrical bodies that nature has gifted us with that allowed us to create basic rules of proportions to serve as our useful starting point. Now, let's start with the step-by-step of portrait drawing by first gathering the materials you'll be using for this tutorial.

How To Draw A Face

Before starting, here's a personal tip: Place a mirror in front of you and look closely at your own facial features as you draw your portrait. Why, you ask? Your face is the most familiar face you know, you see it every day of your life and have unknowingly practically memorized all the vital details, so much so that you more or less know if you're getting the proportions right or not. Now, you're ready to start!

What You'll Need:

  • A handy sketchbook made of good quality paper and high GSM.
  • Graphite pencil
  • Ruler (optional)
  • Kneaded eraser
  • Reference photo (optional)
  • Good light source (optional)
I used the B5 Artist's Sketchbook from ZenART Supplies that's so handy and of great quality, 6B pencil for the rendering, HB pencil for the light lines and drawings, kneaded eraser, and a mirror as I used my own face as a reference for the light and shadow blending of the face.

Step-by-step Guide of Basic Portrait Drawing

To get the hang of the facial proportions, let's first practice drawing a fully frontal face. In this simplified drawing and symmetry, you can better understand each step-by-step process before moving on to drawing other face angles.

1. Outlining the general shape of the head

The important thing to keep in mind in this first step is to have a good sense of the space on your paper where you plan on drawing your face, so that you can plot out the optimum placement of your subject that will make for a good composition. There's nothing more frustrating than spending so much time perfecting your drawing, and then belatedly realizing that you ran out of space. In the drawing example below, about 2/3 of the ZenART B5 sketchbook was used - placing the head more or less somewhere in the middle. This is generally a good workable size. 

  • Lightly sketch an egg-shaped circle on your paper, you can use an HB pencil for this if you're worried about drawing too hard. Then make a straight vertical line at the middle of the face, dividing it in half as symmetrically as you can.
  • Then make a straight horizontal line in the middle of the face measuring from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin, crossing over your vertical line. At the image below the top of the head, the center, and the bottom of the chin are all marked using blue lines. 
  • Observe on your model or your reference where the hairline is and mark that on your portrait drawing, in the sketch below it is marked with the topmost red line. Using that hairline marking and the marking at bottom of the chin, divide that section into three equal parts. Below, red lines are used to show these three divisions. These lines will serve as your main guide lines for drawing in each of the facial features.

2. How To Draw The Facial Features

A. Drawing the Eyes
  • At the middle of the center blue line, draw two almond-shaped eyes. 

Did you know? Human anatomy is quite amazing. The space between the two eyes can be measured with a 'third eye'. This is the approximate separation between the two eyes, leaving a perfect space for where your nose will be placed! With this in mind, make sure that the space between your eyes isn't too narrow nor too wide. Getting the eyes as right as you can is very important in portrait drawing.

  • Now, let's fill in the other details. In the middle of each eye, draw a big, dark circle and a smaller one at the center of it.  These are your irises and pupils. 
  • Add the eyelids by drawing two curved lines on top of your eyes, use the shape of your already drawn eyes as a curving guide. 
B. Drawing The Ears
  • Extend the second red guide line from the top of the head to the outside parts of the face, and mark those points with dots or light lines that are just right at the frame of your face. These points will be the tops and bottoms of your ears.
  • The third red guide line from the top is where the bottom of your nose will be, so anticipate that you will draw in that area. It's good to remember that your nose also has the same height as your ears!
  • Finally, begin drawing the ears within those line markers. 

Reminder: Don't make it too complicated! You can even cover some areas with hair if you choose to do so, don't get bogged down or too intimidated by the details. After all, this is mainly for proportion practice. Let's make it easy and very doable for you. You can always practice drawing more detailed ears at a different time on another portrait drawing. 

C. Drawing The Eyebrows
  • On top of the eyes, draw your desired shape of eyebrows. Eyebrow shapes vary from person to person and come in all shapes and sizes, so you can freely explore this if you want. If you prefer to copy from a reference, observe your model, or look closely in the mirror (if you are your own reference) to closely copy the shape of the eyebrows.
  • A typical eyebrow would be slightly arched in the end and tapering into fine points. It usually starts alongside the inside corner of your eyes, but you can easily adjust this depending on each person's individual proportions. 
  • Pay close attention to the thickness and thinness of your eyebrows. Later on, it will be easier to fill this in with individual hair strands, you can draw some now if it helps you visualize it.
D. Drawing The Nose
  • From the inner corners of your eyes, draw two straight lines going down up to the third red guide line, it's also the level of where the bottom of your ears are. These are the marking points for your nose. 
  • Begin drawing the nose while being careful to stay within those lines!
  • The tip of the noise is usually rounded, so once you reach that point, draw a very light circle to serve as a shaping guide.
  • Sketch two small oblongs with tips tapering (almost like teardrops but curved) towards the center very lightly under the tip of your nose on both sides. These will be the nostrils.
  • Pay close attention to the size and shape of your nostrils, make sure that the holes you draw are not too big nor too small. Unless of course that is what you can clearly observe on your model or reference. When not done carefully, it could ruin the proportion of your portrait drawing. 
E. Drawing The Lips
  • Using the third and fourth red guide lines, divide that section into three equal parts. The opening of the lips is marked at the first dividing line (shown using a red line at the drawing below). 
  • Using the same guide lines (bottom of the nose and chin), divide the section into two equal parts. The center line marks the bottom of the lips (now shown with a blue line at the drawing).
  • To identify the width of your lips, lightly draw two straight lines from your irises going down until you reach the red line marking where the opening of your lips are going to be.
  • In the portrait above, the lips were intentionally drawn to be not too wide, so drawing the width was stopped a little before reaching the marking points. You can also adjust the lips according to the width and fullness that you desire.
  • Make sure your lips are not all straight lines, even the thinnest of lips still have curves in them. Add the necessary curves in the middle, on the sides, and the bottom of your lips, depending on the shape you wish to make.
  • And don't forget your cupid's bow -- the very small inverted C-like peak at the top and center of the lips. This is a very important feature of the human face, and makes a big difference in defining individual lip shapes when aiming for realistic portrait drawings.

 

3. Working on the finer details

A. Hatching Out The Hair

Our eyebrows, lashes and hair are very essential details that make an individual. How it varies from person to person in every way imaginable just shows us how magical nature is. Before you begin working on the hair, decide which type of hair you want for your portrait. Wavy hair? Curly? Straight?  Followed by the length and the styling. Does the person in the portrait have their hair up in a bun? Have very short hair? Mid-length? Long? Styled? Partly covered? All these details make a difference on the end result that you want to accomplish.

Eyebrows
  • Observe your own eyebrows, as well as other people's. Study how the thickness or sparsity differ, and even the direction of the hair growth. The strands of hair in the eyebrows usually go upward from the middle of the eyes, and then gradually go down as it progresses to the sides.
  • Erase your guide lines and other unnecessary details using your kneaded eraser, having a clay-like malleability is so useful, you can easily shape it into whatever form or size you need! This is why it's very important to lightly draw the details that you know you will certainly have to erase afterwards, one less thing to worry about later when portrait drawing.
Eyelashes
  • Start sketching very light and thin hair starting from the outside of the eyes going in. If you've ever looked at a fallen eyelash closely, the hair at the root is thick, and tapers to fine and thin tips. 
  • Draw them with curved strokes going upward and curving inward when drawing the lashes at the outer parts, then gradually switching to the opposite direction once you go past the middle of the eye and heading towards the inner corners. 
  • Remember: As you go inwards, the hair strands become shorter and thinner until they are almost non-existent at the innermost portion of your eyes, near your tear ducts.
Here is the finished basic full frontal portrait with proper rendering using a 6B graphite pencil on B5 Artist's Sketchbook from ZenART Supplies. The light source is a softly lit lamp to the left side, leaving soft shadows on the face.
Hair
  • First, establish what type of hair the person has as mentioned above.
  • Define the shape of the hairline and hair-root around the face.
  • Begin drawing in the direction of the hair growth. Outwards for the top of the head, and then flowing as it goes down. This all varies depending on the type, length, and style of the hair you are drawing. 
  • Work in minimal strokes while focusing on the direction of the hair. The head usually takes a longer time to fill in because it's a lot after all! But don't despair, you can totally do this!
  • A tip: You can shade the whole head of hair lightly, then add cross-hatching after.
  • You can use your kneaded eraser by lightly erasing the parts where the highlights of the hair are.

Finish up by adding the necessary shadows, highlights, and contrast through shading and more cross-hatching throughout your whole face. Don't draw hard lines unless you see an actual line, using hard lines when you shouldn't will instantly age a youthful model or reference. Remember, the skin is not a hard surface and your portrait drawing should reflect that. 

Here are some reminders to help you on your portrait drawing journey:

  • Observe and practice what you have observed. Carefully examine what you see in the mirror and understand the lines and curves of a human face.
  • Train your brain to see the most essential details.
  • Draw lightly so it's easy to erase afterwards and won't leave any unwanted marks.
  • There are two major elements that influence a drawing: The first is drawing from what you see, and the second is drawing from what you know. What works best is a combination of the two. 
  • I'm sure you hear this often but it bears repeating as it's really true! The more you draw and practice, the better you will become. So, just keep at it and before long you'll be creating realistic portraits of yourself and of others!

Which facial feature is the most challenging for you to draw? Which part of the face do you enjoy drawing the most? Did you use your own face as reference when you first drew a portrait? Let us know what you think, we'd love to hear back from you. Feel free to leave a comment, and we'll be happy to answer any queries you have.

Learn how to draw faces besides the frontal view in our next article - How To Draw 3/4 View Face: Step-by-step. Until then, have a great time practicing and drawing portraits!


- MEET THE AUTHOR-

Kathleen is the Wordsmith at ZenART, resident artist and art editor. When God sent a shower of talents, Kathleen made sure she got a basketful of them! She's a visual artist with practical knowledge on various fields from painting and sculpture, to costume and set design which comes in very handy when writing about various art techniques and theories. She also shares her passion for the arts through teaching. She runs her own brand of handmade wirework jewelry designs.


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