by Mel Rumsey

 

 

     Part A. Proportions

     Part B. Intermediate Shading


Introduction:

     This Tutorial is meant to cover the more advanced drawing techniques used in drawing, but in how they are applied more specifically for creating a piece intended for pyrography.

 

     Since one of the most difficult types of themes to do as far as proportions and shading is portraits, I will be drawing a picture of one of my sons in my sketch book through this exercise.

     When you do a portrait in any medium, getting all of your proportions and shading right is critical when trying to get your final piece to look like your original subject. If your proportions are off on most any other subject, you will find them to be more forgiving than a portrait. If you draw a building for example, if it is proportioned a little taller or wider than the original it will still likely look just as good as it would have anyway. A portrait however will not turn out as well no matter how well you do it. By that I mean that your eyes, hair, and shading may look fantastic… but if the face is not properly constructed and shaded, it will not look much like the person you are trying to draw.

     You will find these techniques apply across the board in any medium, for any subject, and on any media. No matter what you are doing in all these, even if you are not sketching it first, you are drawing the picture with paint, ink, clay, or a wood burner. You will find that for wood burning, although mastering the equipment is unique, most of the techniques for drawing and shading are similar to ink or watercolor. Also, this process will walk you through a drawing of a portrait, but you will find that I used a portrait because it pretty well covers all of the information you need to draw any subject you are doing.

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