Okay, so today I messed around with something totally new – drawing a portrait of this guy, Mike Gallegos. I’d seen some of his art online, and I was like, “I wanna try drawing him.” It seemed a bit ambitious, but hey, gotta push myself, right?
Getting Started (And Feeling Lost)
First, I gathered some reference photos. I just did a quick search and found a bunch of pictures of him. I picked a few that showed his face from different angles, just to get a good sense of his features. Seriously, having multiple references is a game-changer.
Then, I grabbed my sketchbook and a regular old pencil. Nothing fancy, just the stuff I always use. I like to keep it simple, you know?
I started by lightly sketching the basic shapes of his head and where his eyes, nose, and mouth should be. Honestly, this part always feels a little weird, like I’m just drawing random lines and hoping for the best. It doesn’t look like anything at first, which can be a bit discouraging, but it’s all good, I should keep going.
Building It Up
Once I had the basic shapes down, I started to refine them. I focused on getting the proportions right – like, how far apart his eyes are, how wide his nose is, that kind of stuff. This is where those multiple reference photos really helped. I kept flipping back and forth between them, trying to get a good feel for his features.
I slowly added more detail, like the shape of his eyebrows, the curve of his lips, and the way his hair falls. I used to rush this part, but I’ve learned that taking your time and really observing makes a huge difference. It also helped me erase some parts.
Shading and Stuff
After I was pretty happy with the line drawing, I started shading. This is where the portrait really starts to come to life, I guess. I tried to pay attention to where the light was hitting his face in the photos and replicated that with my pencil. It is always so cool that I could use darker shading for the shadows and lighter shading for the highlights.
I built up the shading gradually, layer by layer. I find that this helps me avoid making the shadows too dark too quickly. It’s easier to add more shading than it is to take it away, you know?
Final Touches (And Feeling Proud)
Finally, I went back and added some finishing touches. I darkened some of the lines, cleaned up any smudges, and added a little bit of detail to his hair and beard. All these were added by my own observation.
And…that’s it! It’s definitely not perfect, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since it was my first time trying to draw this guy. It’s always cool to try new things and see what you can do. Plus, drawing is just relaxing, even when it’s a bit challenging.
