Head Drawing for Entertainment Arts

As a professional artist having a plan of action for any drawing is critical. In this first lesson, Chris will introduce some of the major considerations you should make before beginning your drawing. You will learn about, observing and designing emotion, pose, shape, and come up with a plan for value design and overall composition.

The lay-in is the analytical layer of your drawing that establishes the more important elements such as placement, proportion, character and form. There are many ways to render a drawing or painting, but they all depend on having a solid lay-in. Learn how to do a professional lay-in quickly and efficiently establishing the most important elements of the drawing.

While there are are infinite number of ways that you can render your head drawings, there are fundamental principles that don’t change. Learn how to think of light and shadow, how to simplify your value design, adding detail only where necessary, and how to make strong design choices and set yourself up for a successful finished drawing.

Now that you have a general overview of the head drawing process, it’s time to dive deeper into the structural and proportional relationships of the head. Join Charles Hu for his famous head construction lecture, taught to professional artists over many years in Southern California. Make sure to take notes in your sketchbook!

More than most parts of the body, the look of the head and face is determined by the skull. Learn how to understand and visualize the skull in a way that is simple and architectural. This is a great alternative to diving deep into anatomy, and is a great way to improve your understanding of the forms that make up the portrait.

Now that you have developed a deeper understanding of the structures and anatomy that make up the skull, we will reconsider how light and shadow create the illusion of three-dimensional reality. Learn how to make clear design choices and use the core shadow, and clear value design to make your head drawings strong, solid, and believable.