Difficulty proportions and knowing where to start on a drawing

[timdiesel10]

I always struggle when starting a new drawing and find it really stressful.
Years ago when i was studying art i used to just start drawing what i saw without thinking about it. Since ive started drawing again over the last year i find it really difficult to know how to start a portrait.
Does everyone start by drawing the outline of the eyes on the page?
If i start trying to draw the eyes i dont know how to judge where they should be on the page so everything will be in proportion with the original photo im drawing.
Ive tried using grids but i dont get one with this method.
Sometimes i use a ruler to line up on the eyes on the page and then i get bogged down into measuring exact measurements of distances of each part of the face and the distance between them where i would rather just draw without measuring everything.
I do seem to get very perfectionist when starting a drawing which makes me feel stressed out.

Any advice would be great?

[ester_duraes]

I'm not the best person to answer this as I'm no pro artist but I'll just tell you the way I do
I draw free hand and I never tried grids so I can't advice you on that but I usually start sketching the eyes when starting a portrait. I always draw very light lines so I can erase them easily when I need to.
I do use my pencil to measure proportions sometimes, I find it helpful
hope I was able to help somehow!

[timdiesel10]

Thanks ester. I will try this approach. i think i might trying to hard and thinking about it too much. Your art is very inspiring.

[ester_duraes]

Originally Posted by timdiesel10

Thanks ester. I will try this approach. i think i might trying to hard and thinking about it too much. Your art is very inspiring.

no problem! I guess the key to achieve good proportions is practise
thanks for the compliment about my work!

[JoePal]

If you find that you are a perfectionist, I would suggest learning how to use the grid method. It's the best way to achieve those perfect details and proportions when drawing portraits.

But for me, if I'm not using a grid, you really just have to constantly compare different points of the drawing to each other and to the reference. Like how far the eye is from the nose and then to the chin. Or the distance from the edge of the subject to the border of your paper.

When drawing people I always start with a light sketch of the outline of the face followed by positioning the other features. This helps to correctly map out the drawing. That way its a quick fix if something doesn't look right and you haven't invested too much time in one section before realizing another part isn't right.

I hope that helps you. Something like that is difficult to explain. You just need to develope an eye for the details and how things relate to each other. Like Ester said, you just have to practice.

[timdiesel10]

Thanks JoePal. Very well explained. I agree it is difficult to describe, but i do understand what you mean. Yes practice is definately the key, i think when i was at school i found it easier as it was practicing alot more regularly.
Im going to try various different methods and see what works.
Thanks for the advice.

[timdiesel10]

I think ive pin pointed what im getting at now. For a portrait i like to sketch the eyes first then judge where the nose and mouth is and then sketch the face outline and work outwards from that.
My problem is working out where to draw the eyes to start with on the paper, so they are in the right place to begin with, so i can include everything in the photo without everything being to high on the page, or too low for example.
So im asking how do you position the eyes in the right place on the page drawing freehand?

[tim]

On the first page of my thread, I posted my step by step method using pencil. There are different approaches though.

[Cold Shiva]

I draw the eyes pretty intense already. Then I relate the size: mouth is eyecenter to center, rotate your eye a quarter then at the tip your nostril would begin etc. Fistrules for a front-pose. Make weak lines that are easy to erase, you'll get more grip on how your drawing will look. Remember, shading makes it looks like the proportions is changing, while it is not. And don't let the empty paper intimidate you. If you want to know your problem, just make a free sketch. No pressure, all flaws allowed. That way you get understanding what might become a problem.

[timdiesel10]

Thanks Tim and thanks Cold Shiva. Some great advice im going to use. Am all ready practicing lots at the moment