The Sequence of Drawing a Portrait

We had a great question from Lucy who's giving our free portrait course a go:

I am new to portrait drawing. Could you please tell me what is the usual sequence of doing a portrait? Eyes and other facial features first, or hair first??Thanks,Lucy

There is no hard and fast rule regarding portrait work. Everyone would have their own ideas on what to complete first and last.I usually start with the face, working the features from the forehead down. This is to avoid smudging the work.I would also complete the eye surround in part before tackling the eyes themselves.This gives it a framework in which to put in the eye details. Then I would finish the eye surround.Next would come the nose, mouth, ears and rest of the face.The hair would usually be completed once the all the facial details are in place.This is only how I would choose to tackle drawing a portrait. If you would like to learn how to draw any of these features on a portrait using Pastel Pencils, please click the link below to access the relevant video.Drawing EyesDrawing HairDrawing a NoseDrawing, Mouth Lips and TeethDo you have a different process for drawing Portraits? Let us know in the comments below.