Sketchbook Ideas -Drawing People - Faces and FiguresDrawing Portraits is a demanding task - the subtle differences that make each human face unique can be a real challenge! Figure drawing is the classic test of drawing ability. Here are some ideas to get you started with developing your skills or break out of a rut with drawing.

Portrait Drawing• Draw your friends and family. How can you say something about their

personality in the drawing? Consider whether you use fluid lines, soft marks or energetic squiggles.

• Do a self-portrait in front of the mirror.• Do a careful tonal drawing from a photograph. Scan and convert the photo to

grayscale to compare tonal strength. Remember though, the computer doesn't understand the 'brightness' of red.

• Recreate an old master painting - use pieces fabric or hire theatre costumes for a day, and take some reference photos too.

• Try some interesting lighting - use candles (observing safety precautions), lamps or early morning or evening light.

• Do pages just of eyes, lips, noses and ears.• How many different ones can you find around you, or in magazines?• Study ethnic diversity. Ask people in your community to model or use

magazines to observe characteristics of different nationalities.• Portrait artists need to be able to draw clothes. Draw a range of draped

fabrics and clothing. Perhaps you need to try an extended technique - sgraffito (scratching), tape lifting or wax resist - to create some textures.

• Take a visit to the art gallery or browse an online gallery. Draw thumbnail sketches of portraits that really impress you, and note down the characteristics that make each portrait special. Dramatic lighting? Incredible detail? Powerful expression of personality? Beautiful linework? Check through your list next time you sit down to draw.

Figure Drawing• Ask friends or family to model arms, legs, heads and shoulders.• Use a dark background and directional lamps to create dramatic lighting.• Do pages of 'the tricky bits'. Look critically at your work - what do you most

need to practice?• 'The Body as Landscape' - try doing detailed sections of the figure, with great

attention to detail and subtlety of tone.• The great tradition of figure drawing and painting can weigh heavily on an

artist. What makes a life drawing contemporary? Look at pose, composition, and drawing technique for elements of the modern.

• Take a look at some old master drawings. Carefully observe their linework,

hatching and shading. Copy and make notes about their technique to refer to next time you are in the drawing studio.

PORTRAIT AND FIGURE DRAWING PROJECTDo a series of drawing on the stages of life. You could use photos of the same person, or draw different people from life, or a mix of both. Draw a baby, toddler, prechooler, junior, middle and high school age child, teenager and adult through to old age. What special treatement do the drawings need for each age? Think about color (or the absence of color), lightness or strength of drawing, composition, detail. What changes through each stage? If drawing one person, look for characteristics that remain constant.