Having trouble with portraits

[Andy Tran]

 Heh, I see references as a lot of help. It's true, you would lose proportions without references. You need them to know what the eye shape looks like, nose, etc. Most artists use references and it's good.

[ndchristie]

of course you would do it from life if you want to do it right.  the only way to learn properly is direct observation.  ask your friends if you can sketch them, just a quick drawing, to get the forms.  later you can imagine and change all that you need, since you will already have a direct visual copy of the forms you need.  the life though that they need is best taken from life; and full works with your friend in front of you is best.  if your friends are poor sports (and i dont see why they should be, ive never had trouble asking people to pose) then you can use a mirror and do yourself.  last resort is to take a picture of yourself or someone that you know well, because at least then your mind is familiar with them enough to put something real behind the photograph.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/9987/facerefsheetax0.gif
this is a quick reference sheet that i made for myself about 2 years ago.  its not as good as drawing from life, but creating yourself a basic sheet with several genaric positions can be useful in framing out the basics of a portrait.  Also, when using pictures of friends, one good idea is to not take a picture of them posion, but to find a picture of them that really shows them.  spntaneous pictures always make for better references because they retain more life.  here are some pictures of friends that ive used more than once because they both have a lot of life
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/6241/courtneysmallnm0.png
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/982/andrewkf5.jpg
if you must use pictures, try looking for similar ones of your friends.  If you dont take that many pictures, Myspace can occasionally be a good source, though often its a bit too posed.  worth a look though for sure.

the point of all this is that you should have something to go on besides just a photograph.  a memory, emotion, a bond of some sort.  this will always help you in drawing effective characters.  strangers, even celebrity strangers, almost never yield drawings as good as llife experience and observation.

[Terley]

hey

However, you need references to know what to draw

I think this is wrong??? I mean, I think you can visualise from your mind or whatever, this is what creativity is???. I think references destroy your creativity, and for things that require creativity (like making "make beleive" tiles for a game) can decrease the quality of your work.

I also very much agree with what Adarias has said .

cyas

I actually disagree, to start being creative and visualising what you want to draw you first need to know the fundamentals of drawing.. References can help you pick up what you don't already know, like where on the head the eyes usually need to go to look natural, how and why certain expressions look how they do.. as Adarias said drawing from observation is the only way to 'draw', any other time you're just using your memory..

But yes, a lot of art is using your imagination and creativity.. I don't think Andy is tryin to do this at the minute, copying an image gives me the impression he wants to know how to draw a face.. If he doesn't know were to start observing pictures and people around him is the only place to start..

[Andy Tran]

 Ah, I see now. I'll take those advice.

[Skull]

I'm just trying to figure out why you've added greens in there?

[fawel]

Cus it looks good in green.

Sorry for bump, I wanted to post this