How to Become a Portrait Artist

Portraits can be seen in places such as museums and craft fairs.  Portraits are sketches of people’s faces that are created by portrait artists.  If you have a talent for drawing faces of people, you can become a portrait artist, through sketches or paintings.

• Understand how to make a head in equal sides by separating the head into independent areas. Measure the distance between the hair, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, chin and hairline.  Use those measurements to construct your face.


• Compose revealing eyes.  The eyes should have emotion and soul.  The way the eyes are set can make a good portrait or a disastrous one.  You need to be aware of the correct positioning of the iris, cornea and pupil.  The eyes need to be even in conjunction with the rest of the face.


• Affix a unique nostril.  It is important to note that the angle of the nose must be proportionate to the rest of the face.  Again, the nose should be done in sections: the bridge, ball and nostrils.


• Separate the mouth into sections as well by dividing the jaw, teeth and lips.  A couple of tips are to draw a horseshoe shape for the jaw and when creating the lips, the top lip should stand out more than the bottom lip.


• Finish the picture by adding ears and hair.  It is easier to profile the hair first and then shade the hair according to color and texture.  Correspond the ears to the eyes, eyebrows and nose.


• Once you have mastered the art of drawing portraits, you may want to consider taking a course in watercolor or painting to add more to your portraits.