The only likenesses I've ever drawn

[Maturin]

I like to sketch, but I've never been much good with copying faces from observation or a picture. But in these three cases, the planets must have aligned just right.

My favorite.

I can't do beards.

If only she looked a day over sixteen...

 

[Krynn72]

Your perspectives are pretty off on the last ones, alyx especially, but pretty good for your first likenesses.

 

[Kadayi]

Don't trace or try and mechanistically replicate, it doesn't really benefit you as an Artist. Instead I'd say concentrate on being able to confidently convey the solidity of form, whether it be a cup, a truck, a person or a chair.

One of the Artists I've always admired and leant a lot from studying is Alberto Giacometti. Principally the man is known for his sculptures, but the man's ability to convey form in his drawing pretty much just using line work was second to none.

There's a good little piece on him here:-

http://aseparatepieceart.blogspot.com/2008/07/article-giacometti-drawing-technique.html


A few snippets:-

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tCiY3quJA...TQKic7hY/s400/giacometti_applesideboard37.jpg


http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tCiY3quJA...GyaCW3w/s400/giacometti_portraitannette54.jpg


http://www.centrepompidou.fr/images/oeuvres/XL/3I01538.jpg


http://www***ffieux.com/images/giaco11.jpg


Something less Fine Art but useful if you're looking to do concept/commercial/comic book art is pretty much anything written by Andrew Loomis. There's a link to a bunch of PDFs here:-

http://www.artcone.com/forum/andrew_loomis_books_downloads-t1772.html

The drawing rules are quite useful, though bear in mind they are idealised rather than accurate. People by and large are anything but symmetrical (even supermodels aren't mirrored exactly), and too much symmetry tends to trip off the uncanny valley and distract from an image.

The film 'Final fantasy: The spirits within' is a good example of how symmetry can be a bad thing:-

http://www.moviesteak.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/finalfantasythespiritswithin.jpg

Compare to Kate Moss:-

http://www.adressa.no/multimedia/archive/00624/kate2_624340a.jpg

Kate's pretty close to symmetrical facially, but her smile is slightly crooked and her nose ever so slightly angled.

The thing that adds character to a persons face is more often the flaws than anything else. When there are no flaws, the eye tends to glide over.

 

[CptStern]

fix the contrast by varying the thickness of your lines. not enough heavy/thick lines. also dont be afraid to apply pressure to your pencil to achieve this

 

[Kadayi]

Couple more things:-

1) If you're sketching out ideas that you intend to say bring into photoshop or paint up, try sketching with a ballpoint pen instead of a pencil. Black ink is ok, but blue ink tends to read better.

If you sketch with pencil it's all too easy to loose yourself in the consistency of the line quality (something I've often been a victim of), where as a ballpoint overcomes that, but at the same time still allows you to deliver a degree of tonal range dependant upon the strength of your stroke. If you are having to generate a lot of different ideas quickly a ballpoint is the ideal tool to use.

2) If you want to draw a freehand straight line, learn to draw through using the movement of your shoulder & elbow rather than your hand and wrist. For curves use hand, wrist and elbow accordingly dependant on the size of curve.

 

[swan_song1973]

your first one is much better than the second imo.