Com U01 - Annie

Brenda Hoddinott
U-01 ADVANCED: FACES & FIGURES

In this lesson you draw a frontal view of a small
child, with emphasis on correct facial proportions.
You use both crosshatching and hatching to define
textures and forms, and utilize a challenging grid to
help you render the accurate proportions of the
various parts of her head and face.
This lesson is divided into the following five sections:

SETTING UP A COMPLEX GRID: Until your artistic eye is well trained, using a grid is a
huge help with establishing accurate proportions.
OUTLINING A CHILD’S HEAD WITHIN A GRID: As you work, you closely examine
the shapes, spaces, and lines within each individual grid square.
SHADING LIGHT AND MEDIUM VALUES: The dominant light source, which is to the
front and right of Annie’s face, determines where the various light and medium values are
located.
SHADING FACIAL FEATURES: You add shading to the shadow sections, and more
details to the eyes, nose, and mouth.
ADDING THE HAIR AND FINAL SHADING: You work from dark to light with HB,
2B, and 4B pencils to add shading to the hair with contour hatching.
Suggested drawing supplies include 2H, HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils, vinyl and kneaded erasers,
ruler, pencil sharpener, and good quality drawing paper.
21 PAGES – 19 ILLUSTRATIONS
This lesson is recommended for artists from age twelve through adulthood with good drawing
skills, as well as home schooling, academic and recreational fine art educators.
Published by Hoddinott Fine Art Publishers, Halifax, NS, Canada 2002 (Revised 2006)
2
SETTING UP A COMPLEX GRID

A grid is a framework of vertical and horizontal reference squares on an image and/or drawing
paper, used by artists to either enlarge or reduce the size of the original image. Until your artistic
eye is well trained, using a grid is a huge help with establishing accurate proportions. If you
prefer to work freehand, simply ignore the instructions and illustrations pertaining to the grid
method.
Remember to press very lightly with your pencil because all your grid lines and most of your
contour lines will need to be erased (or lightened) later. The lines in the following illustrations
have been darkened in a computer program and appear much darker that they actually are.
ILLUSTRATION 01-01
1) With your ruler and an HB

mechanical pencil, draw a
rectangle, as your drawing
space.
Drawing space (sometimes
called a drawing format): refers
to the area of a drawing surface
within a specific perimeter,
outlined by a shape of any size,
such as a square, rectangle or
circle.
Mine is 6.5 by 7 inches.
Suggested alternative sizes
include 9.75 by 10.5 inches, or
13 by 14 inches.
2) Use a ruler to measure and divide your rectangle into 182 equal squares, 13
across and 14 down.
For a 6.5 by 7 inch rectangle use half-inch squares. If your rectangle is 9.75 by 10.5 inches,
use three-quarter inch squares, and for a 13 by 14 inch format, use one-inch squares.
3) Add letters and numbers to the grid as in the following illustration.

Starting from the left, add numbers 1 through 13 to the vertical squares along the top and
bottom of the 6.5” sides. Starting from the top, add letters A through N to the horizontal
squares down both sides of the 7” sides. Lettering and numbering your grid squares helps
you keep track of each square as you draw.
Copyright to all articles, images, text, projects, lessons and exercises within this drawing class belong to Brenda Hoddinott and may
not be reproduced or used for any commercial purposes whatsoever without the written permission of Brenda Hoddinott.
E-mail bhoddinott@hoddinott.com Web sites http://www.finearteducation.com and http://www.drawspace.com
3
ILLUSTRATION 01-02
OUTLINING A CHILD’S HEAD WITHIN A GRID

When working with a grid, think of each square as a separate drawing. As you work, closely
examine the shapes, spaces and lines within each individual grid square. Shape refers to the
outward outline of a form. Basic shapes include circles, squares and triangles. Form, as applied
to drawing, is the illusion of the three-dimensional structure of a shape, such as a circle, square
or triangle, created in a drawing with shading and/or perspective.
4
4) With your HB pencil, very lightly draw the outline of the head, face and ears.
The shape of her head is very similar to that of an egg. The ears are located almost halfway
between the top of the head and the chin. As you draw, don’t think about what the subject
is. Focus on the shapes, and negative and positive spaces that define the lines within each
grid square. Constantly double-check your proportions
ILLUSTRATION 01-03
5) With your 2H or HB pencil, lightly sketch the eyes, nose, and mouth in their
correct places.
If you wish, you can print out the following page and add diagonal lines on the facial area
of it and your grid, to help you place the features more accurately.
5
6) Outline the iris, pupil and highlight in each eye.

The upper sections of the eyes are approximately halfway between the bottom of the chin
and the top of the head, and have double lines around their lower edges to indicate the
lower eyelids. The space between the eyes is slightly wider than the width of an eye, and
the nose is the same width as the space between the eyes.
This child is approximately 8-9 years old. The nose and mouth of a younger child would
appear higher on the face, closer to the eyes. As a child matures into an adult, the nose and
mouth appear to shift downwards on the face.
ILLUSTRATION 01-04
6
7) With your HB pencil, very lightly refine your drawing of each feature, until your
drawing is as close as possible to mine.
This step is the most important towards completing a drawing with which you’ll be happy.
Take your time; patience is a virtue!
Not even super fantastic shading, can rescue a drawing if the proportions are off! Work on
only one feature at a time and draw it as well as you can. Observe the fine details of the
nose (such as the placement of the nostrils) and the lips (such as the location of each end of
the mouth and the curves of the lines which outline the lips), and the ear. An ear is a very
intricate part of the head and is for most people even more difficult to draw than an eye. At
this point you will appreciate a grid!!!
Place a piece of clean paper under your hand as you draw. Each time you work on a new
section, remember to move your paper so it’s always under your hand. This prevents you
from smudging your drawing, and protects the paper from the oils in your skin.
8) Before you continue, examine the placement of the outlines of the individual
features and correct any areas that you’re not happy with
9) Erase the grid lines around and below her face.
ILLUSTRATION 01-05
7
10) With your HB pencil outline the strands of hair around her face.
Observe that the various sections of hair are different lengths and thickness so as to give
the hair a natural appearance. Some strands of hair appear to cut across and through the
eyebrows and ears. On the outer sides of the head, the hair extends outside the outline of
the skull.
11) Erase any sections of the eyebrows and ears that are hidden behind or
underneath the hair.
ILLUSTRATION 01-06
8
12) With your HB pencil outline the top and sides of the hair.
Take note that the hair is outside the outline of the skull. Also, the edges of the hair show a
few untidy strands of hair to keep it looking soft and natural.
ILLUSTRATION 01-07
13) Erase the line that outlines the skull and any grid lines still left on your drawing.
You can either erase all your grid lines at once, or only those that need to be erased before
you begin each section of shading.
9
ILLUSTRATION 01-08
14) Pat your drawing

lightly with your
kneaded eraser to
pick up any
leftover eraser
crumbs.
What you
have at this
point is a line
or contour
drawing.
If your final
goal was to
draw a
cartoon or
comic book
face, you’d
be finished.
SHADING LIGHT
AND MEDIUM VALUES
The dominant light source, which is to the front and right of Annie’s face, determines where all
the various values are located. Light source refers to the direction from which a dominant light
originates. The placement of this light source affects every aspect of a drawing and subsequently
tells you where to draw all the light values and shadows. Values are the different shades of gray
created when you draw by varying both the density of the shading lines, and the pressure used in
holding various pencils.
Smoothly rendered crosshatching graduations give the illusion of depth (or a third dimension) to
the drawing. Crosshatching is a technique for rendering an infinite range of values within
shading, in which one set of lines crosses over (overlaps) another set. Graduated shading is a
continuous progression of graduated values from dark to light or from light to dark.
10
15) Use an HB pencil to add light and medium values to the ears and the areas on the
face that are in shadow, under the strands of hair.
At this point you use hatching lines that are diagonal and relatively parallel. Hatching is a
series of lines (called a set) drawn closely together to give the illusion of values.
ILLUSTRATION 01-09
11
16) Add light shading to the remainder of the face while keeping the shading lines as
parallel as possible.
Before you begin, closely examine the shading around the nose, eyes, mouth and chin.
Note that the shading around the sides and lower sections of the face does not extend
completely to the edges.
ILLUSTRATION 01-10
12
17) Complete the shading on the face by transforming the hatching lines into
crosshatching.
To create crosshatching you simply add more lines that cut through the hatching lines.
Observe the darker shadow areas of the shading on the face.
18) Outline the sides of the neck, and add shading to the sections under the chin.
ILLUSTRATION 01-11
13
SHADING FACIAL FEATURES

In this section you finish Annie’s face by working from the forehead down toward the neck. You
add additional shading to the shadow sections and more details to the eyes, nose, and mouth.
19) Complete the shading on the forehead and around the eyes.
20) Draw the fine hairs of the eyebrows.
ILLUSTRATION 01-12
14
21) Shade in the iris, upper and lower eyelids, whites of the eyes, and corners of the
eyes.
Note that the shading of the iris is darker under the upper eyelid and on the side where the
highlight is drawn. Also, the shading lines on the iris all seem to point towards the centre.
ILLUSTRATION 01-13
15
22) Use a 6B pencil, to shade in the pupil.
23) With a freshly sharpened HB pencil, draw half as many eyelashes as you think
there should be.
Note that the upper and lower eyelashes grow in many different directions, are different
lengths and thicknesses in some places, are curved, appear thicker closer to the eyelids, and
grow from the edges of the upper and lower lids and not the whites of the eye
24) Add darker shading to the sections of the nose that are in shadow, such as the
nostrils.
ILLUSTRATION 01-14
16
25) Add shading to the lips and the sections of the face around the mouth.
There are no noticeable lines outlining the lips. The shading follows the natural creases in
each lip and is also directed perpendicular to the opening. The darkest shading is next to the
line that indicates the opening of the mouth and on the side in shadow. Note the lighter
shading and areas left white on the lips, which gives the illusion of form.
26) Compare your drawing to mine and adjust any sections you aren’t happy with.
ILLUSTRATION 01-15
17
ADDING THE HAIR AND FINAL SHADING

You use HB, 2B, and 4B pencils to add shading to the hair with contour hatching. You work
from dark to light, beginning with dark values and ending with the very light values. Be careful
to not add too much dark shading. Rather, focus on those sections that have light and middle
values, or are left white.
ILLUSTRATION 01-16
27) With a freshly

sharpened 4B
pencil, add
shading to
the hair in
the shadow
areas.
The hatching
lines follow
the contours
of the
outlines of
the hair and
are many
different
lengths and
unevenly
spaced.
When adding
shading to hair,
remember to:
Keep the
hatching lines
curved, ragged,
and uneven.
Keep your pencils
very sharp.
Vary the density of
the lines.
Vary the pressure
used in holding your
pencils.
Vary the lengths and
thicknesses of the lines.
18
28) With freshly sharpened HB and 2B pencils, follow the contours of the head and
the outlines of the strands of hair, to add shading to the rest of the hair.
ILLUSTRATION 01-17
Refer to
Illustrations 01-17
and 01-18.
Observe the many
different values in
the hair, from white
for the highlights to
very dark in the
darkest shadows.
Take note of the
directions in which
the hatching lines
curve. Also, they
are different lengths
and values.
The hair is lighter in
some places, which
indicates a shiny
texture.
The outside edges
of the hair show a
few untidy hairs to
keep it looking
natural.
REMEMBER!
You can draw the
three-dimensional
forms of a face
more accurately,
when you have
carefully observed
and done
drawings from the
faces of actual
models, such as
yourself and your
family and
friends.
19
ILLUSTRATION 01-18
REMEMBER!
There is no right
or wrong way to
draw!
As an artist, you
can draw the
forms and features
of a frontal view
of a face in many
different ways,
such as drawing
just the light and
shadow areas, or
outlining with
detailed lines and
then adding
shading.
Take time to
experiment with
different ways of
drawing, until you
find the styles
with which you
are most
comfortable.
29) Touch up
any areas
you’re not
happy with.
Refer to my final drawing on the next page. If an area is too light, you can make it darker
by adding more shading. To make a section lighter, stretch your kneaded eraser until it
becomes soft, and then gently pat the shading that is too dark.
Use your vinyl eraser to clean up any smudges or fingerprints on your drawing paper.
30) Put today’s date on the back, sign your name and pat yourself on the back!
20
ILLUSTRATION 01-19
21
Choose another lesson from the intermediate or advanced levels, grab a new piece
of paper and draw some more! Only practice, practice and more practice will help
you improve your drawing skills.
BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAPHY

As a self-educated teacher, visual artist, portraitist, forensic artist, and illustrator, Brenda
Hoddinott utilizes diverse art media including graphite, technical pen, colored pencil, chalk
pastel, charcoal, conté crayon, and oil paints.
My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment

aspects while gently introducing the technical and academic. Hence,
in creating a passion for the subject matter, the quest for knowledge
also becomes enjoyable.
>Brenda Hoddinott<
Born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Brenda grew up in the small town of Corner Brook. She
developed strong technical competencies with a personal commitment to self directed learning,
and the aid of assorted “Learn to Draw” books. During Brenda’s twenty-five year career as a
self-educated civilian forensic artist, numerous criminal investigation departments have
employed Brenda’s skills, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and municipal police
departments. In 1992, Brenda was honored with a commendation from the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, and in 1994, she was awarded a Certificate of Membership from “Forensic
Artists International”.
Her home-based art career included graphic design, and teaching recreational drawing and
painting classes. As supervisor of her community’s recreational art department, Brenda hired and
trained teachers, and designed curriculum for several children’s art programs. In 1998, Brenda
chose to end her eighteen-year career as an art educator in order to devote more time to writing,
drawing, painting, and developing her websites.
Drawspace http://www.drawspace.com incorporates her unique style and innovative approach to
curriculum development. This site offers downloadable and printable drawing classes for
students of all abilities from the age of eight through adult. Students of all ages, levels and
abilities have praised the simple step-by-step instructional approach. These sites are respected as
a resource for fine art educators, home schooling programs, and educational facilities throughout
the world.
LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT

Drawing for Dummies: Wiley Publishing, Inc., New, York, NY, this 336 page book is available
on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Drawing People: Winner of the Alpha-Penguin Book of the
Year Award 2004, Alpha - Pearson Education – Macmillan, Indianapolis, IN, this 360 page book
is available on various websites and in major bookstores internationally.

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Brenda Hoddinott

U-01 ADVANCED: FACES & FIGURES

This lesson is divided into the following five sections:

SETTING UP A COMPLEX GRID

1) With your ruler and an HB

3) Add letters and numbers to the grid as in the following illustration.

OUTLINING A CHILD’S HEAD WITHIN A GRID

6) Outline the iris, pupil and highlight in each eye.

9) Erase the grid lines around and below her face.

14) Pat your drawing

SHADING FACIAL FEATURES

20) Draw the fine hairs of the eyebrows.

22) Use a 6B pencil, to shade in the pupil.

ADDING THE HAIR AND FINAL SHADING

27) With a freshly

BRENDA HODDINOTT - BIOGRAPHY

My philosophy on teaching art is to focus primarily on the enjoyment

LEARN-TO-DRAW BOOKS BY BRENDA HODDINOTT

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