Portrait Drawing Step by Step #2

Here is another example of portrait drawing step-by-step. This drawing was also done at Patris Studio and Gallery. The first photo shows my setup along with the model, at the end of the drawing session. Below, you can see each step in the drawing process.

Each sitting is about about 20 minutes. This first sitting shows my initial lay-in drawing. At this point, I am focusing on proportions and placement of the features. I also try to get some impression of who this person is and hopefully a sense of their spirit or personality. 

During the next sitting, I correct proportions and refine the drawing. I also get started on the value block-in (or blocking in the shadows and defining what areas will be light or dark). 

In the third sitting, I continue to refine the features and also further develop the value pattern. You can see that I am beginning to introduce darker value as I refine the features. 

In the next sitting, I find that I need to correct my mistakes and redraw some areas. Then I proceed with further developing the shadows tones.  

This was as far as I got at the end of the last sitting. I probably spent too much time correcting mistakes, and the drawing was not fully resolved, but this was much needed practice. I had been away from drawing from live models for a while at this point, and was eager to get back to it.