How to Make an Awesome Pencil Sketch of Any Photog

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How to make an awesome pencil sketch of any photographby thesparine on May 7, 2007

Table of Contents

How to make an awesome pencil sketch of any photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Intro: How to make an awesome pencil sketch of any photograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 1: Assemble your art supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Step 2: Assemble your computer equipment and software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Step 3: Select a photograph to copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 4: Edit the image into a great-looking black and white photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Step 5: Blockposters.com baby! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Step 6: Chop and Tape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Step 7: Prepare to trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Step 8: Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 9: Prepare your work area and prepare your source materials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 10: Sketch! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Step 11: When you are finished . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14


Intro: How to make an awesome pencil sketch of any photographI draw things. A lot of things. But drawing or sketching is not a gift, but rather a skill that can be learned. Try these techniques and be prepared to AMAZE your friendsand family at what a good artist you are!

In this instructable, I will be walking you through how to take any photograph and make a kick-ass large-format sketch out of it, suitable for framing, gift giving, orimpressing that girl/guy you wanna shag. Cuz lets face it: drawing is sexy, baby, yeah! Grrrr!

Step 1: Assemble your art suppliesTo start with, you will need to go to your local art store to get the items that you don't already have. I am going to assume that you are like most people and don't have asingle item except maybe a number 2 pencil. Oh, and you will need scissors and scotch tape in a few steps, but I assume that you have that stuff.

Here is a list of what i recommend you get in order to successfully complete this instructable:

Required supplies:

-sketch pencils in different hardnesses: HB, 2B, 4B, 6B (and 8B optional) = $5-a sketch pad that is 18" by 24" = $10-1/2" drafting masking tape = $4-a pad of tracing paper 9" x 12" = $3-a good wad of kneaded eraser = $2-a "Tuff Stuff" eraser stick = $2-dry cleaning eraser pad = $4-a foxtail (aka drafting duster) = $3-assorted paper stumps for shading = $2-prismacolor pencil sharpener = $4-erasing shield = $1Total required supplies: $40Optional supplies, in order of importance:

-small pencil case for pencils and erasers = $2-larger pencil case for small pencil case, eraser shield, and dry cleaning eraser pad =$3-sketch pad board 23"x26" = $10-stand-up easel for displaying your finished work like a pro= $20-nylon portfolio bag 23" x 31" = $22Total optional supplies: $57Total recommended supplies: $97


Image Notes1. I recommend you get everything in this picture if you can.2. Be sure to get "drafting tape." If you use any other kind of tape you riskdestroying your hard work when you go to peel off the protective tracing paperfrom your final work.

Image Notes1. foxtail comes in handy for brushing off your paper without smudging what youhave sketched2. I only use four pencils, but you can buy nice little sketch pencil sets that havemany more, and you can see which you like best.3. Prismacolor makes the best portable pencil sharpener. Not only does it notbreak your lead tips, but it keeps the shavings from messing up your pencil caseby keeping the mess enclosed.4. pencil shading stumps are the SECRET WEAPON to reproducingphotographs as sketches. Learn to love them.

Image Notes1. A dry cleaning pad is a must for starting and finishing your work.2. "Tuff Stuff" eraser is great for precision erasing. I slice the tip off of mine atan angle and use it for fine line erasures.3. Erasing shields can really come in handy when getting eyes, mouths andnoses perfect.4. A kneaded eraser is great for "toning down" darkened up areas uniformly.

Image Notes1. A big pencil case is handy for all your sketching materials.2. A smaller, enclosed pencil case is good for the pencils and erasers only, itkeeps the graphite from getting all over the inside of the big pencil case.


Just press it down like it is silly putty and you are trying to copy a comic, andthen lift it up and your whole area is a bit lighter.5. White vinyl erasers do a great job of removing graphite without stainingbright white paper.6. The General makes a nice triangular eraser that is easy to use.

Image Notes1. This is what my sketching kit looks like all assembled.

Image Notes1. The easel and drawing board are a great way to display your final work.2. The portfolio bag is an awesome way to store all your art stuff in one place inbetween drawings. The easel breaks down easily and can get folded away andstored in this, too. Plus when you get some time to sketch it is awesome to takeyour stuff to a park and sketch outside when the nice weather arrives.

Step 2: Assemble your computer equipment and softwareAfter paper and pencils and erasers and stumps, a computer is a very handy tool to use for the all-important preparation step.

It will not help you draw anything, but it can sure make putting the paper to the pencil easier.

Here are the "must haves":

1) A scanner2) A simple photo editing software like iPhoto, Photoshop, or any number of image editors3) A bookmark in your browser pointing to http://www.blockposters.com


Step 3: Select a photograph to copyThis is the fun part. You can use basically any photograph you want for a sketch. It can even be a crappy low-res internet picture. Or, you can use a little polaroid shotfrom decades ago, it is up to you! For the purposes of this instructable, however, I am going to be using a picture that a friend sent me from Iraq.

Step 4: Edit the image into a great-looking black and white photoUse your simple editing software to first change the photo to black and white, and then play with the brightness and contrast until you get a great-looking black and whiteimage.

This is a very imortant step. As you adjust the image, you may want to increase the contrast a bit more to give it a more "edgy" look. This step is lots of fun, because youget to plan what your final sketch will look like by playing around with the variables. If you are a photoshop guru you can really get something interesting.

Here is what I did with my photograph, by tweaking it in iPhoto:


Step 5: Blockposters.com baby!I love Blockposters.com!

You upload a photo, tell them how big you want it by specifying how many pieces of paper wide you want it, and then you can instantly download a .pdf file that onlyneeds to be printed and it becomes a tiled poster!

Great for not only making huge murals, but in this case we will use it to print out a 1 to 1 master we will draw our picture from.

Keep in mind the final drawing will be on an 18" by 24" piece of paper, and you may not want it to go all the way up to the edge. If you want a slight border around it, youmay need to tweak your master image a little first before you upload it to blockposters.com. Trial and error will be your guide.

For this picture, i am going to tell it that I want it to be 2 pieces of landscape letter paper wide. I think that will make a nice-sized picture. On their website you can see anice graphic representation of how big your picture will be once it is tiled, and it also tells you your dimensions so they take a lot of the guesswork away.

When you are satisfied with the layout, you instantly get a PDF file you can download with the image sliced up.

Now print that bad boy out and you are just about ready to get to drawing!

Image Notes1. Here is where it tells you what the dimensions will be. Use this info to plan soyour final sketch will still have a little white space around it so you can frame itwhen you are through. (You will want to frame it, trust me!)2. Click the toggle arrows to input the number of pages wide you want yourimage to be.3. Select paper choice here.4. Be sure to watch as your image gets sliced up. This will give you a great ideaof what you will be working with size-wise.

Image Notes1. 4 pages of a PDF file image. The margins are set so you don't lose any ofthe image when it is printed. Gotta freakin' love Blockposters.com!


Step 6: Chop and TapeFirst make sure the picture looks good size-wise on your sketch pad, including some margin room.

Next cut out the image and remove the white border so you are left with 4 or 6 borderless pages.

Next tape these together so it all lines up. Use scotch tape and tape to either the front or the back.

A great thing about the PDF from Blockposters.com is that the margins on the pages printed from the PDF insure that the whole image gets printed on your printer.Simply remove the border from all of your pages and tape them together and you are good to go!

Image Notes1. Place your papers onto your sketch pad to check size before you cut andtape. Remember your final sketch will be the exact size of the image on yourpapers you printed out.

Image Notes1. I use a pair of scissors to cut my images. Sometimes I will run down to thekinko's by my house and use their roto-trimmers to get a straight cut.

Image Notes1. I like to assemble my posters on my stove top after I cut the margins off.Notice I kept the margin around the outside edges of the whole image intact.This is so I have somewhere to tape initially.

Image Notes1. I usually tape the edges of where 2 pages meet first. I line up the image withone hand...


Image Notes1. ... and take a sticky-side-up piece of scotch tape in the other hand and slide itunder the seam and press the paper down to the tape. Then I fold the tape upand over the edge.

Image Notes1. Another technique is to stick the tape facing up on the underside of one pieceof paper, and then line up the mate and press it down onto the tape.

Image Notes1. After you press the paper onto the face-up tape, simply fold over the rest ofthe tape onto the top of the poster.

Image Notes1. After I get all of the seams taped at the edge, I usually put one piece of tapewhere any 4 pages meet. Because we are going to be tracing this image, itdoesn't matter if you tape the front or the back of the paper.

Image Notes Image Notes


1. I usually put my big strips of tape along the seams on the back of the paper. Ido this so I can use the same poster to look at when I am drawing.

1. After the image is all taped together, lay it out onto your sketch pad to makesure it is the size you want it.

Step 7: Prepare to traceFind a window in your house that gets a good amount of sunlight through it.

Tape your taped up poster to the window using your drafting masking tape. Put it at about eye level, at a comfortable height so your arm doesn't get tired. It doesn't haveto be level. Just slap that puppy up there. What it does have to be, though, is FLAT. Make sure it is taped as flat as possible to the window, otherwise your cover sheetwill float over parts of it, and when you press it down as you trace the master can shift.

Next, tear out a single sheet of your large sketch pad paper and tape it over your poster, lining it up just perfectly so the image is exactly where you want it on your paper.Take some time on this step, because as soon as it is taped over the master, you have just set the layout for all eternity of this drawing. Choose a layout that is pleasingto the eye and centered on the sheet. I like having lots of excess white space around my drawing, so if I decide to frame it I don't have to cut the matte up to the image,there is some breathing room of space. And when you tape your paper over the poster, make sure it is taped down flat, too.

If you don't have a picture window, or a window large enough to tape your paper to, fret not! Many art supply stores sell little "light boxes" that give you a surface to workon. If you go this route, you will want to tape your master paper directly to the back of the piece of sketch paper. If you don't tape it it will be impossible to line upaccurately and your finished sketch may look like dog doo doo, unless you are artistically gifted to begin with. You can also use a television or computer monitor that isdisplaying all white to trace your image. In this case, you will want to tape your poster to the back of your sketch paper so you can move it around as one unit over thelight source to make sure you get the entire image traced.

Now would also be a good time to go get your ipod or boombox or something and start cranking the tunes. You are about to make your masterpiece!

Image Notes1. It'll probably take you 10 - 20 minutes of concentrated tracing to finish. Placeyour drawing high enough so that you can comfortably get to all areas of the workwithout breaking your posture. Your back will thank you and your hand will bemore steady.

Image Notes1. Taped up poster MUST be taped FLAT to the window. Don't worry aboutmaking it level, just tape it up there very flat so there are no waves in it.


Image Notes1. Before you tape down the sketch pad paper, line up your image so it is exaclywhere you want it. You don't want your final drawing lopsided or off-center, orelse it will look gay when you display it on your easel.

Step 8: TraceTracing is an artform all unto itself.

There are several rules that you should follow at this point to ensure you get the most traced lines possible.

1) Sketch as lightly as possible. The truth is, no matter how lightly you sketch, as soon as that paper leaves the window and goes to your working surface, the lines willlook about 3 times as dark as you thought you drew them. Experience will correct this.

2) Sketch any "meaningful" landmarks or contour you can see in your original. This includes outlines, major value changes, or anywhere you can see a clearly definedborder between a lighter or a darker area. You ever see a topographical map? That is what your drawing should look like once it comes off the window. With a verydetailed road map sketched out, filling in the details is about as difficult as doing a coloring book.

3) Don't take the paper down off the window until you are done tracing. Trust me on this. Once that paper comes down, if you see a detailed area you forgot to trace, youwill never be able to "line it back up" on the master. Once it is down, it is down. You will have to run with it.

Image Notes1. Concentrate on the clear areas where light and dark meet. Don't try tosketch in what you "think" is there.

Image Notes1. Notice how I am not "pencilling in" where I think the arms and legs are. I amonly tracing the boundaries between light and dark. This will make your finaldrawing excellent.


Image Notes1. WAY too dark to start sketching but you can see the types of lines you wanton your sketch.

Image Notes1. Notice these clamps. There are (at least) two different styles of clamps for thesedrawing easels. I actually prefer the big clamps like the ones that are on thestandard clipboard. This style I think actually does a better job but the clampingmechanisms get bent very easily and snag your portfolio tote often. I normallywouldn't have bought this style but this one was on sale for $5 so I couldn't pass itup. But if you buy one like this, make sure the clamps are not bent or brokenbefore you purchase it.2. Hard to tell here, but my "light trace" came out very dark. It always does butdon't sweat it. We will be lightening up the whole drawing with a dry cleaningeraser pad in the next step.

Step 9: Prepare your work area and prepare your source materials.As far as work area goes, I like a nice adjustable drafting lamp clamped to the table I am drawing at. Or I like to go to a picnic table with my sketch board in myneighborhood park. Take your pick. Make your work area comfortable and convenient.

Try to do your entire drawing in one sitting. In order to do this, gather everything you think you may need for the next several hours and place it within arms reach.

I like to have the following at my side when I am sketching:

- Cooler with soda and ice- My cell phone- My ipod and stereo- Trash can- all my art supplies- some food or snacks for brain energy, you'll need it

As far as source material goes, here is what I suggest you gather:

- The photograph master you originally chose- A second b&w PDF poster that has been cut and taped with all the tape on the back side, and no gaps between the seems, so you have a clear full-scale master to referto as you draw.

If you have a video camera, it is also a cool thing to set it up as you draw so you can end up with a cool video of you drawing whatever it is you are drawing. Edit it in yourediting program and speed it up and whoever you give your drawing to will be fascinated to see the work you spent on it.

So, once everything is assembled and you are calm and relaxed, it is time to start sketching. FINALLY! Just let me say that because you have spent all this time doing allthis prep work, the final sketch will be fun, quick, and satisfying because your results will not only impress those around you, but you will probably amaze yourself as well.

Ready to start sketching? So am I, lets do it!

Step 10: Sketch!Remember back to the intro of this instructable, and I told you that sketching is a skill that can be learned? Well, here is where I will teach you the secrets to sketching.

Your first step is to look at your source picture closely, and look at your contour-map looking trace in front of you. Where are they similar? Where are they different?Where are the lightest areas and where are the darkest?

With a keen eye for detail, and the following steps, you should be able to make a really great sketch your first time out.

So now I present to you my recipe for success at the sketch pad:

1) Take your dry cleaning eraser pad, and lightly and gently "scrub" your whole paper until you can just BARELY see your trace marks. This is a great place to startbecause it cleans up your paper and tones down all the contour lines. Make the areas with the most delicate features (eyes, nose, mouth) the lightest, so you can JUSTBARELY see the trace lines. Areas of major darkness don't have to be lightened so much. Also, my technique for this step is to squeeze my dry cleaning pad (like I ammilking a cow) a few inches above the surface of my sketch pad so little eraser particles fall out onto the paper. Once I have peppered the whole surface, then I lightlystart the "scrub." When you are finished lighting up your trace lines, take your foxtail and brush all the debris into your trash bin or onto the floor.


2) Start sketching by lightly filling in the darkest areas first. If you are sketching a portrait of someone, start with the pupils of the eyes, taking care to NOT darken thehighlighted portions where a white circle or crescent appears. Nailing down the exact location of this little patch of white is the trick to making your drawing's eyes lookright.

3) Don't try to draw the item in your picture, instead simply try to make dark areas dark and light areas light. Don't draw what you "think" is there, draw what you "see" isthere.

4) Never brush off eraser shavings or dry erase particles with your hand. ALWAYS use your foxtail.5) Build up the dark areas slowly. I like to build up my drawing in layers.6) Those pencil stubs for shading are your secret weapon. Use them to make nice blends form light to lighter areas.7) For the most part, work from the full-size black and white poster. Try to duplicate it with your pencils and erasers.8) Only draw for 50 minutes at a time. Take 10 minute breaks every hour while you draw, otherwise you WILL make mistakes and you will have to use your eraser more.9) Using your eraser is a good thing, it shows that you can see a mistake and you are going to try it again. But also keep in mind that every time you erase something youare basically negating time you spent sketching. Eraser more, and you are wasting more of your precious time. Try to really look at what you are trying to duplicate beforeyou put the pencil to the paper in the first place. If you don't know exactly what you are trying to draw with your pencil, the chances of you making an accuraterepresentation of what you are looking at is very slim.

10) Learn to look at the negative space. Instead of concentrating on where the cheek or hair is, try to draw where it ISN'T. In other words, looking at the shape of the purewhite areas will often illuminate better placement for features. If you drew a mouth or a nose, for instance, and it looks messed up, try to look at the actual shape of thehighlights that have no darkness to them and sketch their outlines.

11) Work in spirals outward from the dark regions, paying close attention to where other features are in relation to the dark areas. If a clockface was superimposed on thedark area, where on the clock face is the next feature you want to draw? At 2 o'clock? 3 o' clock? How far away?

12) Keep your pencils sharp and work in short, light strokes, slowly building up the are to the desired level of darkness.13) As you complete areas, take your tracing paper and your drafting tape and tape the paper over those areas so you don't rub your palm in them and mess them up.Constantly cover up what you have already done and close in on what you have left to draw.

14) If your sketch "just doesn't look right," DON'T trash the whole thing and start over. Instead, scan that puppy in to photoshop and super impose it over the original. Setone of their transparencies to 50% and look closely to see where it doesn't match. You may have made a few mistakes, but you probably got some areas perfect. Erasethe wrong areas and keep the good areas.

15) When you are finished, sign your work! You made it, you are now an artist and you get to sign it any way that you want. I like to sign my work with my Chinese name,too, underneath my regular name.

And BTW, I will be putting pictures up on this instructable of my Iraq picture, I just haven't gotten to sketch it yet.

Step 11: When you are finishedAdmire your work! Good job dude or dudette. Place it on your easel and keep it on display for everyone to see. If you need to protect it, tape some tracing paper over thefront of it. Just don't leave masking tape taped to the front of your sketch for more than a few days, or else it could rip and ruin your sketch when you go to remove it.

Also, some people like to spray their drawings with an aerosol called "fixative." I would highly DISCOURAGE doing this. That stuff is more for blueprints and stuff andmechanical drawings. I have seen people ruin their sketches by coating them with too much of that stuff. Very sad. Stay away. Art stores do sell special paper like waxpaper that can be bought in large sheets to cover finished sketches. That is a good way to go.

If you ever need to send a sketch, I recommend using FedEx. They have free triangular tubes that work great for mailing.

Sketching is not as hard as most people think, and if you think of the computer as just another sketching tool, you can really make sketching fun and rewarding by doingyour preparation thoroughly.

If you use my instructable to make some cool art, please do me a big favor and scan it in and email it to me. I would love to hear from you.

Email me at [email protected] is a sketch that I did for a client a few weeks ago, just so you can get an idea of how I work:


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Comments50 comments Add Comment view all 117 comments

bealwayshappy22 says: Jan 17, 2011. 10:37 AM REPLYnice... tips here....this is very useful for me for pencil drawings .

schuler68 says: Nov 22, 2010. 10:43 PM REPLYI'm new to sketching people. In fact, I've mostly done cartoon drawing of people. Tonight I attempted to take a small picture of my daughter and make a largeversion of it. I did okay until I got to the mouth and the shading around the mouth area. Anyone want to help me out here? If I posted a pic could someone tellme what I am doing wrong or give me some advice?

assassinazz says: Oct 24, 2010. 9:21 PM REPLYthere is no easy way to learn how to draw exceptionally without having a natural talent for it. I agree that many people CAN learn to draw well, but it is amatter of right-brain versus left brain.

The right side of the brain is where visual information is processed, the left side of the brain usually tries to butt in and categorize, label, & define everything.

If you CAN NOT draw what you SEE down to the most minute details & proportions, then you need to exercise focusing on VISUAL information above allelse.....speaking strictly of drawing from life, of course, BUT you probably won't be very good at drawing a compellingly realistic subject if you can't


reproduce a from-life scene with accuracy.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with drawing something, retracing your drawing & refining it, & repeating this process until it suits you. But I don'tcondone tracing a photograph, applying an amateur level of shading, and selling it, claiming originality, etc...

And just so I don't seem to be a know-nothing know-it-all, here is the URL to my deviant art online gallery where all can view some of my creations:http://joshing88.deviantart.com/gallery/#_featured

bminty says: Nov 12, 2010. 9:29 PM REPLYyour drawings are really amazing! you're very talented, haha. could i get some info on your drawing history?

vikaskgp says: Sep 4, 2010. 9:51 AM REPLYThere is a website where you can simply convert your photo to sketch or painting or B&W with different colors with maintaining actual size.. And that is totallyfree...... http://www.pixelstouch.com/

LoneWolf says: Mar 2, 2010. 10:58 AM REPLYWOW...................

SPININSPUR says: Dec 1, 2009. 9:08 PM REPLYThanks for a great Instructable for a beginner like myself. Its great for learning scale and technique!!!! there's way to much discussion about right and wrongon this subject. Lets just enjoy creating things, however we choose to do it !!!!

Dr.Debabrata Das says: Jul 20, 2009. 12:56 AM REPLYhey....... sum good ideas,but but the idea of tracing din't appeal me man.... neway thanx.

wobbler says: Jul 9, 2009. 7:31 AM REPLYIn order to realign your paper, just in case, put a couple of cross-hairs (or alignment marks) on diagonally opposite corners outside the picture before you putthe drawing sheet over. Then trace these onto the top sheet as soon as you start copying it. That way, if you need to return to perfect matching you just haveto realign these cross hairs. It will realign perfectly. I also do some of this type of drawing, but I do it by using a projector directly from the computer onto thepaper, but your method sounds cheaper and probably better! You'll be amazed how much a projector can move when accidentally nudged (hence I usedigital cross hairs on the image!).

Javin007 says: Jul 1, 2009. 11:05 AM REPLYI have to argue against those that say that the ability to draw is a "Gift" not a "Skill." Anyone can learn to draw... Any... One... Period.

I do not have an "artistic" bone in my body. I forced myself to learn to draw. Yes, it took me longer than it would take a person with a "knack" for it, but I am apassable "artist" now. (My avatar is from my own comic strip.)Now as for the instructable, this should be labeled "How to make an awesome pencil tracing of a photo" and nobody would complain. Let's face it, it's atracing, not a sketching. It's a tracing, not a drawing. Essentially what you've done here is applied a "pencil-sketch" effect in photoshop, but you did it thehard way.

If you're really wanting to teach people how to draw then you were close at the point that you were blowing up the image. When I was learning to draw, Iwould "grid" the entire image into smaller chunks, then "grid" my medium. I would work on one tiny square at a time until I finished thedrawing/painting/whatever. Eventually, I could make the grids larger and larger until I didn't need them anymore.

A great artist once said that "Everyone is an artist. Everyone starts drawing the same characters as a child. Some people just don't stop. There's 10,000 baddrawing in every person. Some just go through them faster."

cry_wolf says: Aug 23, 2008. 3:16 PM REPLYI honestly hate tracing, its like a blatant form of cheating in my opinion, like putting the photo in a copier and calling it your own drawing. And trust me i dohave experience in drawing, here is one of my portraits, 100% untraced. Click Here For Portrait

will421 says: Jun 30, 2009. 2:00 AM REPLYOMG That is so cool!

cry_wolf says: Jun 30, 2009. 7:03 AM REPLYthanks =D

GallaghersEyebrows says: Sep 27, 2008. 10:00 AM REPLYOK. I just want to say, it is aggravating and perhaps borderline insulting for me to have to read from someone who literally traced out their image from aphotograph, that "drawing isn't a gift but rather a skill that anyone can learn" hmm. if you are speaking of the simple act of using an instrument capable ofleaving a mark on a piece of paper and then proceeding to draw lines with it, then yes. anyone can do that. could everyone capable of this make it look goodfrom scratch? of course not. so obviously your point is moot. without your tracing, could you render the same exact photograph as perfectly and accurately ifyou just did it freehand? who knows? you haven't shown us. But I am willing to bet that if you could, simple self-satisfaction and pride in your "art" wouldforce you to not utilize this method, let alone endorse it. This sort of mentality that, "drawing is not a talent but a skill that can be learned" is what is used by


enterprising business-folk looking to sell some instructional books or videos touting some b.s. new-age method. Now I digress. Had you shown someincredible way to render the drawing FREEHAND using the photo as a reference or visual -aide, then this Instructable would hold some merit.

laradioken says: Jun 25, 2009. 7:55 PM REPLYYou either can or cannot draw. One can learn this through practice; but deceptive if one were to trace a picture and say they drew it. Now if they use thistechnique to train themselves and eventually move on to freehand then all is good. Otherwise they're just a tracer.

socherished says: Jun 6, 2009. 9:25 PM REPLYGallaghersEyebrows : Drawing can be learned, though. I'm thirteen, and last year I couldn't draw a straight line. I literally drew a head as a perfect circleand not an egg. But then I stumbled on a tutorial on deviantart and when I tried, it looked really nice. So I kept reading up on it and now I think I'm prettygood. Then I showed my friend in school, and he can draw too now, though it took a lot of time and practice. It's not fair to tell people (especially aspiringbeginners) that if they weren't born with it, they don't got it and can't learn it. I mean, it's just basically recognizing shapes/light sources etc. It can belearned. It just takes more time and alot more effort for less naturally talented people (like me) to get better. We may never get as good as those born todraw, but that doesn't mean we should be discouraged from trying to learn.

maruawe says: Jan 24, 2009. 7:07 AM REPLYWhat is art and what is not ,that is a question of the ages.. I know one man who takes pictures and uses a projector to project the image to canvas andthen paints the picture. Is this wrong or is it his way of working. Each individual has their own way of composing a likeness. Perhaps you do not dopainting on canvas, Most artist do a sketch of what they want to paint using pencils and transfer the outlines of the sketch to canvas and start the paintingusing the outline, While the method used here may not seem professional to you every artist use a sketch or picture to work from. Every person has theirway of doing things,the verbiage used in this instructable may not fit your fancy, but the idea is a lot older than you think . I suggest that you do someresearch before you react to something when you find a different way of working .. Some of my ways would be offensive to you but in the same mannersome of yours would be offensive to me.

smithstar4 says: Sep 30, 2008. 9:55 AM REPLYI agree with everything GallaghersEyebrows has said. And the idea that drawing (well) is not a gift but a skill that can be learned by anyone is ridiculous.

guitarman63mm says: Oct 26, 2008. 11:07 PM REPLYI second the notion! It's honestly just ludicrous to outright say that artistic talent is innate; it isn't. I agree with everything that GallaghersEyebrowssaid; maybe put a little bit less aggressively, but he got his point across regardless.

socherished says: Jun 6, 2009. 9:26 PM REPLYGallaghersEyebrows : Drawing can be learned, though. I'm thirteen, and last year I couldn't draw a straight line. I literally drew a head as aperfect circle and not an egg. But then I stumbled on a tutorial on deviantart and when I tried, it looked really nice. So I kept reading up on it andnow I think I'm pretty good. Then I showed my friend in school, and he can draw too now, though it took a lot of time and practice. It's not fair totell people (especially aspiring beginners) that if they weren't born with it, they don't got it and can't learn it. I mean, it's just basically recognizingshapes/light sources etc. It can be learned. It just takes more time and alot more effort for less naturally talented people (like me) to get better.We may never get as good as those born to draw, but that doesn't mean we should be discouraged from trying to learn.

socherished says: Jun 6, 2009. 9:14 PM REPLYUsually I don't do this. I hate leaving negative comments, but tracing is not art. No. Sorry. If a five year old traces a picture and gives it to him mom, his mommight at first go "OMG MY KID IS A PRODIGY!". But what does she do when she realizes he traced it? Obviously, it's not as impressive. Or impressive atall.

Tracing does not = Art.Tracing = Bogus, Rip-off, etc.

UNLESS you are using it for practice and/or study. Then, it's fine. You're not claiming you made it by yourself. Your not saying it's original art.

But in the end when you're really good at drawing, you shouldn't need to do it. Once when I was six or seven, there was a kid in my class that drewawesome stuff. Then his friend rated him out and said he traced. Were we ever blown away by his art again? Heck no! He was a cheater. We didn't evenLIKE him any more.

Anything you make by by yourself is art. You can throw some paint at a canvas randomly and if anyone claims that's not art, I'll defend you. You made ityourself. Sketching is art. Definitely. It takes talent to sketch. Tracing is not sketching. Tracing takes no talent. With tracing paper, anyone can do it.

Sketching is like writing a book, tracing is like photocopying a book and claiming it's yours.

And for the authors "Cook & recipe" argument :

Tracing is not like following a recipe.Reading a tutorial is like following a recipe.With no tracing.Just effort and practice.

Tracing is like using "Just add water" cookie mix and telling your guests you made them from scratch.

I'd rather hang out and eat the cookies of the person that REALLY followed the recipe and came up with slightly less delicious cookies. BECAUSE THEYACTUALLY MADE IT. ALL OF IT.

With that said, the shading in this tutorial is pretty awesome. (Just saying. That took talent.) The sad thing is if the guy didn't trace, he'd probably still comeup with really nice drawings. But the tracing thing just ruined it for me. (and obviously, many others)


KedaDibandion says: May 24, 2009. 3:40 PM REPLYYour utube video got pulled.

RaNDoMLeiGH says: Jul 3, 2008. 1:14 AM REPLYI'm an excellent (pro) photographer but I've often wanted to render some of my work as watercolour or a sketch. Also, when shooting flicks, I need to be ableto make storyboards. I grew up as a graphic artist in my dad's ad agency and I will tell you, I am STILL crap at drawing. I get there eventually but it takes mefor frickin' ever. Had I learned this technique before, it may have shortened those long hours spent with a pencil in one hand and an eraser in the other. (Ihave found that, for me, using my non-dominant hand to draw my base sketch actually helps, since I have to really focus on the lines.) Honestly I cannotthink why anyone would be so insulting as to call this method cheating. Just because you start with a template to help you does not mean you lack innatetalent or can see the tonal variations that lead to a good drawing or sketch. HandlewithCare is even insinuating that this type of art is not even real art! Giveme a break. Picasso drew with crayons half the time, and if that counts, this surely does. I work in a contemporary art gallery where we get all kinds ofsubmissions. For those who want to submit an idea that is not yet completed, detailed sketches are essential. Sketching is a very real talent and it is vital forany working artist to be able to express an idea in a sketch, whether it is a piece of furniture or an Alain Viesca fantasy work. (Alain is a friend of mine; hissketches are incredible.) Many artists whose work is excellent in 3D can barely draw a stick figure. But they have to if they are still in the conceptual phase,and I will definitey recommend this 'ible to them. I used to think that it was kind of "cheating" to use photo references when drawing line art, like for a graphicnovel. However, I took a class on graphic novels in college (yay, summer school) and we studied (among other things) Marvels, in particular the art of AlexRoss. Ross, and others, often use themselves as a live reference or as a photo or video reference, since they are generally always available to themselves.Funny how that happens. I somehow had the idea that if it didn't come immediately from your head you shouldn't be using it. What an asinine thing to think,eh? Nobody slapped my hand with a spoon and beat me into thinking that way, I just had this very stunted notion that somehow it was not my own work tocopy from a photo, even if it was a photo I had taken based on a concept that I imagined. Fortunately I was easily rid of such nonsense, because I quicklyunderstood the usefulness of that technique when I had to draw a graphic novel for my final. Maybe by the false application of the term "cheating", artists likeMondrian are the only true artists, since they are not copying from another source. Like a still life (which leaves out DaVinci), or a sculptor using calipers toget exact measurements from his models (sorry, Michelangelo, but you're cheating as well). Maybe Geiger is original enough since he drew imaginaryaliens, but there is still some comparison with carbon-based life (if it isn't identifyable as a twisted version of something we can identify, it isn't horrifying). Ormaybe, just a possibility here, SOMEONE needs to pull their skull out of their rectum and chill out a bit. (Draw that in a 4-panel cartoon!) Eventually, whetheryou start out by tracing or not, you do develop a sense of proportion and spacing and will someday be able to just draw the thing. Practice actually workssometimes. But this is an instructable, not a rule for How to Draw Forever. It is obviously geared toward someone (like me) who would like to be able toreproduce something that has enough meaning to spend a whole day doing it, and have another person go, Hey! I can tell what that is! Personally myfavorite artist is Charles Addams... He used one or two brushes and a bottle of india ink for his drawings. That's all. Amazing!

kwscholar says: Mar 10, 2009. 9:54 AM REPLYI agree. Thank you for your comments.

Flumpkins says: Jul 26, 2008. 5:21 PM REPLYYou write REALLY long comments

RaNDoMLeiGH says: Aug 6, 2008. 10:30 PM REPLYyup

Flumpkins says: Aug 7, 2008. 6:10 AM REPLYI don't know if I would ever write a comment that big. Not that it's a bad thing or anything.

abnor says: Jul 3, 2008. 10:24 AM REPLYwell, you have a point... people DO use other ideas or figures to help generate their own, but they never created it exactly as they saw the idea or figure.it's not a bad thing to take someone else's idea as inspiration, but it is pretty damn conscience punching to take a Picasso and trace out every line yousee, shade it, and claim it as your own. "I somehow had the idea that if it didn't come immediately from your head you shouldn't be using it. What anasinine thing to think, eh? Nobody slapped my hand with a spoon and beat me into thinking that way, I just had this very stunted notion that somehow itwas not my own work to copy from a photo, even if it was a photo I had taken based on a concept that I imagined. Fortunately I was easily rid of suchnonsense, because I quickly understood the usefulness of that technique when I had to draw a graphic novel for my final." i totally agree with that, butlike you said, even YOUR conscience told you that tracing was wrong. maybe, as a final say, if this guy edited his instructable a little bit just to give theidea that he's not just copying off of photos and giving them away as gifts, then maybe he could spare a huge argument with every conscious artist thatreads it. ok one final final say. ART, is something you create. CREATIONS are something that come out of our head in either inspiration or a kick in thebutt. and INSPIRATION comes from taking a liking to something or someone enough to want to create something from it. the main problem i had withthis instructable, is that you aren't creating something out of your head, or out of inspiration, but just taking something, tracing it's lines, and giving it toloved ones, with your name on it... or at least he gave me the idea that that is what he wants us to do with our newfound instructable

RaNDoMLeiGH says: Jul 7, 2008. 12:38 PM REPLY"maybe, as a final say, if this guy edited his instructable a little bit just to give the idea that he's not just copying off of photos and giving them away asgifts, then maybe he could spare a huge argument with every conscious artist that reads it." Julia Child probably wouldn't complain if someone gaveher a plate full of chocolate chip cookies they had made from her recipe. Gifts are one thing -- handmade gifts are treasured in my circle of friendsand family. I've seen quite a few watercolour artists who specialize in photorealism and actually include the photo they copied with their painting. Ihave mixed feelings about this when it is done for commercial gain. However, I know that many of them get a lot of commission work doing paintingsfrom photos, so it's obviously something that the public finds artistically valid and desirable. It is at these points where you have to admit that thedefinition of art is very wide and often... very shallow.


RaNDoMLeiGH says: Jul 7, 2008. 12:29 PM REPLY"i totally agree with that, but like you said, even YOUR conscience told you that tracing was wrong." No, it was a stupid judgment (borne of ignorance)I had when I was less mature as an artist. I have learned since then to not judge a technique as right or wrong but as to whether or not it is right forME. My conscience has no qualms with trying to get something right. No, I don't trace, but I will if I want to, because it's more important to me to havethe lines the way that my mind sees them. That's what tools like bezier curves and c-curves are for, rulers for drawing straight lines... Sometimes youwant to create something but you can't get the lines right. Tracing them doesn't mean you are a bad artist, just an undertrained one. Tracing isprobably not what you want to do if you are going to be a Real Artist someday, but it will help you learn to break down the lines and analyze shapesbetter. This is like criticizing a tailor for using a pre-made pattern to make a suit or a wedding dress. It saves a lot of time and helps to achieve theright result. If you are Ralph Lauren and you're designing new clothes, you're not only drawing on your training but also likely to use certain tools likea template (called a "sloper") to help you get started. Tweaking the pattern to individualize it is where art comes in, whether it's in a fantastic pair ofpants or a picture of your kid playing in the ball pit. People who are just tracing things for fun and "hey, lookie what I did!" thrills are not the type whowill consider the view that "tracing is wrong" to be anything other than egotistical artiste snobbery. I think this instructable has much merit for peoplewho need to know how to begin their studies in photorealism. It's a challenging field and you have to start somewhere. Nobody is saying that copyingfrom a photo, whether you trace it or not, is original work. Duh! But those who are just shooting this down altogether need to go get a life, or go playwith their pencils, or do a shot, or something to chill out. It's pretty lame to flame the author for a well-done basic Drawing 101 instructable.

PyroMaster007 says: Feb 2, 2009. 12:51 PM REPLYI'm thinking of taking a picture of my girlfriend and i and drawing it for her birthday, what do you think?

Danielfish says: Mar 6, 2009. 8:27 AM REPLYHow vein is she? I'd find it weird if I was given a picture of myself for my birthday. Try drawing the two of you together, or at least of her and a pet, orsomething. ;)

PyroMaster007 says: Mar 8, 2009. 10:55 AM REPLYit would be of the two of us.

Sypran says: Dec 4, 2008. 4:07 PM REPLYI hate traceing... execept maps and such (dont want get lost do you?)

suarezani says: Aug 23, 2008. 1:17 PM REPLYI loved reading this idea so much! I have traced since I was a kid and I remember making maps for school, pictures I had taken of flowers and animals (onlyblack and white at that time...) using the following: if you don't have the window, nor want to buy the light-box nor use the tv or computer screen, you stillhave another option: tape the papers on top of a glass table and place a lamp underneath it. I still use it and I find it comfortable and practical. I hope it willplease some of you as well. By the way, I really liked reading your commentsdiscussions and disagreements! May you all have a great time.

Flumpkins says: Aug 16, 2008. 7:55 PM REPLYThis is really neat! 5/5 + fave

Brother Tron says: Aug 7, 2008. 6:56 AM REPLYGreat video ....I like ..Check me out at A Whiting Originallots of free liquid lead airbrush.

abnor says: Jun 30, 2008. 10:54 AM REPLY>:0!!!!!!!! you're a cheater! you're not supposed to draw directly from the image! errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg! if anyone knew you traced directly from the image, thenthey wouldn't be impressed at all. tracing is not art, it does not make you an artist, and it's basically taking something, changing it's color or texture, andmaking it your own. if anything, if you REALLY want to impress somebody, try drawing still life, or sketches, rather than tracing.

but then again, if you're just wanting to shag somebody, you can always sketch them naked and give it to them --

raje says: Jul 18, 2008. 4:29 AM REPLYHi, Tracing is also one of the art. Tracing a image will encourage the people those who new to painting. We can get only the outline from tracing. But thepaint work...? When u try to do many tracing you will learn the perfection of any image. If tracing is wrong, u shouldnt use even liner...

abnor says: Jul 28, 2008. 3:09 PM REPLYok. i will say this only once to you. tracing isn't wrong when it is used as a step in the whole creation process, but it is when you trace something andcall it art. you're right, you can trace something and then paint it and have no guilt. just don't trace it plain and call it art.

thinker says: Jul 17, 2008. 4:02 PM REPLYerm i paint large scale watercolours and acrylics and also sketch in pencil i find however that when i walk through a park and i see something beautiful illtake a photo and then take it home large size it and then depending on what it is i may trace it and yeah this guys instructable shows a technique thatseasier then the one i use so yeah damn right im gonna use it instructables ARENT morally good or bad its the usage that is if you wanna debate that goto the friggin forums theres tonnes of it on there ALSO when i trace something (like a photo) its NOT cheating because when u trace something youMISS PARTS you ADD DETAILS you LOSE PARTS i know people that trace faces and only do the darkest shades, so it makes the face plainer andsmoother there are those who colour in ALL shades and make pictures more photo-realistic yes its tracing but its not cheating any more then handingthem the photo would be because when i hand someone a photo they go..."ohh...pretty" and then forget it when i hand them a traced version theyRemember it, they appreciate the details in it oh, and a lot of peoples small sketches (mine included) SUCK that doesnt impress ANYONE hes telling you


HOW to do something HOW to get photorealistic drawings not TO DO it ITS A SUGGESTION also its hard to draw, this is quicker, and makes for a nicegift, or for a proof of concept, to check the scale is right on a large scale drawing you are doing, to create a stencil, it has many uses other then the oneyou seem to rant about

thesparine says: Jul 4, 2008. 6:36 AM REPLYIf you read an instructable telling you how to make a cake, and it included a recipe, would you say the person that makes the cake with that recipe is nota "real chef"? I can hear it now... OMG! You are not a real chef! My grandma was a chef and she never used measuring cups, because she was naturallygifted! Anyone that follows a recipe is not making a REAL CAKE. You are all cheating if you follow recipes and not bake with your heart! A chef's handswere made by god and a real chef knows that if something needs a pinch of salt or a pinch of sugar by tasting! A real chef would never look in a book tosee how to make something! Gimme a f**king break!

abnor says: Jul 4, 2008. 10:37 AM REPLYthe difference is, cooking is creating something from your head, or from a reference. tracing is taking something directly from the reference, changingit slightly, and calling it your own. not to mention, in your comparison, using a measuring cup for baking is like using stencils for drawing, nothingwrong with that. i can see how someone names a recipe after themselves, cause they came up with the recipe, but if someone else took that recipe,made the food, and renamed it after THEMselves, then that would just be wrong. relate that to tracing.

abnor says: Jul 7, 2008. 2:21 PM REPLYok, like i explained to another person, i will ask this of you: will you PLEASE edit this instructable, or create another one, that gets rid of the idea that youdon't mind if we just trace something and give it as gifts? just take out the little bit that implies that it is ok to trace another photo. or better yet, add in theresomewhere a few suggestions as to what else we could do to our trace to make it our own, as a creation, as a piece of art, and as something that will make itlook less like a trace! if not, then more people who see this will continue to challenge you. beware >:]

Grey_Wolfe says: Jul 15, 2008. 6:30 PM REPLYLike specifying to use pictures that are your own photography, or that you've been given permission to convert? Sounds like a good idea to me.

Spl1nt3rC3ll says: Jul 8, 2007. 11:47 PM (removed by author or community request)

thesparine says: Jul 4, 2008. 6:39 AM REPLYIf you read an instructable telling you how to make a cake, and it included a recipe, would you say the person that makes the cake with that recipe is nota "real chef"? I can hear it now... OMG! You are not a real chef! My grandma was a chef and she never used measuring cups, because she was naturallygifted! Anyone that follows a recipe is not making a REAL CAKE. You are all cheating if you follow recipes and not bake with your heart! A chef's handswere made by god and a real chef knows that if something needs a pinch of salt or a pinch of sugar by tasting! A real chef would never look in a book tosee how to make something! Gimme a f**king break!

Spl1nt3rC3ll says: Jul 4, 2008. 11:23 AM REPLYAll my old comments come back to bite me.

I actually use this method all the time now, I don't know any artist who doesn't.

Spl1nt3rC3ll says: Jul 4, 2008. 11:44 AM REPLY...Well, I only use it when I'm hard pressed for time, which is happening a lot lately.

Spl1nt3rC3ll says: Jul 4, 2008. 11:30 AM REPLYAnd again, sorry for my blatant rudeness.

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How to Make an Awesome Pencil Sketch of Any Photog

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