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Founder of Proko, artist and teacher of drawing, painting, and anatomy. I try to make my lessons fun and ultra packed with information.
LESSON NOTES
This is a great exercise to improve your perspective skills, especially with organic forms like human heads. You're going to figure out the orientation of the head in space by considering a simple box, then using that box as a map for a portrait. Watch this video for tips on how to do this properly.
Practice this from the photos I've provided in the downloads tab and don't forget to submit your drawing to the community!
RELATED LINKS:
One-Point Perspective
Two-Point Perspective
How to Learn Perspective - Draftsmen S1E26
DOWNLOADS
project-portraits-in-perspective.mp4
213 MB
project-portraits-in-perspective-transcript-english.txt
5 kB
project-portraits-in-perspective-transcript-spanish.txt
6 kB
project-portraits-in-perspective-captions-english.srt
8 kB
project-portraits-in-perspective-captions-spanish.srt
9 kB
ASSIGNMENTS![]()
![Nat]()
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![Sergey Kuznetsov]()
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![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
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![Myra Lemmond]()
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![Melanie Scearce]()
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![@mattr]()
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![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
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![@veryartthing]()
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![Patrick Bosworth]()
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![@dalpezzo13]()
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![Martha Muniz]()
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![Nicholas Allott]()
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![Melanie Scearce]()
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![Jennifer Andrews]()
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![Mariah]()
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![Mariah]()
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![Patrick Bosworth]()
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![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
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![Vanessa White]()
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![Dana]()
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![@ndeboar]()
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![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
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![Vanessa White]()
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![Patrick Bosworth]()
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![Paul M]()
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![@ndeboar]()
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![Camille Varner Kolafa]()
In this project we'll practice applying perspective to organic forms. Heads, while organic, adhere to the rules of perspective similar to boxy objects, so we'll start by constructing 3D heads. Look for clues of the angle of each axis such as angles from brow to ear, the vertical center line of the face, and the horizontal side to side angles of the features.
I've prepared a range of portrait photos for you to work with, that you could find in the downloads tab under the video. You'll notice each photo is numbered. Please label your drawings with the corresponding photo you're drawing to help me and the community give you a critique. Otherwise it would be very difficult to know which box matches each photo.
Level 1: Basic Box Construction
Draw a box representing a simplified version of each head.
- Try to match the orientation and dimensions of the head in the photo
- Rely on your intuition to imagine each head's rotation and dimensions
- Iterative process: Redo and refine as needed
Level 2: Head Construction
Start with a small box representation of the head, same as Level 1. Then add linear head construction with accurate perspective.
- Use primarily straight lines to draw, emphasizing plane changes
- Find angles in the organic shape that correlate with the simple box (ex: top and back of the head)
- Observe, analyze, then draw
- Avoid drawing tiny heads; aim for at least 4 inches in height
Deadline: Submit by 1/15/2024 for a chance to be in the critique video!
Well, maybe this time I will not delete this like I did several times before. The smaller heads are corrected ones (they look a little more proportional at least)
Level 2 — Heads in Perspective
I drew a few heads before watching Stan's demo, then came back and drew some more. Here are the tips that helped me get the second batch more accurate:
- Start by dividing the face into thirds, marking the brow line and the base of the nose.
- As always, pay attention to line weight!
- Use the angle from the brow area toward the ear to figure out the perspective of the box. This was probably the most helpful clue for me!
- Divide the side plane of the head vertically to figure out where the jaw goes.
- Think of the skull as a big ball, then add the hair on top.
- Draw envelopes around the eye sockets first, then fit the eyes inside.
- Keep the symmetry of the skull in perspective, especially the cheekbones and the transitions between the front and side planes.
- Check distances, like from the nose to the side of the face, and look for clear verticals and horizontals.
- Remember how thirds and halves get compressed in perspective.
And, of course, more attempts and fewer details! Better to draw another head than spend ages polishing the previous one (thought I'm still tempted to polish everything, haha).
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3d
You did great on these! Glad you found those tips helpful!
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3d
Really nice work! The orientations of each box look great, I have no notes for that. You are on the right track. The only thing I noticed that I could point out is that some of the boxes proportionally are more square than rectangle- the idea is that the top and bottom plane of the box align with the top of the head and the chin to help you plot them in perspective, but it doesn't seem to be getting in your way in the final head drawing. The square proportion does make sense in poses like #17 for example where the front plane is foreshortened as the head looks up. #18 is an example of where the proportions are a bit off, specifically with the box, not the final head. It looks like you mapped the box to the cranium and added the chin in the final.
Hard but fun exercise - i learnt a ton doing these. Started with digital initially to get a feel for the perspective and then tackled them again traditionally. Have also been doing a few extra with references from Pinterst. Seeing a big improvement in the consistency of my portraits YIPPEE!
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5d
I think #12 and the one between #14 and #17 look a little bit squashed, so maybe revisit and double check your measurements on those. Otherwise, awesome work, your line quality is looking great :)
Finally getting back to this course. I did my best with these heads but I really am bad at drawing heads, been struggling to learn and improve with them for a long time. First batch was done before watching the demos, second after. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated because, again, I really struggle drawing heads.
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7d
These are looking good! Your boxes are all converging appropriately and you captured the tilts, and positions really well, I can see you're applying the perspective you established in your cubes to the features on the face, and I love your final simplified stage for the expressions. Keep up the practice here, the more of these you do, the more trained your eye will become. Moving forward start to pay closer attention to measuring your proportions for the largest shapes down the smallest like in the portrait project from the Shapes lesson group of Basics linked below, but while keeping this 3D framework in mind. Flipping your image will help you keep an eye on where your proportions are starting to drift and need to be adjusted. Hope this helps! Keep it up! https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/project-measure-proportions
I am lucky enough to have one of those miniature skulls, which was a massive help for doing some of these. Being able to position that in the same way as the reference pics helped tremendously.
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8d
Nice! You've got the right idea for heads as they turn in perspective. Your self-correction through each of these definitely shows you solving and understanding the lesson further, so great job on that.
I think sometimes the proportions may have been thrown off. I would recommend trying to match the end of the jaw to the bottom of the box, so it helps give you a more accurate guide for the placement of the rest of the features. It can also be easy to be thrown off by a subject's deviation of the 'average' face proportions, so if someone has eyes slightly higher or a longer face, sometimes we exaggerate that too much -- which is fine for something like a caricature, but if we're aiming for more accurate proportions, often that deviation is very minimal/subtle and easy to overdo. You still want to consider how perspective will impact it first and foremost -- so if we're looking down at someone (like in #7), their eyes will be closer to the viewer and therefore appear larger than the nose and mouth sections. Let me know if you have any questions!
Level 1 post demo redo, but this time with digital overlays in Krita.
Including both attempts with each reference.
Some improvements were made! 😎
I found horizonally flipping the drawing helped a lot for seeing how the boxes looked wierd and correcting. I could use a mirror for traditional. Also remembering to converge to the further away side.
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20d
Nice work! The perspective of the boxes is more convincing in your second set of boxes. Kudos for doing another round of these!
This assignment was really fun but also really hard for me. I am not soo good at third perspective, so I tried my best! I did a few of these (the number connect with the photos), and I think I did better than I thought I would! 💗
Doooone. This lesson fried my brain. I’m seeing literal blockheads everywhere I go now. For the level one, I definitely did a few over again. I found that I got better towards the later ones. My line quality improved and the whole convergence concept really started to click. But the level 2 assignment was when it all came together for me. I chose 2 poses I knew would challenge me. The one of the guy (14 I think?) was tough, and I know his proportions on my sketch are off (eyes really big, chin too short, angle is slightly off…) but I thiiiink the perspective is correct. It’s at least better than my first attempt of drawing him before watching the demo video. With the level 2 assignments, I also made a very conscientious effort to lighten up on my lines until I was confident with the placement and I slowed down. Each took me about an hour to complete.
This assignment was a doozy but I feel like it made a huge difference in how I’m able to interpret my drawings! I threw in some John Singer Sargent studies to break up the monotony and found that even those are better because I’m understanding 2 point perspective and applying it to the subtle tilt of the faces. Feedback appreciated 😊
@Camille Varner Kolafa
@Patrick Bosworth
I redrew 15 and tried out 6. I checked my convergence in both and I’m happier with these!
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18d
Holy smokes, those Sargent studies look great!! I love it when things start to click! I'm definitely seeing improvement across these exercises. The more cubes you draw, the more you'll get the hang of it! Once you give your brain some time too cool off, a really good next step here is to go back and analyze your earlier cubes and try to adjust and true them up. Try to find the correct center line in your boxes, and evenly place the thirds of the brow line and nose line, and extend your lines out to the vanishing points. By extending your lines out to their common vanishing points you can see more clearly where your lines start to deviate. The convergence should be fairly subtle unless you're dealing with exaggeration from an extremely close lens, or view point. Take a look at your earlier boxes and either draw over them with a colored pencil, or some tracing paper to see where your proportions and alignment have come off. You can use a ruler to track these lines off more accurately and check your work. If you're having trouble finding the center of the box, remember if you draw an X from corner to corner of the box you'll find the exact center, even if that plane is tipped into perspective. The center line should follow the convergence of your other lines in that line system. Cubes and Perspective takes a lot practice before you start seeing this subtlety, so look at this phase as adjusting, not fixing. Our first lines are not wrong, they're always just a best guess, so we can always go back and adjust to make things closer to what we want.
Here are some free lessons from the Perspective Course on how to wrangle these cubes! Hope this helps!
https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/assignment-control-depth-on-paper-with-a-simple-box
https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/assignment-perfect-cubes-from-your-minds-eye
https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/assignment-tumble-cubes
https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/measure-depth-keep-track-of-imaginary-space
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21d
Hey Mariah! These look great and I can definitely tell things are starting to click for you. The J.S.S. studies look beautiful! To me it looks like the biggest issue you're having right now is matching the correct angles and center line. Most of your center lines look right to me in the boxes, except numbers 1 and 5. You can really see where things went haywire with the angles on 15, and 9 is really close besides the center line--the face features really just need to scoot over some to the right. I've attached a few drawovers. The pink lines are what I deduced from your drawings, and the green lines are relatively the "correct" (to the best of my ability lol) angles/positions. With the last image where I show the pink and green together, it's easier to see where you're off. It seems you tilted his head on 15 back a lot further. You may be doing this already, but to help with getting these angles right, you can try holding your pencil up and line it along the angle and then quickly bring it to your drawing to replicate it. That's all I've got, so I'll leave it to Patrick if he's got any feedback :)
I was struggling with estimating roughly where the lines should go when completing the boxes. I’m drawing using Procreate but I don’t want to rely on the drawing assist tool. I’ve been practicing eyeballing the angle (to close the boxes) for few days. I think the proportions and angles are probably not accurate to the portraits, but LORDDDDD I’m happy enough that most of the converging angles/lines are correct (I checked each after finishing the drawing by drawing the lines to the VPs). I’ll need to work on the proportions and angles next. But for now, I’m quite happy with my current accuracy. Not perfect, but close enough 🥲🥲🥲 (I hope I'm checking them correctly tho?! Needed to make the boxes smaller on my Procreate canvas to extend the lines so sometimes I wasnt entirely sure if they are accurate lol)
I did several but definitely started too small (missed the 4 inch height instruction oops). For me it help to visualize the front of the face first and using the line of the eyes or brows to find the rectangle and tilt of it. I found myself exaggerating angles more often than not at first. Would greatly appreciate some feedback!
I modeled a "real" 3d box (im a 3d artist by trade) and pushed out the congergance lines.
Interesting to see how little the Y axis converges. They are virtually parallel.
Before I did this, I was pushing the Y convergence way to much.
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28d
This is really neat! 3D tools can be so helpful.
I need help and guidance again, please. 😭
i feel quite lost and confused and not sure if I’m understanding 2pp correctly, and I’m really breaking down😭😭😭😭😭😭
This is my sketch for the first reference. I wasn’t sure if I got it right so I took a look at Stan’s demo before proceeding to the next drawing, and I feel like it’s quite different from Stan’s drawing? For example, in Stan’s drawing, the top plane wasn’t so distorted/converging as much. Is it just that we have different vanishing points, or am I doing something wrong?
also, I think for these portraits, I can’t really find the “vanishing points”. I can have a guess, but is it right for me to draw without establishing the vps?
if there are any additional tips that can help with this learning, I’d greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much for helping a struggling student. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
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28d
Some great observations from @Paul M here. Perspective is tough, so give yourself some grace with this skill, it takes some time to absorb and execute all of the information.
You don't always need to draw vanishing points on your page, but when you're getting started it helps to trace off your lines to see how they converge in the distance and make sure you're hitting a common vanishing point. If I'm drawing without actually placing these vanishing points I like to put something in my periphery or mark somewhere on my drawing board to give myself a target to aim my converging lines toward.
I did a draw over of your cube to show where you're on point, and where you're getting a little skewed. Your closest vertical line, the line hitting the corner of the brow, is spot on! You can feel that bump on corner of your own brow where the side of your head meets the front of the face. This is a great landmark to look for to place this vertical line for the cube.
In two-point perspective, you have two vanishing points for your horizontal lines. Your horizontal lines going left will converge to a common vanishing point (LVP), your horizontal lines going right will converge to a common vanishing point (RVP), and your vertical lines will all remain parallel with no convergence.
From the vertical line you established on the corner of the brow, try to find the "Y" of the next two closest lines on the top plane of the box. These guide lines will help you place the rest using the features as landmarks. It helps to look for the angles of the hair line, brow, nose, and chin, and trace them off towards their respective vanishing points. These lines will all converge to a common vanishing point, but the convergence is subtle.
The distortion of your cube is caused by your vanishing points being close together, so the convergence is exaggerated. The further apart you place the vanishing points, the less exaggerated the convergence. It helps to draw through your box to reveal the hidden side like you have x-ray vision. When you can see how your lines converge on the hidden side it can show you where you're off!
Keep practicing, and take a look at the demos/critiques for this lesson, Stan will give a lot of tips for these common struggles in those lessons! Also, check out the Zolly app if you're looking for some perspective practice, there are a bunch of free basic shapes to get you started. Hope this helps!
https://www.proko.com/zolly-app
You do indeed have closer vanishing points creating tighter angles (not right or wrong necessarily. You also have a little bit of convergence going in the vertical lines you're almost in 3 point creating some of the skew.
This is the mind feeling its difficult to map the angles and planes of a curved head to a box :) and it is difficult
iirc the exercise was to contain the head in a 2pp box, not so much map all the angles of the head and face (there are so many.) So in that case not every part of your boxes planes will be in contact with the planes of the head.
You'll learn to carve the curves/shapes out of the 2pp boxes later. My advice would be to draw some more 2pp boxes and then try this exercise again. You're getting frustrated with the learning curve, there's a reason it takes people 10-20 years to create masterful art, enjoy the journey
Keen to try level two, but just want to make sure these are vaguely correctly first.
Im trying to make the lines converge in the right direction, so things further from the camera are smaller.
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30d
The middle portrait looks accurate, but I would revisit the first and last ones. I think on the first one, the plan on the side should be a little more narrow and diagonally downwards, and the front plane should be more front facing. Your box looks more turned to the right than the model's face is. On the last one, try angling the box down more. I think we should be seeing more of the top of the box.
