Posing your subject surrounded by a few props can add much attention, dimension, and appeal to a portrait and goes a long way to describing your subject. A prop can add considerably to the composition of the portrait.

Sketching a portrait with a prop, such as a table or even ear muffs, requires you to particularly pay heed to the complete arabesque.

Quite often the beginning draftsperson will be tempted to approach a prop as a separate element or an afterthought so that rather than complimenting and blending in a supporting role with the subject’s face, it looks artificial and overwhelms the subject or is incorrectly proportioned or drawn.

In this commentary you will learn the expert approach to sketching a supporting element that frames the center of interest even with a supporting element that is bigger than the face.

First, the presence of a prop does not change the approach to rendering the pencil portrait. As with sketching any other portrait, you should utilize all your usual basic knowledge and apply them throughout the normal processes of your sketching effort.

So as always, you start with the arabesque which in the case where the skull and the supporting element overlap will be a “construct” which is a complete arabesque that encompasses not only the shape and proportions of the skull but also of the contour of the supporting element where it overlaps with the skull.

In the context of the presence of a supporting element that overlaps with the skull, the construct becomes of crucial importance. It helps a lot with the maintenance of unity. If you do not render from the reference of a construct, the skull and the prop will appear as separate structures.

While you work through the succeeding stages of your portrait sketching (proportions, landmarks, blocking-in, blending, etc.) you should continually be aware of the fact that your supporting element should not overwhelm the face of your subject.

The face of your subject should remain the primary focus. Your drawing should not turn into a still life of your supporting element that also happens to show a person’s face in the background.

One trick that can help you with understating of the supporting element is to only render the merest of details inside the supporting element. Another one is to soften the values of the supporting element but only if it this appropriate in the context of the overall intent of your drawing.

Again, we cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining the cohesion between your subject and the supporting element. That is why it is significant that you render from the construct which already links the subject and your supporting element as one overall object. Of course, this also implies that you do the toning in a similar spirit and not overdo the lines and values that separate the subject and the supporting element.

So, in closing, the main considerations when including props elements in your drawing are to make sure that the arabesque covers the entire contour of the skull and the props elements.

In addition, make sure that at all times you keep in mind that the props elements should never become the focus of your drawing. If you stick to these guidelines, the utilize of props elements should never become a problem for you.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing tutorial here: portrait drawing tutorial.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and skilled drawing teacher. See his work at pencil portraits by Remi.

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Posted in: Drawing Tips | | January 2009