Angela Rizza - Portrait Drawing for Kids: A Step-By-Step Guide to Drawing Faces

Copyright 2020 by Rockridge Press, Emeryville, California

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, Rockridge Press, 6005 Shellmound Street, Suite 175, Emeryville, CA 94608.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The Publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering medical, legal, or other professional advice or services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the Publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an individual, organization or website is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the Publisher endorses the information the individual, organization or website may provide or recommendations they/it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (866) 744-2665, or outside the U.S. at (510) 253-0500.

Rockridge Press publishes its books in a variety of electronic and print formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books, and vice versa.

TRADEMARKS: Rockridge Press and the Rockridge Press logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Callisto Media Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Rockridge Press is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Interior and Designer: Eric Pratt

Photo Art Director/Art Manager: Tom Hood

Editor: Natasha Yglesias

Production Editor: Ashley Polikoff

Illustrations: Angela Rizza

ISBN: Print 978-1-64152-725-5 | eBook 978-1-64152-927-3

R0

Dedicated to my grandparents John and Martha Leone, who started me on my art journey, and to my parents for supporting me through it.

CONTENTS

Hello, budding artists! Guess what: The selfie isnt just a modern-day thing! Throughout history, people have wanted portraits of themselves. In ancient civilizations, kings had their likenesses carved into statues and painted onto walls for all to see. Throughout the Renaissance, the wealthy had their portraits painted and hung in their homes as status symbols. And for hundreds of years, artists have been sitting in front of mirrors, capturing their reflections.

A selfie is a moment in time captured. Its a way to catch a memory of someone and keep it forever. A selfie can communicate who a person is, wordlessly. As an artist, you can draw how you or your friends want the world to see you and your story. No one is alike, so lets use this book to celebrate our uniqueness. By being open to our diverse world and observing its humanity, we elevate our art.

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by illustrations in books and think you cant draw anything similar. I dont want you feeling that way, so Ive broken down the drawings in this book into simple steps. And dont worry, nothing you draw has to be perfect. Your first few drawings may not look exactly as you intended, but remember that nobody learns without making mistakes, trying new things, and leaping out of their comfort zone.

Go at your own pace. If you feel like redoing an activity before moving on to the next, thats totally fine. Drawing should feel like fun, not like work.

Ready? Lets go!

In my previous book, Figure Drawing for Kids, space constraints meant I couldnt include everything I wanted to say about drawing faces. In this book, Im able to expand that lesson. I discuss drawing portraits young and old, facial features, expressions, subject posing, and self-portraits. Kids can use lessons from my previous booksuch as the portrait chapteras a foundation, then go into detail with this book. This is my second how-to book and is based on the past decade of working as an illustrator and private teacher. I include foundation lessons I learned while getting my BFA at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, as well as lessons Ive developed through teaching art to elementary and middle school children.

In this book, I break down facial structures. I give a brief lesson in drawing basic foundational forms, and then provide step-by-step activities that touch on drawing more than just generic shapes. Faces are unique, and I hope to challenge young artists to draw what they see rather than to simply follow traditional formulas. The key to drawing a successful portrait is to capture someones likeness, and to do that, we need to move beyond drawing an oval for an eye or a circle for a head.

I use a variety of subjects because the world is filled with an array of people and styles. I want to capture the likenesses of people you might see every day on the street, and not the academic or idealized depictions found in most books or magazines.

The goal of this book isnt to teach kids to copy images, but rather to get them to learn from the lessons and apply them to their future illustrations. The goal is to teach kids to look at and celebrate, through their creativity, what makes people different from each other. After following along with the lessons and activities, kids can take their newly attained knowledge and expand on it to create their own comics, graphic novels, paintings, drawings, and beyond.

The combines the features and discusses details beyond the face, like hair, clothing and accessories, coloring, composition, and shading.

Each activity starts with a short lesson and step-by-step drawings to show you the process and help you learn by seeing examples. Think of these drawings as guided practice; you will have your own drawing style and shouldnt feel any pressure to make exact copies of my drawings.

I start with lessons you can draw along with, but in the final chapters, I want you to go out and draw from life. You might ask a friend or family member to pose for their portrait, and I tell you how to gather your own ideas and references for your art.