Picture copy tutorial

Technical note: in this tutorial you will find pictures noted with this icon: . If you move your mouse cursor over such pictures, a different version of the picture will appear. You need to have javascript enabled for this to work.

The what

I'll show you how to draw a copy of a picture just by looking at it. I will mostly concentrate on lines and shapes, because these are skills I found most useful for learning to draw.

The why

This one may at first seem like a pointless exercise, however in my opinion it's a key skill when learning to draw. The reason for this is that it overcomes the brains natural skill to simplify and abstract things into concepts and simple terms. In other words, it forces you to look at the item precisely, noticing details you usually ignore, thus making you remember much more of the picture.

The how

The way to do this is basically by estimating the dimensions, angles and other properties of the picture (or real-life scene) before you. The estimations don't have to be 100% precise, just close enough to make it look like they are the same. There are some simple techniques to help you gain precision:

• Relative positions
• Relative angles
• Relative shapes
• Absolute angles

Relative positions

You find some distinctive points on the original - it may be some sharp angle, or maybe a specific small object, like a shirt button or a glowing eye. Then you look for and compare its position to other points of interest.

Here's a photo and a partial copy of it. We want to check how closely it resembles the original.

Notice that on the original, the right part of the eye is just above the right part of the nose. Move your cursor over the picture - using a help line, we can see that the nose and eye are also aligned in the copy.

Say we want to check the position of the ear. We can draw (or just imagine) horizontal and vertical lines around the ear and look where they intersect with other parts of the face. The copy fits.

On the next example I intentionally exaggerated some parts of one copy to make it different from the original, although it's still very similar. How can we check the dimensions?

We can draw vertical lines from some distinctive parts of the face to find the hand on the left copy is shifted to the left (the part of the picture from the hand to the neck is probably too long).

Relative angles

First you find a straight line or a line that can be broken up to reasonably straight lines, then you compare the angle of the lines. It helps to try to remember one line and see if the other one resembles it.

Shapes

This is actually a two dimensonal version of the relative positions. You look for shapes between important points and then compare them. I usually look for near-square rectangles because I find it simple to compare the length of its sides.

You can also use negative space (where there is nothing) to form shapes, like on the picture below.

Absolute angles

Here you compare the angles of the lines not to each other, but to horizontal and vertical lines. I usually find this easier to do than comparing to other angles, which means it's more accurate. This is especially true if you're viewing the original on the monitor, since the raster will help you.

Example 1

In the examples I will use descriptive terms such as "eye", but that's because I just comment what I'm doing. When drawing, you should try to think of the lines individually. For example, forget that you are drawing the eye, just look at the shapes and angles it's made of. It will help you draw what's really there.

First I'll show you how to do a copy of a simple silhouette. Here's the original, a vector illustration of a girl.

Say you want to copy just the top part of the picture. If you are not careful you might draw something like this.

The skill to learn here is to find the differences by looking at the picture and being able to correct them.

Until now all you've seen is how to compare existing images. But how do you get to the copy in the first place? You just try something and see if it fits. After making sure it does (don't be afraid to erase), you add more, check again, and so on. After a while you will get used to it and won't even know exactly how you did it. Just remember that it doesn't have to be absolutely precise.

Let's start with the left shoulder. It's just a horizontal line - the length doesn't really matter, since the scale of the copy is not set yet.

I estimate the angle and length of the next part of the line and draw it.

The area between the chin and the shoulder can be represented by a rectangle. You should make sure that this rectangle in the copy is similar to the one in the original. It looks like my copy will be a little bigger than the original, that's ok, but it's important to remember this when estimating sizes.

I continue with the line. You should observe the angles and the length of the original line closely. It helps to notice on which places the line is vertical to make sure you draw it in the copy also.

A few steps further, the silhouette starts to take shape. I highlighted the places where the line is vertical and the horizontal position of the hair tip.

You should constantly compare the part you draw to other parts of the picture to make sure it fits. Try to find new ways of looking at the picture. For example observe that the tip of the hair is also vertically level with the chin.

Here I'm estimating the dimensions of the head. The neck on the copy is slightly wider than it should and needs to be corrected. Mistakes like this are common, especially when starting out. Using the described techniques helps you find them (the sooner the better).

The finished copy.

Example 2

Next, I will copy a frame from a manga. Copying manga is easier than using photos, because the artist already simplified the object into lines and shapes for you.

I'll start with the face. You should be more careful when drawing the face, people pay more attention to them and differences will be easer to spot. The cheek line should have the same angle as in the original.

If you look closely, the jaw line is a bit more horizontal, but it ends on the same level as the cheek line. Remember this when drawing it.

The upper part of the face line is wavy, and has two places where it is vertical.

Take your time when positioning face features. Again, don't be afraid to erase if you don't get it right the first time. You should check the angle and position of each line.

Eyebrows and hair. I noticed the left eyebrow is too long (compared to the position of the eye) and the hair should be moved to the right as well, so I correct it.

Better.

I continue adding more features. The top of the head can be difficult to estimate. It helps to notice that the length from the chin to the hair over eyes is the same as from the hair to the top. Also notice the angles on the top line and the place where it is horizontal.

Defining the rest of the picture. This doesn't have to be as exact as the face, as long as you keep the shapes and proportions the same, it will be ok.

Some basic shading. It's up to you how detailed you want it to be.

Conclusion

Copying pictures like this helped me a lot when learning to draw from memory. You should copy and study the pictures you like and soon your own pictures will get much better. Don't worry too much about losing your own style - it will come anyway :).

What helped me tremendously was to choose a single subject (faces, a pose, hands, clothing) and to do lots of quick copies. After one session I was able to draw the subject from memory. And the more you train like this, the better you will get.

References

An interesting book on the subject of drawing and observation is Betty Edward's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. If you have trouble getting your copies look like originals (or real life observations), I recommend getting it and following the exercises.

Pictures used in this tutorial:

• Statue on the cemetery of Père Lachaise in Paris
• Silhouette of a girl
• Iori Yoshizuki from the manga I''s by Masakazu Katsura