Would you like to improve your drawing skills by learning how to draw realistic? Have you ever seen a portrait that made you doubt whether it was a drawing or a photograph? would you like to create a drawing that is super detailed and perfectly represents reality?
If your answer to any of these questions was yes, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article we will tell you all about realistic drawing, from its characteristics and the materials you need to start creating drawings in this style, to the best tips on how to make a realistic drawing step by step.
leave flat drawings behind and start creating realistic 3D drawings! Believe us, after watching this guide you will be the best in realistic drawing; you just need to put your pencils to work, is that what they say? The important thing is that you’ll be ready to draw realism like a pro.
are you ready to learn how to shock everyone with the level of detail in your drawings? let’s get started!
what is realistic drawing?
Realistic drawing is a type of drawing that aims to represent reality as faithfully as possible, making use of lights and shadows, textures and correct anatomical proportions.
But, before we go deeper into the subject of realistic drawing, let’s make a brief review and clarify what drawing is.
Drawing is the art of representing an image on a flat surface that can be, for example, paper or canvas. It is a graphic expression in 2 dimensions that human beings have used since time immemorial to express themselves.
Surely, you must have seen the stone drawings of ancient civilizations, since that was the starting point. Now there are many types of drawing, among them the realistic drawing, whose level of representation of reality is the most faithful of all.
Now, straight to the point: what is realistic drawing? This type of drawing differs from the traditional 2D drawing by including many more details and handling a wide range of shades that allow it to reflect a line with 3D characteristics, representing much more faithfully the subject to be portrayed.
The goal of realism in drawing is to allow the viewer to feel that they are looking at the subject as it looks in reality, or as in a high quality photograph.because realistic drawing artists concentrate a lot on the correct use of lights and shadows, on the perfect representation of anatomical drawing proportions and clean strokes, they can achieve this effect after many hours of work.
Of course, if you want to stand out in this stream of visual art, it is important that you practice and do not get discouraged if the first time you do not get it as you expected. Realistic drawing is a style that takes time to master, but nothing is impossible!
Source: Pexels
what are the advantages of realistic drawing?
why make a realistic drawing and not stay in the traditional two-dimensional plane? Here is a list of some of the advantages of learning how to draw realistically:
Realistic graphics will allow you to explore many more shading and coloring techniques due to the complexity of its composition, so you will become a more complete artist.
Learning how to draw realistic will help you improve and diversify your skills to draw the structure of many objects and the anatomy of hundreds of living beings.
In addition, this style is gaining more importance in the art world, since, currently, realistic drawing is very popular in social networks and internet.
This style is not only limited to making a realistic drawing of the human figure, but also allows to bring to paper or canvas landscapes, animals and objects. Everything under a realistic stroke.
When you learn how to draw realistic, you also learn to observe and draw everything in greater detail. therefore, when you try other styles, such as cartoon or manga, it will be easier for you to create characters and give life to your scenarios.
the best part? The illusion it projects. We don’t know if a work with the realistic drawing style is a drawing, a photograph or if we are really seeing someone inside a piece of paper. incredible, isn’t it?
what are you waiting for? Keep reading and dare to learn how to draw realistically.
Source: Pexels
what are the characteristics of realistic drawing?
Now that you know what realism in drawing is and what are the advantages of learning how to draw realistically, you will surely wonder what are the characteristics that make realistic graphics stand out from the other types of drawing that exist.
That’s why, next, we will tell you what are the main characteristics of realistic drawing:
1. Perfect shading
Realism in drawing requires a more polished and detailed type of shading than that of a normal drawing.
The purpose of this is to achieve the illusion of three-dimensionality, which will bring the drawing closer to reality. Because, through the sensation of volume that shading gives, the image can look more faithful and authentic.
In other words, to learn how to draw realistically, you must first know how to shade a drawing and master the use of shadows and lights on paper. Don’t worry if it seems too difficult at first, it’s all a matter of practice and paying close attention when looking at your reference.
2. Smooth contours
In realistic graphics, outlines are usually very soft. Some artists even choose not to include them in their work. Instead, they take advantage of the variation of tonalities to create an illusion of contour much closer to reality.
In reality, in realistic drawing contours are only used as part of the sketch to define proportions and differentiate each area, but when working on the drawing these contours are lost and blended, so that the drawing looks more natural.
Source: Pexels
3. Mixed colors
Usually artists who make realistic portraits use very natural colors, which allow them to perfectly reflect the color of the skin, hair or clothes of the person they are portraying.
Many times, it is necessary to combine different tones of the same color to achieve a gradient or to apply color theory to mix colors to achieve the right tone .
4. Exact dimensions
For your realistic drawing to be a success, you must be careful to ensure that your portrait has the right anatomical proportions. the dimensions of your strokes on the canvas must be as accurate as possible, to faithfully reflect what you are drawing and that your drawing has the “real” look we are looking for.
would you like to improve your drawing skills by learning how to draw realistically? Have you ever seen a portrait that made you doubt whether it was a drawing or a photograph? would you like to create a drawing that is super detailed and perfectly represents reality?
If your answer to any of these questions was yes, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article we will tell you all about realistic drawing, from its characteristics and the materials you need to start creating drawings in this style, to the best tips on how to make a realistic drawing step by step.
leave flat drawings behind and start creating realistic 3D drawings! Believe us, after watching this guide you will be the best in realistic drawing; you just need to put your pencils to work, is that what they say? The important thing is that you’ll be ready to draw realism like a pro.
are you ready to learn how to shock everyone with the level of detail in your drawings? let’s get started!
what is realistic drawing?
Realistic drawing is a type of drawing that aims to represent reality as faithfully as possible, making use of lights and shadows, textures and correct anatomical proportions.
But, before we go deeper into the subject of realistic drawing, let’s make a brief review and clarify what drawing is.
Drawing is the art of representing an image on a flat surface that can be, for example, paper or canvas. It is a graphic expression in 2 dimensions that human beings have used since time immemorial to express themselves.
Surely, you must have seen the stone drawings of ancient civilizations, since that was the starting point. Now there are many types of drawing, among them the realistic drawing, whose level of representation of reality is the most faithful of all.
Now, straight to the point: what is realistic drawing? This type of drawing differs from the traditional 2D drawing by including many more details and handling a wide range of shades that allow it to reflect a line with 3D characteristics, representing much more faithfully the subject to be portrayed.
The goal of realism in drawing is to allow the viewer to feel that he or she is looking at the subject as it looks in reality, or as in a high quality photograph.because realistic drawing artists concentrate a lot on the correct use of lights and shadows, on the perfect representation of anatomical drawing proportions and clean strokes, they can achieve this effect after many hours of work.
Of course, if you want to stand out in this stream of visual art, it is important that you practice and do not get discouraged if the first time you do not get it as you expected. Realistic drawing is a style that takes time to master, but nothing is impossible!
Source: Pexels
what are the advantages of realistic drawing?
why do a realistic drawing and not stay in the traditional two-dimensional plane? Here is a list of some of the advantages of learning how to draw realistically:
Realistic graphics will allow you to explore many more shading and coloring techniques due to the complexity of its composition, so you will become a more complete artist.
Learning how to draw realistic will help you improve and diversify your skills to draw the structure of many objects and the anatomy of hundreds of living beings.
In addition, this style is gaining more importance in the art world, since, currently, realistic drawing is very popular in social networks and internet.
This style is not only limited to making a realistic drawing of the human figure, but also allows to bring to paper or canvas landscapes, animals and objects. Everything under a realistic stroke.
When you learn how to draw realistic, you also learn to observe and draw everything in greater detail. therefore, when you try other styles, such as cartoon or manga, it will be easier for you to create characters and give life to your scenarios.
the best part? The illusion it projects. We don’t know if a work with the realistic drawing style is a drawing, a photograph or if we are really seeing someone inside a piece of paper. incredible, isn’t it?
what are you waiting for? Keep reading and dare to learn how to draw realistically.
Source: Pexels
what are the characteristics of realistic drawing?
Now that you know what realism in drawing is and what are the advantages of learning how to draw realistically, you will surely wonder what are the characteristics that make realistic graphics stand out from the other types of drawing that exist.
That’s why, next, we will tell you what are the main characteristics of realistic drawing:
1. Perfect shading
Realism in drawing requires a more polished and detailed type of shading than that of a normal drawing.
The purpose of this is to achieve the illusion of three-dimensionality, which will bring the drawing closer to reality. Because, through the sensation of volume that shading gives, the image can look more faithful and authentic.
In other words, to learn how to draw realistically, you must first know how to shade a drawing and master the use of shadows and lights on paper. Don’t worry if it seems too difficult at first, it’s all a matter of practice and paying close attention when looking at your reference.
2. Smooth contours
In realistic graphics, outlines are usually very soft. Some artists even choose not to include them in their work. Instead, they take advantage of the variation of tonalities to create an illusion of contour much closer to reality.
In reality, in realistic drawing, contours are only used as part of the sketch to define proportions and differentiate each area, but when working on the drawing these contours are lost and blended, so that the drawing looks more natural.
Source: Pexels
3. Mixed colors
Usually artists who make realistic portraits use very natural colors, which allow them to perfectly reflect the color of the skin, hair or clothes of the person they are portraying.
Many times, it is necessary to combine different tones of the same color to achieve a gradient or to apply color theory to mix colors to achieve the right tonality .
4. Exact dimensions
For your realistic drawing to be a success, you must be careful to ensure that your portrait has the right anatomical proportions. the dimensions of your strokes on the canvas must be as accurate as possible, to faithfully reflect what you are drawing and that your drawing has the “real” look we are looking for.
what materials do you need to draw realism?
Well, now that you understand perfectly what realistic drawing is and what are the characteristics, do you feel a little more prepared to start drawing? We hope so, because it’s time to find out what are the art materials that will help you to create beautiful realistic drawings.
1. Graphite pencils
Graphite pencils will allow you to make good gradients to make your realistic drawing look with depth, because you can easily go from a light gray to a dark black, according to your stroke and the hardness of the pencil.
Experts recommend Lumograph and Faber Castell brands. But, you can use any brand of drawing pencils you have, as long as they are of different graduations (from H to B) so that you can draw realistically in a much easier way.
If you want to learn how to make a realistic color drawing, we recommend you to look for the best colored pencils for drawing and start practicing today.
Source: Pexels
2. 0.5mm mechanical pencils
if you already have a pencil, why do you need a mechanical pencil? For the thin strokes that every realistic portrait needs, of course. The mechanical pencil will help you to be more precise and achieve thin stro kes with a deep black color.
Source: Faber Castell
3. Bristle brushes
With this material you will be able to blur the graphite correctly and without smudging your drawing. this will allow you to integrate the texture of the realistic drawing and achieve a more homogeneous result
Other alternatives that also fulfill the function of blurring are: cotton and toilet paper. It’s a matter of trying what works best for you, isn’t it?
Source: Pinceis Rome
4. Eraser
did you know that in addition to its obvious function you can also apply glitter and volume to your realistic drawing with an eraser? That’s right, so your choice must be a good one. You can choose between the classic square erasers or those shaped like mechanical pencils. The latter will allow you to make thin lines to give shine more accurately than traditional erasers.
In addition, there are also moldable erasers, which have a texture similar to plasticine and will allow you to change the shape of the eraser to erase very small details or with a specific shape.
Source: Papelería Técnica
5. Pencil sharpener
Another essential for your realistic graphics is the pencil sharpener. Although you can use an ordinary school pencil sharpener or even a cutter to sharpen your pencils, among professional drawing materials, you can find many varieties of this device that will allow you to achieve better results and wear out your pencils more slowly.
Also, if you have graphite pencils of different thicknesses you can opt for pencil sharpener options include up to three thickness options for sharpening.
Source: Faber Castell
6. Realistic drawing paper
Finally, we must not forget that the paper is one of the most important elements when learning how to draw realistically, since it is the substrate on which your drawing will be captured and will determine to a great extent the final aspect of it.
You can choose between papers with different textures and thicknesses, depending on the effect you want to give to your realistic drawing. If you are going to draw, for example, a young face, you may prefer to use a smoother textured paper. On the other hand, for a more mature face, you can choose a coarser grain paper, which will help you to accentuate the texture of the drawing.
If you work with dry media, a paper with a thickness of up to 250 gr. will be ideal for you to make different layers of strokes in your realistic graphic. The most recommended brands are Canson and Fabriano.
Source: Pexels
how to make a realistic drawing
ready! Now you’re ready to start with this step-by-step tutorial on how to make a realistic drawing. Sharpen your pencils well, let’s get to work and start drawing!
1. Project planning
First of all, you must choose a model or reference from reality to represent in your realistic drawing. At the beginning, you should always work with a reference, but with time and practice you will see how you will be able to create realistic drawings from your imagination.
It is not always possible to work with a model or direct reference to draw realism, so you can use a photograph instead. Also, from a photograph you can get better references in terms of shadows, since they have a fixed lighting. Likewise, you can have a model that doesn’t change and remains the same every time you look at it, so your realistic drawing will have better results.
Source: Pexels
2. Patience
To be a master in realistic drawing techniques you will have to be patient and practice a lot. Also, because it is a type of drawing with a lot of detail, we recommend you not to rush the process and focus on each part, step by step.
Before you start drawing, be aware that this style of drawing takes time, so it is likely that you won’t finish in one day and that you will have to dedicate a lot of time to it if you want to achieve a good result.
However, if you want to improve your realistic drawing skills, do some exercises to draw daily and practice by repeating several times the parts that are hardest for you.
Don’t forget that learning how to draw realistic is not something you will achieve perfection overnight. You must be constant and strive to improve more and more, so don’t push yourself too much if it’s your first time.
3. Observation
The most important thing to be able to learn how to draw realistically, is to observe in a meticulous way even the smallest detail of everything we are interested in drawing. From the textures of the skin or fur, to the proportions and anatomy.
Start by taking a good look at your model or reference. If you are using a photo as a reference, you can trace over the contours of the subject a couple of times so that your hand memorizes the shapes you are going to recreate.
Source: Pexels
4. Sketches
Now start drawing the sketch of your realistic drawing. Do it smoothly, without marking too much the strokes so as not to damage the paper and to be able to erase easily if you make a mistake.
The sketch will be the base structure on which you will build your whole realistic drawing, so don’t concentrate on making too many details; just draw the necessary contours and use your reference to draw the proportions correctly.
Source: Pexels
5. Black and white
When you start learning how to draw realistically, it is best that you work in black and white, since working with colors is even more laborious and difficult if you haven’t fully understood how lights, shadows and color transitions work in the drawing.
Define roughly which are the darkest areas of your drawing and which are the brightest. based on this, decide which pencil will be ideal to work in each area.
Source: Pexels
6. Color Palettes
If you nevertheless want to try to create your first realistic color drawing, we recommend you to consider the following:
Define what will be the main colors you will use for your realistic drawing and set them aside to create your own color palette.
To recreate the exact shades in a realistic drawing, you will need to mix several colors and test them to see how they look before applying them to the drawing.
Don’t be afraid to mix unusual colors and leave the conventional behind. For example, skin and hair can have greenish, bluish and orange tones; look closely at your reference and choose colors wisely.
Source: Redbubble
7. Details
Refine the strokes of your sketch and then start to illuminate your realistic drawing little by little, without hurrying. Look closely at the details and go part by part.
You can start, for example, with the eyes or the lips and little by little add details until they look as real as possible. The more details you add, the more realistic the drawing will look.
You don’t want to color or shade everything at once. work layer by layer of color and fill in your drawing slowly, with smooth strokes. When you finish an area, hours may have passed, so you can rest and come back the next day or after a few hours, no pressure!
Source: Pexels
8. Texture
Try playing with white spaces and shadows to create visual effects that simulate textures. There are several techniques to make realistic textures of all kinds. Here’s a video from the Croquera Vanitas YouTube channel, where she teaches us how to draw realistic textures of 6 different materials with colored pencils.
try following her tutorial with graphite pencils and be amazed with the results!
9. Error correction
When you are about to finish your realistic drawing or every time you finish coloring one of the areas, takea break and step away from your drawing for a few minutes. Then look at it again and analyze its details.
By resting your eyes for a few minutes you will be able to notice some of the mistakes you have made and you will be able to correct or disguise them. You will also realize in which aspects you need to improve for your next realistic drawing.
remember that mistakes are not bad if you take advantage of them to learn from them and improve!
Source: Pexels
10. Practice
We already repeated it to you several times throughout this article, but we remind you once again in case it hasn’t been clear to you yet: if you want to learn how to draw in realistic style, you must practice and persevere until you reach the level of skill required to make your drawings look this amazing.
Although it may seem complicated, it’s just a matter of understanding how anatomy works and training your eyes to observe in detail. If you achieve these two things, drawing realism will become much easier and you will gradually get better and better at it.
To take your realistic drawings to the next level, we recommend that you practice the following:
Draw simple objects
To start with realistic art, it is advisable to begin with objects that you can portray without much effort. then, you can increase the difficulty.
For example: if your goal is to learn how to draw a realistic human face, start by learning how to draw the eyes, then the nose, then the mouth, and so on. In the end, you’ll just have to put all these elements together and you’ll see how it’s not so difficult after so much practice to draw each one.
Source: Pexels
Draw body parts
To master realistic drawing of every part of the human figure, you can start by filling every sheet or even an entire sketchbook with drawings of the body in different poses, different body types, or even drawings of particular body parts, such as hands or feet.
The more you study anatomy and practice drawing the structure of the body or the object you want to draw, the more dynamic your realistic drawings will be.
Source: Pexels
how to draw realistic eyes?
good! You already have the materials at hand and now you will know how to make a realistic drawing step by step.
aso 1
Start by drawing the basic shape of the realistic eyes, that is two curved lines that join each other, like an oval. On the inside, draw a large circle (iris) and inside this a smaller circle (pupil).
For the eyelids, draw a line parallel to the upper part of the eye that is a little farther away and a lower line that is closer to the eye.
Step 2
time to color! Don’t worry, you can also do it with the same pencil. Fill in the pupil with a dark shade. Then, on both sides of the pupil, inside the large circle, draw two circles that will simulate the light reflection.
The realistic portrait is full of details, remember that. You must now draw the lines of the iris in the circle, in a soft way, without pressing too much. Do not color the small circles that represent the points of light. Finally, blend for best results.
Step 3
Now, you should darken the lines of the eyelids to give the realistic drawing more depth. Add the eyelashes and draw the eyebrow above the eyelid in a soft way, without pressing the line too much.
Source: Pinterest
how to draw realistic lips?
The second important part to get to draw a face, is to learn how to draw realistic lips, here we will detail the process step by step.
You should always keep in mind who you are drawing, lips are very different in each person. Here we will teach you the general techniques:
Step 1
It is recommended to draw the lips on a gridded surface to have better precision on the basic shape. Start with a curved line upwards (upper lip) and a higher line that will mark the thickness of the lip.
Repeat this process for the lower lip.
Step 2
To give your lips the style of a realistic portrait you must include contrast. Add the lip lines that we all have and darken the areas towards the outside for depth.
Step 3
Start blurring with the help of the realistic drawing materials we recommended before and with your eraser give points of light through soft touches along the lips.
Source: PracticArte
how to draw a realistic face?
After learning how to draw realistic eyes and lips, it’s time for you to learn how to draw a realistic face.
Step 1
You should start by drawing the shape of the face, whether it’s circular, oval, etc. Then, little by little draw the guide lines. Start with a vertical line in the middle and then a horizontal line in the middle of the circle. Conclude this step with a downward curve from the middle of the circle, from here you will be guided to draw the eyebrows.
Step 2
Time for the details. Start by defining the eyebrows, the outline of the hair, the eyes, the nose and the lips. Remember to always respect the proportions so that the realistic drawing is faithful to your reference.
Step 3
You should use your graphite pencils to mark the dark areas and shadows of the person or image you are portraying. Then blur so that the look of your realistic graphic is not so stiff.
Step 4
Here you should add all the features of the face or body to make your realistic drawing look spectacular. If necessary, keep blurring until you get the result you want.
we have reached the end! We are sure that your realistic drawings will be spectacular after reading all this information. Remember that to be a professional you must practice a lot and don’t give up.