How to

CREATE A
PERFECT
PORTRAIT
Drawing, Scanning and Refining
Portraiture Step by Step - Part 1 of 2
by Miss Led

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

With my illustrations I want to create beauty

thats arresting and captivatingly strong.
- Miss Led

2015 Wacom

02

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

Miss Leds studio

2015 Wacom

03

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

Table of Contents

01

2015 Wacom

How to draw a
FACE with Graphite

02

How to use
TRACING PAPER

00

Tutorial
INTRODUCTION

03

How to scan and

clean a PORTRAIT

04

About the
ARTIST

04

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

Contents

CREATE MORE PORTRAITURE

This eBook is your step-by-step guide to
- Drawing portraits with graphite
- Using tracing paper for fine
line work

- Scanning your portrait and

refining it digitally

While working on your portrait,

you will also learn how the London-based illustrator and live artist
Miss Led goes about when creating
her own artwork. Use this eBook as
a guide to portraiture, to enhance
your workflow as an artist, or as

2015 Wacom

a treasure chest filled with tips on

how to refine images digitally. But
most of all, use it to get inspired
and create more.
All digital work shown in this eBook
was carried out with the Wacom
pen tablet Intuos Pro, using Adobe
Photoshop. Visit the Wacom website to find out how to enhance your
workflow and efficiency as an artist using modern digital technology:
Our pens and tablets open up new
possibilities for speed and precision
and give you more freedom to experiment.

Miss Led
Illustrator
missled.co.uk

05

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

Colorize a Portrait Photo
Contents

2015 Wacom

06

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

How to Draw a Face with Graphite

1. Choose a Reference:
Pick a digital reference image for your
work: Open the image in Photoshop and
use the option Image > Adjustments
to set it to Equalize. This will create a
clearer contrast when printing the image
so you get to see light and shade better. I find this option especially useful for
drapery and hair.

2. Draw First Lines:

Now look at the shape of the face on
your reference image to guide you when
creating your very first lines with graphite on paper. The face is normally an
oval shape. Some will be rounder and
others thinner.

2015 Wacom

Dont worry too much about the first

lines theyre just guides. You can
reshape them as you go along.

07

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

3. Understand Relationships:
Study the curve of the face, then create
guidelines across the oval shape fitting
that curve. You will see that the lines cut
across the oval shape in equal sections.
Start adding smaller guides, always
keeping in mind the size and shape relationships between the different areas
on the face.
Look closely: The sides of the nose, for
example, are generally in line with the
inner corners of the eyes. Now look at
the spot where the mouth is in line with
the nose. Pay attention to the distances
above and below all of these features.

4. Add Depth:

You can utilize a pencil to measure

up for this exercise if you wish.

Start adding more pencil marks to the

features you wish to emphasize. In this
portrait were focusing on the areas that
specifically frame or shape the face and
head. Notice the area around the eyes
and see the darkness added in the inside of the mouth where it separates.

2015 Wacom

08

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

Watch how to start drawing with basic guides

2015 Wacom

09

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

5. Vary Line Weights:

When working on the face, keep moving
around the different sections and always look back at the reference image.
Notice the balance of the pencil line and
weight. Draw what you see, not what
you think you see.
After adding dense dark details in the
pupils as well as eyeliner, check out
the heaviness in the bottom strands of
hair, which are used to frame the face.
To create a middleweight impression on
the face, use very faint hatching. This
can be seen around the eyes.
Be patient and keep lines very light,
as you layer up slowly.

What inspires Miss Led?

2015 Wacom

10

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

How to Use Tracing Paper

1. Tracing Paper and Alternatives:
Now that were happy with the portrait on paper, we want to move on to
the next step. And we want to do this
without disturbing any of the portrait
lines created. Working with tracing paper is the analog version of layers in
Photoshop. Of course you can also do
all these steps digitally already, depending on your workflow. Laying a sheet of
tracing paper over your portrait protects
your lines and allows you to create compositional shapes and marks that will
then lead you in the direction of choosing elements.

2. Compositional Lines and Shapes:

Another way of creating layers is to

use a light box, or even draw on a
printed version of your portrait. But
the durability of the tracing paper
is really helpful for this kind of
experimentation.

2015 Wacom

I make compositional lines to work out

where and how I want to add supporting
elements to my portraiture. When adding elements its good to have a basic
framework, a clear rule on where your
supporting drawings are supposed to
work together.

11

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

3. Extend the Portrait Curves:

By creating a circle that connects at the
top of the portrait where the hair fades
out and at the bottom of the clothing,
you can introduce a new framework.
From the outside of my guideline circle I
can cut across and down, thus splitting
the circle. Here is where I add more linear marks. To achieve an overall sense
of depth to the setting I draw a mountain. On another sheet of tracing paper
I add rough circles and lines that later
become blossoms, adding another layer
of depth.

Dont worry too much about

finalizing all these shapes right now,
well do that digitally later.

2015 Wacom

12

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

How to Scan and Clean Your Portrait

1. High Resolution Scan:
When scanning in your drawings, make
sure that you have your resolution set to
at least 300 dpi.

2. Adjust White:
After scanning your drawings, open your
saved portrait document in Photoshop.
You want your lines to sit on white paper. Go to Image > Adjustments > Selective Color. Take as much white out of
the black color option as you can without losing line quality.

How does Miss Led feel

when working?

2015 Wacom

13

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

3. Use Channels:
Go into your pencil layer, select Channels
and then the dotted circle. Look at your
image in each of the layer colors to see
where your line work looks the clearest.
Now inverse the selection by pressing
Cmd + I/Ctrl + I so select just the lines.
Select Cmd + C/Ctrl + C then Cmd +
V/Ctrl + V to copy and paste only the
lines to another layer. Now create even
another layer and move it underneath
your line layer. Fill it by pressing Cmd/
Ctrl and Delete to create a background
layer where you can see your line work.

4. Clean and Manipulate:

Use the Magic Wand tool and set Tolerance to 1 or 2. Now clean up any
scratches or blemishes, an eraser can
be used afterwards.

2015 Wacom

14

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

DRAWING, SCANNING AND REFINING PORTRAITURE STEP BY STEP
Contents

Watch how to use Warp to transform a drawing

2015 Wacom

15

CREATE A PERFECT PORTRAIT

Contents

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artist and illustrator Joanna Henly,
aka Miss Led, lives and works in
East London, United Kingdom. Obsessed with clean lines, curvature
and arresting portraiture, she is
perpetually exploring the scope of
drawn and painted imagery. Her
inspirations scale the Pre Raphaelites, Jamie Hewlett, Beardsley,
fashion photography, Alexander
McQueen and 90s street art. With
international clients in publishing,
design, advertising and new media,
Miss Led has illustrated anything
from book covers to advertising
campaigns, covered walls in highend boutiques and luxury properties, and live-painted during several
events all over Europe in front of
thousands of people. Her canvases

2015 Wacom

include cars, barges and even department store windows. Clients

range from Lufthansa Airlines and
The National Trust to Ted Baker,
Nike, Reebok, Diesel and Selfridges
London.

To find out more about her work vist:

www.missled.co.uk
facebook.com/missledstudio
@missledster

16

LEARN MORE
2015 Wacom Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Wacom and the respective logo are registered trademarks of Wacom Co., Ltd. All other company names and product names are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.

Please be aware that we have put a lot of work and

effort into designing and developing this e-Book. Please
note that Wacom retains all copyrights relating to this
e-book and its content. While you are free to use all that
you have learnt from this e-book, you are prohibited
from redistributing or selling the e-book or its content,
posting it on a website for download or sharing it on
social networks.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Creative Cloud and the Creative Cloud logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United
States and/or other countries.

You can find more information at www.wacom.com