1. Using A Hard Grade Of Pencil
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If you have no very dark shadows and the whole picture is rather pale, check your pencil. Are you using a Number two pencil? These are too hard to draw with. They are good for light shading though. Get a B, 2B and 4B for darker values.
2. Using Flash in Portrait Photography
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This is the major cause of beginner drawing problems. Using flash photography takes away the features, giving you nothing to work with. When the person is facing you, it is very hard to see the modeling of his or her face, as the perspective vanishes behind their head, and add a cheesy snapshot grin and you make life very hard! Have the person turning slightly to one side so you can model their face, with natural lighting to give good skintones, and a natural expression to show their real personality.
3. Problems With Head Proportions
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Because of the way we focus on a person's features, we usually draw them too big and squash the rest of the head. Does your drawing look like the forehead is too small, or the back of the head is flat? Learn about the correct head proportions
4. Facial Features Not Aligned
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Because we are used to looking at a person straight-on, we naturally try to make their features look level when we draw them. If their head is on an angle, this results in strange distortions in the picture. Sketch guidelines first to ensure that the features are on the same angle as the rest of the face.
5. Drawing Pets From Human Eye Level
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When you take a photograph standing up, you are looking down at your pet. They have to look up, and you end up with their head seeming much bigger than their body, and a rather strage expression on their face. Have someone distract them so they aren't staring down the camera, and squat down so the camera is at their head level, and you'll get a much better reference photo.
6. Being Afraid to Draw Black
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Often when shading, the shadows don't go past dark gray. If your value range is restricted to in some cases half what it ought to be, you are limiting the modelling and depth in your drawing. Put a piece of black paper at the corner of your drawing, and don't be afraid to go dark. Really dark.