Positively Picasso Portraits

Remember Cyndi Lauper’s song, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun?”  Well, I have to say that I had FUN yesterday creating several zany portraits – Picasso style!

I started by finding four different reference photos of faces in a magazine or newspaper for each portrait.  I chose to use soft vine charcoal but you could use any drawing material.

Using my first photo, I drew the person’s head shape and hair in my sketchbook.  I added the eyes and nose from the second photo.  From the third photo, the mouth and referencing the forth photo for the hands.

For this portrait, I used Cyndi Lauper’s head shape and hair and Bob Costas hand.  The other features were from people I didn’t know in a magazine.

I exaggerated the ears and hair a little…  This is the FUN part!  You don’t have to make the features all the same size or symmetrical like Picasso often did in his portraits.  And by smearing the charcoal I added some value to the faces which made them more interesting.

I had fun with the man’s glasses and his hands in this one:

And this last one is my favorite – I had fun with her eyelashes and hands:

I learned this exercise from Carla Sonheim.  I hope you give it a try too.  🙂

Happy Drawing!!!  😉