Contour Courage and Magic Moments: Draw a Head in the Clouds with Dylan Sara
Draw an ink portrait with courageous lines and partly-cloudy whimsy.
"Filling in the shadows is, for me, a magical moment where the portrait starts to sing," says artist Dylan Sara.
In this lesson (38 mins), Dylan demonstrates how to reach that point while drawing a portrait whose clear shadow shapes and "wonderful happy face" provide a perfect roadmap for high-contrast ink work.
Dylan’s technique centers on the bold use of calligraphy pens, embracing the "fat and fine" line variation that gives a drawing graphic life. In this lesson, you will explore:
- The Power of the Straight Line: Dylan often abandons broken marks for long, continuous shadow lines that can pull all the way from the nose to the collar, creating a unified sense of structure.
- Building a Shadow Framework: Learn to "courageously" mark the borders of hard-edged shadows before filling them in with deliberate hatching to create an illusion of form on a two-dimensional surface.
- Landmark Mapping: Use shadow shapes as orientation points, constantly checking how the corner of a mouth or a nostril relates to the angles of the shadows to find a true likeness.
- Squinting for Simplicity: Discover how "squinting down" acts as a natural filter, allowing you to merge complex details—like the neck and collar—into single, manageable shapes.
By interpreting the background cloud as a strong graphic element, Dylan shows how to use "fat, fun cloud lines" to frame the portrait and tie the entire composition together.
Ready to draw a head in the clouds with Dylan? Let's get started!
