Pencil Portrait - Step 10

I focus on drawing the face area on the left eye. Then I continue moving downwards to the cheek and beside the mouth.

Pencil Portrait - Step 9

 As you can see, drawing facial features realistically makes the portrait come lifelike.

After finished drawing the eyes, the nose, the mouth, and the ear, I started to add shading on the face with 2H and 2B pencil. I always start to draw from the skin around the left eye. While shading half way, I also observe some details to draw.

Pencil Portrait - Step 8

After finished drawing the mouth, I then continue to add shading on both side of the ears with 2B pencil. I start by drawing from the left ear, then only to right side of the ear.

Pencil Portrait - Step 7

After that, I go on to draw the mouth and the teeth with 2H and 2B pencil. I start by drawing the upper lips. Then I draw the teeth individually from left to right. And lastly, I draw the lower lips with some highlights on it.

Pencil Portrait - Step 6

Once I’ve finished drawing both the eyes, I then add shading on the nose with 2B pencil starting from top of the nose bridge to bottom of nose bridge. Then I draw left side of the nose, right side of the nose. And lastly, I draw the ball of the nose in front with the highlight on it. I also observe some details to be added on nose.

Pencil Portrait - Step 5

  After that, I go on to draw the right eye with the same steps of drawing the left eye.

Pencil Portrait - Step 4

After that, I go on to draw the right eye with the same steps of drawing the left eye.

Pencil Portrait - Step 3

Please note that this isn’t a step-by-step guide on drawing a pencil portrait, but more about how and which steps I go first when I draw a realistic pencil portrait.
At first, I will start to draw outline of the facial features, hair, and head with a 2H pencil. I always put a blank and clean paper underneath my hand so that it won’t dirty my drawing.
Then, I start to draw the eyebrow of the left eye. After finished drawing the eyebrow, I go on drawing the iris with a 5B pencil, then only I start to draw from upper eyelid to lower eyelid and the skin under the left eye with 2B pencil. After finished drawing everything, I draw the eyelashes with a 5B pencil.

Pencil Portrait - Step 2

The pencil portrait below is the example that I demonstrate for advanced students by shading on the entire face plus adding more details:

I’m going to show you how I draw a realistic pencil portrait for the reference picture in the next page.

How I Draw A Realistic Pencil Portrait - Start

 I’m going to show you how I draw a realistic pencil portrait.  Many people have their own way of drawing pencil portrait.  Some of them start by drawing from top to bottom, some start by drawing from left to right… for me, I have two slightly different ways to start when I’m teaching my students to draw.
For teaching beginners in drawing pencil portraits, I will demonstrate by drawing the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ear, the hair, then only the face. This is because it’s easier for beginners to focus on just one area to another. Plus, I won’t ask beginners to add shading on the entire face because it will become very complicated that’s why I draw the hair before the face.
For teaching advanced students in drawing pencil portraits, I will still demonstrate by drawing the eyes, the nose, the mouth, the ear, the face, and lastly the hair. The reason that I draw the face first is because for showing advanced students in drawing, I fill up the entire face with shading. It’s easier to draw the hair later on.
The pencil portrait below is the example that I demonstrate for beginners without shading on the entire face: