Realistic Portrait with Coloured Pencils by Néstor Canavarro (Retrato realista con lápices de colores – Spanish, Eng sub)

Learn to illustrate by mastering photography’s volumes, lights, and shadows.
With a career of more than 30 years as a graphic designer and making his debut as a cartoonist since he learned to hold a pencil, Néstor Canavarro has earned the title of master of realistic drawing with colored pencils. Throughout his career, he has published his work in fields as diverse as publishing, advertising, and the textile industry; Today, he observes the world and its details and captures them on paper using a technique that, although it imitates photography, is carried out in a much more traditional way.

In this course, Néstor will teach you how to use colored pencils to draw hyper-realistic portraits with a high degree of detail. You will discover some technical aspects of this type o illustration, learning to work with different materials and application modes, paying special atparticulartention to each volume, light, and shadow reflected in the human anatomy.

What will you learn in this online course?
You will start by getting to know Néstor’s work, which will also tell you about his influences and the artists who most inspire him.

Afterward, he will tell you about the materials, the types of pencils and paper. He will introduce you to the technique of illustration with colored pencils, explaining to you how he can apply it to obtain different results.

He will teach you to face the typical shapes and folds of the face, observe each of these parts, and learn to replicate them with total fidelity and detail on paper. Néstor will explain how to draw the set of elements that make up a face: lips, eyes, skin, and hair… respecting and imitating the texture of each one of them.

Finally, applying everything learned during the lessons, you will face your first realistic portrait with colored pencils. Néstor has decided to be inspired by a photo by Robert De Niro, but you can choose the image of the person you feel most comfortable portraying.

What is the course project?
Taking a photograph as a reference, you will create a realistic portrait using only colored pencils.

Who is this online course aimed at?
Illustrators, sketchers, designers, and generally, any person interested in developing their drawing style towards a more practical technique.

Requirements and materials
I think it is best to have previous knowledge of drawing. About the materials, you will need colored pencils, fine-grain drawing paper weighing at least 150g, breadcrumbs, and graphite pencils.