When sketching a person, decide which parts of the sketch are important and which are not--emphasize the important parts in your sketch and downplay the non-important parts.
A sketch is a loose drawing of a figure meant to capture a figure as it exists in a specific time and place. People are difficult subjects to sketch because of their irregular shape, and because, as humans, we are overly sensitive to errors that we see in images of ourselves. The best way to improve your ability to sketch a person is to practice drawing people often.
Instructions
1. Look at the figure you are sketching and quickly determine what you believe are the most interesting, important, beautiful or expressive features of that figure. This may be anything from the figure's eyes, the shape of the negative space between the arm and the body of the figure or a curl of hair over the forehead. You can determine these parts by analyzing which areas of your subject that your eyes are most drawn to. These are the parts that you must spend the most time attempting to render with accuracy and detail.
2. Look back and forth between the figure and your drawing. Do this quickly--many times, over and over again--as you draw. This will help you draw the parts you are trying to draw with accuracy. Try to capture the best parts of your drawing with a limited number of strong lines, rather than many uncertain lines.
3. Determine which parts of the drawing are not as important. In this case, "important" is relative. These may be parts of the subject that are less interesting, maybe not as beautiful or that may detract attention from the important parts of the drawing. This will be determined on a case by case basis, depending on which parts of your subject are your least favorite, and why. Spend less time rendering these parts of the drawing, devoting most of your time to the key parts of your drawing, as you determined them in step 1.
4. Add drama to the sketch by increasing the contrast between areas of light and dark. Make shadows darker by using softer pencils, or by pressing harder with your pencil. Make highlights lighter by erasing at areas of the sketch meant to be the lightest.
5. Turn the sketch upside down. Sometimes this reveals mistakes or weak areas in the drawing. Make changes as necessary--either while the drawing is still upside down, or by turning the drawing right side up and then making changes.
6. Make deliberate choices regarding the structure of your sketch. Don't let the figure in the sketch fade uselessly into the background--make the structure of the figure work on the picture plane. For example, the temptation when drawing a figure's face may be to the stop the figure below the neck, without bringing the lines of the figure to the bottom of the picture plane. Draw the structure of the figure all the way down to the bottom of the picture plane, unless there is a specific good reason not to.
