And another portrait by David

DAVID: What can be more relaxing than sketching in the cool of the morning with a loaf in the oven?No grids or filters, but regular checks for accuracy after the marks are made.

Ear is too small, but I enjoyed doing it.

Really interesting head, showing that the eyes are not always half way between vertex and chin.

JM: Accuracy may not always be the aim: a portrait could be accurate yet devoid of life. In this case your drawing is alive and characterful., which seems the most important thing.

I’m not a fan of grids etc or ‘rules’ about eyes being halfway-up or whatever. If accuracy is the aim, you’re right about the constant checks. Flicking your eye to and fro between subject and drawing and spotting the discrepancies.

It’s about sharpening your judgment of relative positioning, which is about seeing angles and distances. So in this case look at the angle of the ear as well as the size. And the forehead?

But you are also hoping to replicate expression: see how you have raised his right eyelid just a touch, and its enough to change his expression.

Have a good look at this mouth and compare it to your drawing. The significant line is always the one between the lips, and it’s rarely a straight line. If you define the lips with line it’s useful to bear in mind that unless he’s wearing lipstick the bottom line of the lower lip usually peters out before it reaches the corner of the mouth.

In fact the bottom of the lip is much more likely to be defined by shadow than by a line. Certainly in this case, where the undershadow is short and – unusually – detached from the edge of the lip. These exact details are the things that give the face individuality. We don’t see the rest of the body so precisely.