How to Draw Harriet Tubman, Harriet Tubman

Artist: catlucker / February 5, 2013
How to Draw Harriet Tubman, Harriet Tubman

Step 1.


Start with this oval by drawing it lightly with a No. 2 pencil or my recommended 0.7mm mechanical pencil.

Step 2.


Draw the bisecting line to symmetrically place Harriet Tubman's features.

Step 3.


In this step, draw the crescent shape for her hairline and head mass.

Step 4.


These lines are great guides to draw a. the eyebrows, b. the eyes, c. the nose, and last d. the mouth. Observe closely where her features appear on the guidelines then draw them onto your guidelines as we continue the steps.

Step 5.


Now sketch in the eyebrows and eyes.

Step 6.


Now draw in her nose, smile lines, and mouth.

Step 7.


Pay attention to the placement of her ear, jawline, chin, and neck and how they relate to the guidelines. Now draw them in.

Step 8.


Draw in her hair. Make sure you add the bumpy part of her hair at the top and include the part in her hair. I'll have a step later on that helps with hairlines.

Step 9.


Sketch in the top of her blouse. If you haven't already, you can erase your guidelines.

Step 10.


I made this line drawing especially for you if you don't want to do the pencil shading and blending part. Otherwise, let us continue to the pencil drawing part.

Step 11.


I didn't want to skip this. The first picture shows how to hold your pencil for Overhand (great for writing & details) and Underhand (great for shading large areas in wide strokes). You can practice tone shading and take it a step further with the To   

Step 12.


Here is how the tools look. I used the 0.7mm 2B mechanical pencil, 9B pencil, tissue, and the blending stump

Step 13.


Best thing you can do when drawing hair is to establish the general shape then work in the main strands of hair by holding your pencil at a 45 degree angle for stroking and coverage. Then, as in the third picture, you can work in more details. But he   

Step 14.


I used a diagonal sketching direction to shade her face with a 9B pencil very lightly. I actually used the pencil on it's side as in step 11 for a wider swath (coverage). The 0.7mm mech pencil was used for details such as refining the eyes, lips, and   

Step 15.


It's amazing how this picture still looks finished after blending with a tissue. Still, I did not randomly rub over her eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth and hair. Another thing, I don't draw small. I draw on an A4 (or 8-1/2 by 11) paper size (like typing    

Step 16.


Here is the finished product. The darkness in her hair (all over), shadows on her face ), and neck are darkened with the 9B Graphite Pencil. Adding the background and blending it makes this contrast rich and bold from adversities much like Harriet Tu   

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Details

Artist: catlucker
Date Added: February 5, 2013
Steps: 16
Favorited: 2 (view)
Views: 0 in last hour, 8 in last day, 30 in last week, 36738 total
Comments: 0
Tags: draw famous people, draw people, how to draw real people
Description: This tutorial is in honor of Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross, 1820 - March 10, 1913) celebrating Black History Month. For a more accurate historical account these notes are from Wikipedia. She was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. Born into slavery, Tubman escaped and subsequently made more than thirteen missions to resuce more than 70 slaves using the network of antislavery activists and safe houses known as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the post-war era struggled for women's suffrage. As a child in Dorchester County, Maryland, Tubman was beaten by masters to whom she was hired out. Early in her life, she suffered a severe head wound when hit by a heavy metal weight. The injury caused disabling seizures, narcoleptic attacks, headaches, and powerful visionary and dream experiences, which occurred throughout her life. A devout Christian, Tubman ascribed the visions and vivid dreams to revelations from God. *** What an amazing woman to have survived and prevail all that! And she didn't lose one slave during those Underground Railroad escapes! I shiver to think about it. Let me know what you think of this tut by commenting, faving or clicking on "Love It"! Peace n love to ya!

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