How to Draw Dr Martin Luther King Jr Real Easy

Goodness I had trouble with this one! doing a portrait is hared enough, but talking and explaining how to do it at the same time is harder. Making is easy to copy and produce harder still.

I was having real trouble working out proportions when I noticed something strange about his moustache. I then look through loads of photographs and came to the conclusion that Dr King’s face must have been noticeably asymmetrical. It was had to see as all his portraits are taken from his left side, masking the difference.

I couldn’t find one face-on portrait – I imagine that his public image was carefully managed – a publicity photo is different from a mugshot. But in making a drawing easy, a mugshot is best. Quarter turn is much harder and sometime a profile even harder still.

I’m not sure this is a great likeness, but the elements are correct and I hope they help to both draw Dr Kings for school projects and tech a little about drawing faces in general.

I counted up – I drew him 43 times in practice – none of my drawings look like him, but have an essence of him – all 43 are people you feel you could meet in the street though.

We get so used to one or two photographs of a person, that become icons. If you met the person, you might think they look quite different to the public image. I’ve certainly found that in my time.

 

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