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# A Practice Portrait
- URL: https://keithhayden.net/a-practice-portrait/
- Published: 2025-05-11T03:05:54.000Z
- Updated: 2025-05-11T03:05:54.000Z
- Author: Keith Hayden
- Tags: art

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/18/bf/18bf29db-1cec-4857-a9dc-e2e94a86d2bf/content/images/2025/05/Drawing---Day-7---Demo-Portrait--3--1.jpg)

My first ever hand-drawn portrait

This was the advanced exercise in my drawing course (even though I'm far from an advanced student.)

Simplifying a portrait into basic shapes, then 5 color values was the goal of the exercise.

I learned a lot about proportion, shading, and why it's best to hold back on certain artistic decisions.

With a more complex drawing like this, good shapes are more important than rendering for readability of the picture.

See how it came together in my sketchbook.

[View Sketchbook](https://keithhayden.net/drawing-100/)