Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Learn How to Draw Anyone You’d Like

Learn to draw facial features, characters, and people! In bite-sized lessons, this portrait drawing course will break down one of the most complex subjects, the human face, into something simple and approachable.

with Melissa de Nobrega
Buy $34.95
  • Beginner
  • 4.6 (19 Reviews)
  • 1.7 hours
  • Closed Captioning
Explore the human face in a step-by-step curriculum

Break down the most complex subject, the human face, into something approachable with in-depth video lessons, complete instruction, and tips & tricks every step of the way. It’s an enjoyable learning experience that will walk you through the entire drawing process, from start to finish, of your very own portrait.

  • Getting Started
  • Supplies Checklist
  • Understanding Skull Structure
  • Learning Facial Muscles
  • Finding Facial Landmarks
  • Anatomy Cheatsheet
  • Laying Facial Guidelines
  • Facial Proportions Cheatsheet
  • Creating Sketch Guidelines
  • Sketching Facial Contours
  • Completing the Portrait
  • What's Next?
Are you ready to learn to draw facial features, characters, and people?
Buy $34.95
Meet your instructor Melissa. Graphic Designer and Illustrator .

Melissa de Nobrega has been a graphic designer and illustrator for nearly 8 years. She has always maintained a strong love for traditional art, and makes it her personal endeavor to become a better artist herself by honing her ability to draw and paint both realistic and stylized portraits. It was back in 2016 when she decided to try her hand at teaching her very first online illustration class. The unexpected success of that first class, and the overwhelming positive response from its students, fueled her desire to continue teaching. As Melissa has deep a deep fascination for portraiture and human autonomy, many of her classes tend to have a strong focus on these subjects.

I created this course to help aspiring artists learn the basics of a very popular theme in art – portraiture! Nailing the likeness of a subject is a struggle many artists, not just beginners, are familiar with.

My goal is to help students overcome this challenge by laying down a foundation of knowledge (aka anatomy) and then building on top of that by introducing them to a simple process I like to use when drawing.

My hope is that by the end of this course, students walk away feeling confident and ready to tackle their next portraiture project.

Learn How to Draw Anyone You’d Like

Learn to draw facial features, characters, and people! In bite-sized lessons, this portrait drawing course will break down one of the most complex subjects, the human face, into something simple and approachable.

  • Learn the basics of anatomy
  • Perfect for beginners
  • Create your very own portrait
Portrait Drawing for Beginners: Learn How to Draw Anyone You’d Like
with Melissa de Nobrega

$34.95

Buy $34.95
Drawing the human face can seem daunting, but it’s really not that bad once you get to know the basics.
Join me in my course and I’ll guide you through a simple process I like to use to nail the likeness and proportions of any subject!

Melissa de Nobrega
Reviews
5 star rating

Awesome class!

Christophe Mamessier

The anatomy part was very instructive. I liked how simple it remained, while giving a good understanding of the human's face features. Another excellent part was to be able to follow along with the teacher. I was trying on my own first, and then c...

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The anatomy part was very instructive. I liked how simple it remained, while giving a good understanding of the human's face features. Another excellent part was to be able to follow along with the teacher. I was trying on my own first, and then comparing with what the teacher was doing. It helped me pinpoint what I was doing wrong. One caveat was that more than a few pieces of advice were geared toward people using digital screens. It does not prevent from doing any of the videos, but it makes it harder to apply them when using pen and paper.

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5 star rating

Very Detailed

Angela Fink

I liked that we did not keep going on one feature and get stuck in it, but went on to another and came back.

I liked that we did not keep going on one feature and get stuck in it, but went on to another and came back.

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5 star rating

Portraiture

Janet E Leishman

The artist gave a reminder to me about a forgotten asset to drawing Anatomy. Have a book or two to help guide through each step.Patience is very important

The artist gave a reminder to me about a forgotten asset to drawing Anatomy. Have a book or two to help guide through each step.Patience is very important

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5 star rating

A nice little course

Lyn Rycroft

Some great tips on anatomy, and very interesting to watch the evolution of a drawing in real time.

Some great tips on anatomy, and very interesting to watch the evolution of a drawing in real time.

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5 star rating

Excellent Class!

Kim Zrust

The step by step process with such a soft, gentle spoken voice and instruction is very helpful.

The step by step process with such a soft, gentle spoken voice and instruction is very helpful.

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Are you still on the fence?
Frequently Asked Questions

Yes! This course was made with beginners and aspiring artists in mind. No previous knowledge or courses are needed to enjoy this lesson. If you’re an aspiring artist and love drawing facial features, characters, and people, then this portraiture course was made for you!

No! One of the most complex subjects is the human face. But when we break it down into something simple and approachable, you will soon learn to construct a head and face by scratch.

  1. Get familiar with the key landmarks of the head and ideal proportions of the face..
  2. Set up a guideline grid to start a portrait drawing using basic shapes and lines.
  3. Practice, Practice, Practice. 

There are so many different tools to use, whether they are traditional or digital or both, use the tools of your choice. Here are a few of my favorite drawing tools that I would recommend trying out: 

- Strathmore Series 400 Sketchbook 

- Prismacolor Premier Graphite Drawing Pencils - 18 Piece Set 

- Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment Pen 

- iPad & Procreate (For more on Procreate)

*This page may include affiliate links. If you make a purchase, My Modern Met Academy may earn an affiliate commission. Please read our disclosure for more info.

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