Getting Started with Sam
So, I figured I’d try my hand at drawing Sam Houston. You know, he’s got one of those faces that looks like it has a story to tell. I always find those kinds of portraits more interesting to work on. Anyway, the first thing I had to do was actually find some good pictures of the man. Can’t draw someone from memory if you ain’t got a photographic one, and I sure don’t.
Hunting for the Right Look
Fired up my browser and just typed in his name. Man, there are a lot of images out there. Some old paintings, some statues, a few of those old-timey photographs. I was looking for something clear, something that really showed his features without too much shadow or weird angles. Spent a good bit of time just scrolling, clicking, and comparing. Finally settled on a couple of classic portraits that I thought gave a good sense of him. You gotta get a good reference, or you’re just making things harder on yourself from the get-go.
Pencils Out, Here We Go
Alright, so I got my sketchbook, a couple of pencils – nothing fancy, usually just a standard HB and maybe a 2B for some darker lines later. I always start super light. Just trying to get the basic shapes down. The tilt of the head, the general outline of his hair, where his shoulders would be. It’s all about proportions at this stage. If you get the head too big or the eyes too close, it’s gonna look weird, no matter how good the details are later. So, I was just lightly sketching, looking back and forth between my paper and the reference pics. Made a few false starts, erased a bit, but that’s just part of it.
Getting into the Nitty-Gritty
Once I had a rough outline that didn’t look too lopsided, I started to actually define his features. I usually start with the eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and I reckon that’s true for drawings too. If the eyes are off, the whole thing feels dead. So, I took my time there. Then moved on to his nose, which was pretty prominent, and then his mouth. Sam Houston had a kind of stern but thoughtful look in the pictures I chose, so I tried to capture that. His hair and sideburns also needed some attention to make him recognizable. I wasn’t going for a photograph, just a decent sketch, you know?
- Blocked in the general head shape first.
- Lightly marked where the eyes, nose, and lips should sit.
- Spent extra time on the eyes – they’re key.
- Worked on shaping his nose and mouth to match the references.
- Sketched in his distinctive hairstyle and a bit of his old-fashioned collar.
Adding Some Depth and Shadows
A drawing without any shading just looks flat, like a coloring book page before you get to it. So, the next step was to start adding some shadows. This is where I switched to a slightly softer pencil, maybe that 2B. Started to build up the darker areas – under his brow, the shadows on his cheeks, under his chin. I try to do this in layers, not go too dark all at once. You can always add more pencil, but it’s a pain to erase if you go overboard. I remember having a bit of trouble with the shadows around his cheekbones, trying to give his face that strong, weathered look without making him look too much like a skull. Used my finger a bit to smudge and soften some areas, though some folks say you shouldn’t do that. It works for me sometimes.
The Final Look-Over
After messing around with shading for a while, I propped the sketchbook up and took a few steps back. It’s good to get a different perspective. Sometimes you’re too close to it and can’t see your own mistakes. I noticed one eye was a tiny bit higher than the other, so I tweaked that. Darkened a few lines here and there to make things pop a bit more. You can fiddle with a drawing forever, really. But at some point, you just gotta say, ‘Okay, that’s good enough for today.’ It wasn’t perfect, never is, but I felt like I captured a bit of Sam Houston’s character. And it was a good way to spend an afternoon, just sketching away. Definitely learned a few things for the next time.
