# Realistic Portraits with Pen | Domestika

> A course by Joaquín Rodríguez · Illustration · Beginner
> 18 lessons (4h 15m) · 100% of the 180 student ratings are positive

Imagine being able to represent the essence of a human being with a tool as common and simple as a pen. With the help of graphic artist Joaquín Rodríguez, whose work has been exhibited in galleries throughout Europe, you can learn how to create powerful portraits full of personality and style.

In this course, discover how to create a portrait with a pen, inspired by a photo and made with elements that are both geometrically abstract and hyper realistic. Joaquín guides you through all the steps, teaching you techniques for developing your drawing skills and giving your work life and movement.

## Who is this online course for?

Anyone interested in drawing who wants to learn new techniques for using a ballpoint pen as a creative tool.

## What is this course's project?

Using a photograph as a reference, draw a portrait with a pen by combining geometric shapes and hyper realistic elements. Then, give your portrait its final touches digitally in Adobe Photoshop.

## Requirements and materials

Some basic drawing skills are recommended, but are not necessary.

The materials you need include: papers of various weights, pencils, tracing paper, a ruler, a pen, tape, a compass, a camera or scanner, and a computer with Adobe Photoshop installed for editing your drawing digitally.

## Content

### Introduction

In this first unit I will introduce myself and tell you what my main influences have been. I will also explain how we will apply all these ideas and materialize them in a final project where we will combine figure and formal composition with abstract elements.

### Preparation

In this unit we will see what materials you will need to make your portrait and we will make a base drawing that we will leave ready before entering the pen phase.

### Production

We enter fully into the phase in which we bring our drawing to life and put the ballpoint pen technique into practice.

### Postproduction

We have finished our drawing. Now I will tell you some more steps to be able to digitize it and get a file ready to print.

## Audio and subtitles

**Audio:** Spanish, English

**Subtitles:** Spanish, English, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Polish, Dutch, Turkish, ro, id

[Realistic Portraits with Pen](https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/1688-realistic-portraits-with-pen)