Today, YOU will be drawing President Barack Obama- So grab a pencil and some paper. This video will show you step by step how to draw President Obama. Each step will be shown in two second intervals. Pause each step, as you need to or download a print version of this lesson from my website, https://merrillk.com. Feel free to save a copy to your computer and print it. Give it a try. I think that you are going to surprise yourself! Use your eraser if its TIME FOR A CHANGE. Good luck!- Merrill Kazanjian
Step 1: Be sure that your paper is situated like mine (portrait style). Draw the two triangular shapes that you see. Notice the placement of these shapes, in relation to the four borders of the paper.
Step 2: Make the U Shape
Step 3: Make the 2 lines to form the collar.
Step 4: Make the tie shape. It resembles an hourglass.
Step 5: Make another U shape for the chin. Notice that I extended the neck a bit.
Step 6: Extend the U shape.
Step 7: Add the shape which looks like a cross between the letters "U" and "V".
Step 8: Add the lines which look like parentheses ( ).
Step 9: Carefully place the dots which will mark the corners of the mouth.
Step 10: Add the shape for the upper lip. Its triangular with an inverted triangle at the top.
Step 11: Complete the mouth shape by adding a banana shape for the bottom lip. Notice that the space in between is bigger than either lip.
Step 12: Add the nose shape. Notice its size and placement compared to the mouth shape. Make sure that there isn't too much space between the upper lip and the nose.
Step 13: Add the ear shapes. Notice that the bottom of the ears are set almost parallel to the bottom of the nose.
Step 14: Carefully place the forehead shape in to your drawing. Notice that the straight line across the forehead is parallel with the top of the ear shapes.
Step 15: Add the shape for the President's hair.
Step 16: Add the eyebrows and erase the construction line from step 14.
Step 17: Add the eyes. One eye length should fit in between the two eyes. Generally speaking, eye shapes are rainbows on the top, over a circle.
Step 18: Add a second rainbow over each eye. Then, close the eye shapes at the bottom with relatively straight lines. Then, draw the curves under the eyes. He has the most stressful job in the world, so bags under his eyes are appropriate!
Supplies I Use to Draw
Step 19: Start to darken the eyes, eyebrows and mouth.
Step 20: Do some gradual shading on the left side of his face. Press lightly with your pencil and make line after line after line. This is called cross hatching. You can also smudge these lines with a blending stump (look above) or a Q-Tip.
Step 21: Darken the Presidents hair. His hair is cropped and wavy. Try to mimic the texture of his hair with your pencil tip.
Step 22: Add more detail to the Presidents face. Notice the difference in the tones between the hair and the the face. For the darker tones, use a high number B pencil (look above). For neutral tones a HB pencil is appropriate.
Step 23: Don't forget, your eraser is a drawing tool too. Use it to soften your shading and to create highlights.
Step 23: Notice the slight dark tone between the Presidents upper lip and nose.
Step 24: Add some soft darker tones to the President's chin. Also, start to shade the jacket.
Step 25: Do a soft layer of cross hatching to prepare your drawing for some highlights with the eraser.
Step 25: Use the eraser to "white out" highlights.
Step 25: Soften everything with the blending stump and the eraser.
The Inauguration of Barack Obama by Merrill Kazanjian
