Practice Drawing from Observation: the Mona Lisa Supplies Needed: white drawing paper (8.5x11 or 9x12), pencil, eraser, plastic page protector, dry erase marker, photocopy of Mona Lisa for each student. Use the Trace-Copy-Draw Technique as described below.

1.Place the photocopy of Mona Lisa into a plastic page protector. Trace the main simplified shapes with a dry erase marker.

2. Take out the photocopy and look at your shapes. Do not erase, set aside.

3. Copy the shapes onto a piece of drawing paper with a pencil.

4. Place the plastic page protector with the traced shapes over your pencil drawing to see if the pencil drawn shapes line up with the dry eraser shapes.

5. Adjust your pencil drawn shapes to more accurately match the dry eraser shapes.

6. Place the plastic page protector with the traced shapes over your pencil drawing again to recheck the accuracy. Continue to adjust until you're satisfied.

© 2018 Brook Mesenbrink

7. Place the photocopy of Mona Lisa back into the page protector and trace the facial features and fingers. Remove the photocopy and lightly copy the lines onto your pencil drawing.

8. Now look carefully at the photocopy of the Mona Lisa. Copy the details of the face. Use the Proportions of the Human Head for guidance.

9. Copy the details of the hands by carefully observing the photocopy of the Mona Lisa. Copy the lines you see in the clothing and hair.

10. The finished drawing will resemble one of the many sketches, called working drawings, that Leonardo drew in his sketchbook journals. He used these to practice drawing accurately before making a painting.

© 2018 Brook Mesenbrink

Basic Head Proportions:

1. Eyes are half-way between top of head and chin. 2. Bottom of nose is half-way between the eyes and chin. 3. Bottom of lips are half-way between bottom of nose and chin. 4. Face is 5 eyes wide. 5. Width of nose and mouth vary, but generally they line up vertically with the eyes.

Eyes must have: ● Eyelids ● Eyebrows ● Partial or full iris ● Partial or full pupil

© 2018 Brook Mesenbrink