If you are ever asked (or commissioned) to draw a pencil portrait of someone, you will most likely draw a picture of a happy person with a smile. After all, isn’t that how we most often appear in photographs? And isn’t that how we most often want to present ourselves to others? Truth be told, adults and children alike are not always happy people, even if they fake a smile for a camera.

With that said, why would you want to waste time drawing someone who is not happy?

Sometimes, rather than drawing a happy portrait, it is a good exercise to draw a character study with the goal of capturing other emotions of the subject, even if it is a sad emotion. Doing so can broaden your perspective and help you grow as an artist. That is why I chose to do this drawing of a girl crying.

<a href="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/drawing-of-a-girl-crying.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2122" src="http://www.letsdrawpeople.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/drawing-of-a-girl-crying.jpg" alt="drawing of a girl crying" width="635" height="800" /></a>

I realized that I had never attempted a realistic drawing of sad eyes, a whimpering mouth, or even tears before. Making tears turned out to be more challenging than I thought! Still I am happy that I gave it a try, because the experience has helped me to broaden my abilities.

So as you watch the video below, remember that it is okay to not always draw people in their happiest moods. People cry in real life, so they can cry in our artwork too!