History

Each era has its version of portraiture. Styles and philosophies of the time change, and yet it exists as a thing apart from the mainstream of art. The demand for portrait making remains constant, moving from the province of the clergy and of kings to the walls of the most homely household. To track the history of portraiture is to follow the tide of popular culture and the record of the people we revere and despise. They exist as a record of humanity.

People have their portraits done to earn a bit of immortality. Our descendants will see something more than a photograph. They might see an instant captured by the interpretation of the eye of the artist, and more than our likeness will be captured, perhaps even a bit of our true nature. That is the secret of the portraitist, to look for, see and capture more with our naked eyes than a camera can catch with its mechanical representation of accuracy.

Drawing Hints :

Notes: There are many ways to 'cheat' to make a portrait: opaque projector, slide projector, gridded photographs, copying other portraits and tracing. Each offers advantages and problems. Most serious artists use them at one time or another, but as you gain experience, their disadvantages will begin pull at you until you choose to leave them behind. The practice of art is filled with artifice. We adopt and use systems to help us understand and to give us shortcuts to growth. But when a higher skill level is achieved these systems are relegated to the need for speed or to check accuracy. Most serious practicing artists don't use them very often.

We have attempted full face, profile and low or high points of view. Next we will try the "others": 3/4 view, back view, and the angles in between. This is where most portraits are made, in the space between formal and the un-posed or natural pose. We look for the little views that catch the subjects unaware. They offer the greatest appeal to our aesthetic sensibilities.

Process

Portrait Drawing has been subservient to painting as the preferred means of expression. Drawing has served the position of a preliminary device, or note taking discipline rather than the end product. As color invaded drawing with conte, oil and watercolor crayons, the division between drawing and painting has been blurred if not removed completely. Today even the "purest' painting forms include drawing as a major part of the image making process. The autographic hand of the drawing master is present, visible and desirable. It isn't just for sketchbooks any more.

In-Class work: Draw 2 - 40 minute drawings of the subject - fully developed drawings - try to capture a likeness with a minimum of view angle - from behind the shoulder of the subject, or 3/4 view.

Homework Assignment in addition to weekly sketchbook drawings:
Due October 22, 2003, - details: hands, cloth, hats, feet - accessories

Comment - Drawing that is autographic, is so called because it is like a signature. A tenuous or bold line, a weighted or linear line, an absence of line - all describe autographic details and preferences. It means that line handling may be as distinctive as the artists signature. for the artist: understanding, making conscious use of and developing that line means contributing to that recognition. Remember that an interesting line can be as much an appeal for a drawing, as subject, composition or value relationship.

Q - How does gesture work as a first step in the portrait drawing sequence?
A - All of these processes are short cuts. Gesture is no exception. It has the distinction of producing the quickest accurate proportional rendering. It can solve the proportional problems that crop up when trying to jump right into detail in a drawing.