Post on 19-Aug-2015
Van Gogh before and after. He started the study of drawing as an adult, worked hard at it for years. Above we see his progress after the first 18 months.
Variety of line = "beauty"
'Searching line' - draw and redraw until you find what you want - this is what the masters did.
In this Leonardo drawing, the baby's legs are drawn several times.
Leonardo
Variety of line = "beauty"
fast/slow
thick/thin
light/dark
What does the line say about character in this self-portrait?
Complexity and strength!
Jerry Giefer
Blind contour drawing is drawing without looking at the paper, an exercise to build sensitivity to pressure and speed, creating more variety of line (and beauty).
Gesture drawings - 60 second drawings on newsprint as a warm-up in which you gain practice quickly finding the orientation of the head in space
Start the drawing by positioning the head as an oval ("egg") in space.The tilt of the head and the shoulders are sketched in before detail.
Body language
The tilt of the head gives added interest to a portrait.
Auguste Rodin, The Bust of Madame Morla Vicuna
Light and shadow on the face:
-Eyes are in shadow;
- The upper lip is in shadow;
-There’s a 'ball' at the end of the nose;
-The chin is rounded.
Lucien Freud portrait of Francis Bacon
Anatomy reveals structure
we study anatomy by drawing it
memorizing the 'landmarks' which will guide us when we draw from life.
study of Vincent Perez
The skull in 3/4 view (the view in which you most often see it in life).
Directional light from a single source helps to define the planes of the skull.
Otto Dix, 1913
The brush follows the contours of the head.
The background cuts in and redefines the cheek.
Glenn Hirsch
“The highest aim of portraiture is to capture a fleeting moment of lifelike emotion.”
– Rembrandt
Pamela Bennett
If portraiture freezes a moment in time forever, why paint? Why not use photographs? This is a huge black and white painting, not a photograph. What does the media - and the size - do to our perception of a 'portrait?'
The earliest realistic portraiture.
Portrait of Queen Nefertiti, 1450 BC
The Egyptian concept of “beauty” was similar to “glamour” photography today – high cheekbones.
How many artists have worked in the tradition of the ‘self-portrait’?
Anonymous, 1402 (detail from an illuminated manuscript in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris)
This is a detail of a larger painting. Renaissance artists often included their own portraits in larger work.
Self-portrait by Botticelli (1476).
Rembrandt did 80 self-portraits, using them to explore technique (lighting & texture), as well as theatrical characters.
Artist self-portraits changed in the Renaissance with Jan Van Eyck in 1433 – In this painting, he asserts his authorship, his idea and voice; not a mere craftsman anymore, Renaissance artists made new claims for their art.
(Note the towel on his head, he advertises his prowess in painting by painting drapery.)
'Self-portrait in a hat' In this assignment - hats can give you costume and a shadow across your eyes.
Keiko Randolph
Each student selects a master to study in pastel and then the student does a self-portrait in the style of the master just studied. (Joy Stroehmann)
Models pose in most classes.
Here is a portrait of the model with imagined background (the sea).
In portraiture, clothes are important too, they say a lot about character.
Minh-son Dang
Portrait of the model in pastel.
There are many styles in art – students are encouraged to experiment when a model poses.
Mike Dewey
Acrylic painting of the model posing in costume.
In portraiture, clothes are important, they say a lot about character.
Stephanie Lowe