PORTRAITURE: 2ND OF 6
In portraiture, a likeness and the emotions of the sitter can be achieved with just pencil or charcoal, which makes life so much easier – we don’t have to worry about oils, brushes or colour theory. There are so many drawing media we can use, from pencils to charcoal. The key is to simplify the process to one value to get the complete likeness. It is not the colour or even the modelling that creates a likeness but the big value patterns. You can recognise a friend from a distance just by the big shapes – the way they hold their head in relation to their shoulders – so recognition has little do with the colour of their eyes or the modelling of the lips. In fact, the simpler you keep the image the easier it is to find a likeness.
At London Fine art Studios we always discuss the idea of how important it is to focus on the process, as opposed to the product. With a portrait, there is so much to capture and the end product involves exacting proportion, emotions, psychology and so much more. If you rely on a clear structured sequential process, you are much more likely to achieve your goal.