Foundations of Portrait Drawing & Painting
Drawing and painting portraits is essentially about shape. And getting the BIG shape right is where the likeness and gesture resides. Everything--proportion, expression and meaning--builds upon that simple premise.
I call getting the BIG shape striking the arabesque. Arabesque denotes rhythm and movement. Terminology implies intent.
This is where the beginner is well advised to start.
You start with rectangles. That is where you learn to accurately assess and draw height/width proportion. More often than not, when a portrait drawing goes awry the issue is in the initial height/width proportion. We all have our tendencies and biases: either we draw too wide or too narrow. Most beginners begin with drawing a portrait too wide. And from there it all goes to ruin.
Harsh words. Sure. But true.
And even harsher is this: most beginning artists never acquire this basic skill. And that's a crying shame 'cause there are only three basic, dynamic rectangles that almost every portrait ascribes to that you need to recognize and be able to draw accurately. The first is the square. How wide/how tall.
Determining facial proportion is incumbent upon the square. That's the root of your foundation.
Of course, it's never that simple. The portrait is more complex than that, but it provides you a solid beginning from which to acquire your skill-set and to grow as an artist.
It's important, too, to accept that there are no secrets, no magical elixers nor concoctions, in painting. I offer no sugary treacle nor pithy palaver. No dumbed down 'drawing made easy' programs ... just commit yourself to the work of learning to accurately strike shape. Do that and the manifold wonderments of drawing and painting portraits will become manifest.
Portrait Academy's curriculum is carefully structured to efficiently develop your skill-set. It is a modular progression designed to establish your foundation as an artist and not merely as a technician. As you acquire the technical skills you'll also acquire the language of painting thus giving greater depth and meaning to your art. Gradually, and then suddenly, you'll develop your own, unique voice that is more than a mere style as you gain a mastery of your painting craft.
The absolute beginner should begin with Modules 1 thru 4. They can be taken a la carte or ordered as a package for $297. A significant savings.
The experienced beginner can begin with Module 5: William Merritt Chase: Woman in a Black Hat.
The skill-set becomes more demanding with each Module.
Module 1: Shape & Proportion is your foundation. This is where you begin. Here you are trained to see and strike shape. The workshop is designed so that you can check the accuracy of your drawing and to make the necessary adjustments. Every time you strike, verify and correct you are acquiring and sharpening this critical skill.
From there, everything begins to click into place. You'll learn how to accurately establish facial proportions step-by-step. And, importantly, verify that your proportions are correct using the supplied templates.
And you'll learn how to block-in the primary light/dark shape thus giving your portraits a solid 3-dimensional foundation as shown in this sample chapter.
Order Module 1: Shape & Proportion for $147. Twenty chapters. Running time: 5 hours 26 minutes.
OR BEST VALUE: Order all four Beginner modules for only $297 (SAVE $291)
Module 2: The Facial Features Having acquired the skill set of rendering the architecture of facial form we proceed to understanding the structures of the facial features in both the frontal and the 7/8’s profile view.
It is poor practice to learn drawing from the photograph. Drawing/Painting is a distinct language from that of the photograph which often distorts and presents an exaggerated depth of field. Instead you will study the facial features from my template paintings.
Eighteen chapters. Running time: 5 hours 50 minutes.
Module 3: Elements of Portrait Drawing Applying the lessons learned and skills acquired in Modules 1 and 2 you proceed to putting it all together in a structural portrait drawing. Step-by-step beginning with striking the arabesque and establishing the facial matrix you proceed to constructing the planar elements and feature placements to render a convincing, three-dimensional portrait drawing. Bonus: Module 3 also includes two practice templates and my Atlas of Facial Anatomy video and PDF textbook. A $97 value!
Fourteen chapters. Running time: 4 hours 21 minutes.
Order Module 3: The Elements of Portrait Drawing for $147
Module 4: Beginning Portrait Painting John Singer Sargent’s portrait study of Rosina Ferrera (Capri Woman) is an excellent starting point for the beginning portraitist. It proffers a solid planar structure that is accessible to the beginner’s understanding of facial form.
Here you will learn to draw with the brush, foregoing the restrictions imposed by a preliminary drawing, and to block in the primary light/dark pattern.
From there you will learn how to 'serve it up in the abstract', following Sargent's curriculum of developing the ebauche with three half-tones and constructing the planar forms seeing through the eyes of a sculptor.
A limited palette of four colors—white, yellow ochre, indian red and vine/ivory black—is your initiation into mixing flesh tones. It is much more efficient to learn how to master the subtleties of flesh tones with this restricted palette than to begin with an expansive range of colors. That comes later.
Twelve chapters. Running time: 4 hours 40 minutes.
Order Module 4: Beginning to Paint for $147
OR BEST VALUE: Order all four Beginner modules for only $297 (SAVE $291)
INTERMEDIATE BEGINNER
Module 5: William Merritt Chase: Woman in a Black Hat
William Merritt Chase was a contemporary of John Singer Sargent. Chase's School of Art morphed into The Parsons School of Design, one of the pre-eminent art colleges in the US.
Your training gathers significant steam in this ultra-HD workshop. Your palette is expanded to nine colors and you'll be introduced to the entire progression of painting a portrait from start to finish.
Whereas Module 4: Beginning Portrait Painting focused on the Ebauche, the initial construction of painting, Module 5 takes you significantly further into the passages of Pentimenti where you will learn how to strengthen and refine facial structure while acquiring the language of painting. This is why we copy master paintings.
You will learn how to mix realist flesh tones using color theory and applying your brush strokes with a sympathetic concordance to the underlying anatomical form.
Order Module 5: William Merritt Chase: Woman in a Black Hat for ONLY $197! Running time: 11 hours 30 minutes.
COMING SOON!
Module 6: Corot: Painting Emma with a Sculptural Sensibility
Camille Corot (1796-1875) managed a one-two punch on the trajectory of art. His landscapes precursed Impression and his figurative works presaged the direction of 20th Century art.
The lessons to be learned from Corot are manifest. Particularly the sculptural sensibility of his portrait works giving them a space-invasive three-dimensionality.
The workshop presents Corot's The Greek Girl (Emma Dobigny), 1870.
