Portraiture
Proportions of the human face
There are some simple rules and guides for drawing faces that will help to get proportions correct.
When drawing a portrait of a person facing forward, these guides can help to make the work accurate:
- from the top of the head, the eyes are halfway down
- the eyes fit across the face five times. Divide the width of the face by five to work out how wide the eyes should be
- the bottom of the nose is halfway between the eyebrow and the chin
- the edges of the nose line up with the inner edges of the eyes
- the edges of the mouth line up with the inner edges of the irises
- the top of the ears line up with the top of the eyes
Click through the slideshow to see some examples of student portraits:
Image caption, A pen and watercolour portrait
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Capturing character
There are a number of ways to capture the character of the sitter:
- try out different expressions
- experiment with poses
- use a range of lighting (eg spot, natural, coloured)
- try different backgrounds
Portrait of a Young Woman by Dame Laura Knight, pastel and charcoal on paper
In this portrait, think about how the artist uses colour to create atmosphere and to show the personality of the subject.
