Focus on creating interest and use of space – Developing and pursuing a personal view – Opportunities for expression.

This lesson is focused on making a portrait your own through the choices you make in composition and colour. In some ways, portraits are a most challenging form of expression. Most people expect a likeness and then, only looking at the art as a tangential consequence. Throughout this lesson, I encourage you to continually try new approaches.

First, let’s investigate some potential descriptive problems with the ubiquitous three-quarter view:

The classic three-quarter view

Perhaps the most common view in portraiture, the three-quarter view, poses some specific challenges. As the head turns from a straight-on, full face view and the front of the face therefore swings to the side, some effects can surprise and catch you off guard:

The key ideas I keep in mind are:

The distance between the tip of the nose and the corner of the far cheek is an important measure: we humans seem to have a notion that the nose is in the center of the face and so subconsciously position it too centrally in a three-quarter view. Protruding out in front of the face, the nose will swing around to the side like a weather vein as the head turns.

It is invariably tricky to capture the dynamics at the far side of the mouth and its external physiology. The contours forming the almost coincident upper lip and far cheek can be tricky to see, let alone differentiate effectively.

The positioning of the ear is important in any three-quarter view. It underpins both the amount of turn and perspective: whether you are looking up or down on the subject. Look carefully at the distance from the eye to the ear and also horizontally, assessing where the ear is in relation to the eyebrow and base of the nose.

Composition

Portraits over the ages have been expressed with wildly differing compositions, from the traditional “head and shoulders” through to full figures, scenes and to radical oblique and cropped views. This of course is a matter of artistic choice and I encourage you to experiment!

Many of my portraits are relatively conventional in composition and expressionism is channeled toward paint application and colour. In this vein, a conventional portrait might have these characteristics:

1. Conventionally, the sitter is looking into the picture space with the eyes proportionally more to the edge. Eyes are typically very much in the upper half of the picture space.
2. Limit space around the head so that it does not appear lost in the canvas. I’m a bit allergic to leaving much space above the head, invariably feeling that the portrait is “pushed down”.
3. Some asymmetry in the pose, particularly looking at tilt of the head and shoulder position, is important.
4. Three-quarter views are probably the most effective for traditional compositions. When I choose a straight on pose, I will invariably build in some asymmetry.

All of these ideas are here to be challenged – perhaps a small head at the bottom of the canvas, centered and viewed straight on might well work – that’s art!

Colour

Opportunities abound with background colour and motif. With portraits, perhaps more than any other subject, the background can have tremendous effect. It impacts the colour and value balance of course, and though this is motivation enough, I think that there’s more to it than that. The colour affects the overall feel and impression of the person, creates an ambiance for the viewer and projects something that I’d be challenged to describe. Some people talk about colour auras, and certainly colour is deeply seated in our psyche. That said, the choice perhaps emanates as much from the painter as the subject.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

1. Any colour can work…cool will distance itself from the actual portrait….. warm will “push” the portrait forward – literally banging on the back of the head;
2. Tonal is safer than chromatic… there’s a lot of colour in skin and a high chroma background can compete;
3. Simple is likewise more straightforward. A busy background, unless there’s a message in the motif…will distract the viewer;
4. Brushwork should not compete with the subject. That does not mean that it needs to be boring, just thought of as a “frame” for the subject;
5. Don’t forget the colour of the clothes too….it all has to fit together!

Again, these ideas are yardsticks to be challenged, perhaps try a high chroma, dramatic abstract design. Go with your intuition: as Chagall once commented: “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.”

Exercise

1. Review a couple of portraits: yours or by others. Look at how the colour and composition fit together. What impression do you have? Do they  resonate? Why? What alternative approach might work as well or better?
2. Start a new portrait, choosing a three-quarter view (if you have not done one already). Decide now to make some different decisions from your last portrait and apply a couple of the ideas from this lesson: Unusual composition, different background/colour choice or thematic style!