“It’s Not Her.”
…is a heartbreaking thing to hear after spending so long on a portrait piece. And it’s even worse to know its truth.
The one that Isn't Her
Luckily, just because a final piece is inaccurate to the reference image, it can still look great.
This was a spontaneous portrait. (Which is crazy to say, what with how perfectly the picture fits on the random piece of cardboard I plucked off the dusty floor of the school’s art room).
I was in class, and burnt out from my portfolio series after completing two, and starting two more, pieces within the first few weeks of school. So I just… started a portrait. And it ended up taking from that Thursday, September 7th, until this Friday, September 15th. Non. stop. Sunday alone I colored that thing for seven or eight hours. It was a blast.
But I wanted it to look exactly like the picture, and I failed to do so.
I hope to improve.
Portrait drawing is Hard
Portraits are infamous for their difficulty to freehand. Hence, commonly being aided by transfer and tracing techniques to get proper proportions. (I have a newfound respect for the portrait artists of old. I'm lookin' at you, Da Vinci. *not you, Picasso.)
But most things are difficult, if you don't first learn the fundamentals. (Take Calculus without first taking any Algebra, and you'll agree). Proportions are the fundamentals of portraits. However, (my mind especially) wants to draw the nicest line it can, and then wonders why the portrait is inaccurate. Well (obviously) it's because human faces are full of imperfections. That's what generates uniqueness. I would have to perfect the imperfections by ignoring my desire to draw a fun line, and to observe what is really there in front of me.
Ways to practice include: still life drawing… and obviously more portrait drawing. and really, just drawing things how they are, not how you want them to be.
Here’s where I put a small disclaimer: This is all very situational.
That jab at Picasso was because his work doesn't apply to accuracy. But that doesn't mean his portraits aren't art, or don't represent the details of faces in a different way. He drew them how he wanted them to look.
I explored caricature art as a possible hobby for a bit, and it is far from accurate portraits. But it does resemble the people another way: exaggeration. They draw them how they think is humorously accurate.
So I give you this: There are the exaggeration of features, and the subtleties of accuracy, and both are used to draw portraits. Either is a fine choice…
(but I want accuracy).
How Drawing People brings you Closer to them.
My aunt recently shared with me a podcast episode from "People I (mostly) Admire" titled episode "110. Drawing from Life (and Death)" with artist Wendy MacNaughton, discussing her book "How to say goodbye".
It was one of, if not the best, podcast episodes I’ve ever listened to.
While I have yet to read the book discussed (I requested it for my library), I find the bits from their discussion fascinating. They talk of MacNaughton's artist residency at a kind of retirement home, where she drew people in their last stages of life. She might talk with them while she drew, they rarely may ask to draw her simlutaneously, or she simply be with them. But in every case, the drawing was personal.
The smallest amount of research on MacNaughton tells you her mantra: "Pay Attention", (which sounds like one I’m familiar with: “Details man, details.”) which she preaches through most everything she does. These portraits were so personal because she was truly paying attention to the people she was drawing. It brought her closer to the person not only physically, as they were mere feet apart, but emotionally. And she says it can bring you too, closer to anything or anyone in your life. By spending time looking meticulously at each and every detail (without the art result itself mattering) you learn more about something than you would with a thousand passing glances. One such exercise she assigns to the podcast's host and listeners is as follows: Pick an object, get a piece of paper and drawing utensil, and set a timer for five minutes. You are now to draw the object.
But you cannot look down at the paper.
Because the result. doesn't. matter.
What matters is that you pay attention to each detail of what is in front of you.
I would even extend the challenge to trying this in your mind at a random lull in your day. Try admiring every imperfection of some person or thing that is in front of you. You’d be surprised at how closely you haven’t looked before.
Portraits are a challenge. But they are oh, so worth every minute.
