Small Is Big In Portrait Painting

Portrait painting is a popular art. Sketching a person or an object in its complete likeness is, indeed, a skill worth having. A good portrait artist would know how small spells big in this form of art. The more you pay attention to the smallest details of your subject, the livelier your portrait becomes. By small details, we mean the tilt of the eyes, the curve of a wrinkle, the protrusion of the jaw line, the length of a dimple, etc. This little detailing makes all the difference between an ordinary portrait and that of an artists'.

The sooner you get to drawing portraits, you must decide whether you should create a live portrait or go for a photo portrait. Knowing this is important because any portrait drawing involves a lot of the light and shade factor. While creating a portrait from a photograph, make sure you have chosen a photo taken in natural light. Loud camera flashes steal the natural tone of the object and also throw flat light on it.

Gauging Ears

Now once you've started analyzing your subject, get its basic proportions correct so that your painting bears the closest resemblance to the object. The thumb-and-pencil rule often helps a great deal in gauging the face proportions. In case of photos, you may use the negative space to know the shapes of the features. But whatever you do, you must pay enough time and attention to the minutest details--the exact length and thickness of the brows, the thinness of the lips, the shape of the nose, lines of forehead (if any), the width of the forehead, the curve of the hairline, moles and marks on the face, and much more.

In any portrait drawing, the hair and eyes are the most important aspects that can add a remarkable difference to the painting. Usually the eyes are drawn first, after outlining the shape of the head. The hair is often the last thing an artist takes up to give the portrait a distinct facelift. However, always create a rough draft of shapes and positions of features with a light pencil. Then move on to darken corners or shade the required areas one by one. Even if you are sketching pet portraits, pay attention to the small to smaller details--be it the layers of fur, the curve at nose tip or the folds in its ears.

Be it dog portraits, human portrait or anything else, here's a few words of wisdom: begin with the head shape; divide the face into 6 equal squares; drop a line from mid-forehead to chin for proportioning; use light and shade efficiently on the subject's face; and, always keep analyzing your subject through the process. For, the golden rule is: little details make big differences to the art!

Small Is Big In Portrait Painting

Wain Roy is an internet marketing professional expert in various industries like real estate, web design, finance, medical tourism, Canadian pharmacy drug and Pet portraits