Friday, January 21, 2011

Picture Perfect Portrait…or not

Before embarking on the whole stay-at-home gig, I taught art at a local middle school.  I love it and miss it and was reminded of a lesson the other day.

Portraiture.

A hard beast to tackle ,I think , even for the best portrait artists.  I would practice with the children how the face is divided down the middle for symmetry.  The face is then divided into thirds and then we would place the facial features.  It was always fun,and all were great, although none were “perfect”.   Myself included!  One of the hardest habits to get the kids to kick—eye placement.  I would joke—“move the eyes down-ya need room for your brains!”  Eyelids would also go to the wayside.  “Are you surprised in your portrait?”  “Be sure to include eyelids.”  They usually show almost all the time—surprised or not.   Right??

Perhaps I should take a look in the mirror.

 

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Where the h- e- double toothpicks are my eyelids?  Seriously.

 

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