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The Beauty of Line – Part 2: The Constructive Line Portrait

Page 2

With the constructive line drawing the structure of forms only need be suggested rather than fully rendered. Suggesting form accurately in portrait drawing requires a solid understanding of anatomy and facial structure. True, one can travel a fair distance without the anatomical knowledge but there will come a time when you cannot progress any further without it.

I lightly sketched in the nose first (this is the largest facial feature and its correct placement makes it much easier to place the eyes and mouth), followed by the eye sockets (not the eyes! This is important), the cheeks and the interstice of the mouth. I strongly suggest not drawing the borders of the lips at this point; save those expressive lines for later.

When drawing the mature portrait you need to consider the aging process of the skull and musculature. The facial bones contract and their edges appear sharpened. The musculature thins (there are exceptions, of course, with larger people) and gravity extracts its toll.

When it comes to drawing the wrinkles I am usually faced with a dilemna: overdo the wrinkles and you end up with a shrivelled potato look. Avoiding the wrinkles altogether leaves you with a ‘cosmetic’ portrait. A cosmetic portrait is one whose only purpose is to flatter the sitter – historically an important consideration especially when in centuries past an unhappy and unflattered client had the means and disposition to imprison you or worse. But today conveying a strong sense of character and lived history is more important than a pretty picture. And that is the deciding factor in how far one should take the wrinkles. Suffice it to say that wrinkles follow and define the underlying skeleto-muscular structure of the face and neck.

My next decision, drawing and painting is really a series of decision making – good and, sometimes, bad, is to sketch in the various folds and twists of the headdress.

Drapery can be distilled into seven types of folds, each with their own distinct characteristics and logic. These seven folds are the pipe fold, the two-point fold, the zig zag fold, the half-lock fold, the spiral fold, the drop fold, and the inert fold. The headress is comprised of all the fold types except for the drop and inert folds.

An understanding of the characteristics of drapery goes a long way towards drawing and painting believable clothing. If you find yourself making up folds as you draw then you are significantly weakening your work.

Setting up a ‘drapery’ still-life – that is, pinning a cloth to the wall or a large board and doing a study of it will do wonders for your powers of observation and skill development. Begin with a light-weight piece of canvas and then move on to a plain white cotton cloth. When you are sufficiently skilled you can then try your hand at patterned drapery.

As with the facial features each component and fold of the headdress should relate to the whole head in terms of shape and proportion.