THE PORTRAIT AS A WORK OF ART
PRACTICAL STUDY DEVOTED TO THE DRAWN PORTRAIT
The information given in the previous pages applies equally to the drawn portrait and the painted portrait. In both cases, the artist must take into account the factors already discussed if he wishes to obtain a “perfect likeness.” The same can be said of the artistic aspect—once the likeness has been achieved; drawing is one thing and painting another.
Artificial lighting, for example, is preferable in a drawn portrait, for reasons that we shall examine. It makes it possible to direct the viewer’s attention toward the essential center of interest—the head—in a way that differs from drawing to painting. The background is determined by the technique used: it should be white in drawing. The dimensions of the work and the size of the figure are generally smaller in drawing. For all these reasons, the following pages will deal exclusively with the drawn portrait.
Furthermore, we shall try to turn this study into a practical exercise and organize the following subjects according to the sequence normally followed by an artist when drawing a portrait. The first thing he considers from an artistic point of view is light: its nature, direction, and quality.
LIGHTING IN THE DRAWN PORTRAIT
The light generally used for a drawn portrait is artificial light. It may come from an ordinary bulb, either one 100-watt bulb or two 60-watt bulbs, one illuminating the model and the other the drawing board.
Francesc Serra, a specialist in graphite portraiture, uses a single 100-watt bulb to illuminate both the model and his drawing board. Alfredo Opisso, also well known for his pencil portraits, prefers two bulbs.
These preferences are of little importance. What matters is that these portrait specialists, like many others, use artificial light.
Why? For three sufficient reasons. First, and most importantly, because in drawing color matters little; one only needs to see light and shadow, black and white. Second, because artificial light is a directed, concrete light, capable of defining and modeling the features and elements of the face with greater precision. Third, because artificial light can be moved, making it possible to study the direction that works best and that precisely determines the size, shape, and placement of both cast and attached shadows. (As an additional advantage, artificial light allows one to work at any hour.)
THE BEST DIRECTION FOR THE LIGHT
There is hardly any doubt on this subject. The best direction for light in a drawn portrait is a front-side direction, more frontal than lateral.
…more frontal than lateral. It is obvious that in a portrait, the projection of large and dense shadows is of little interest; they would complicate and burden the drawing.
The goal is not to dramatize emotions or passions, but to make a portrait, to explain who and what the model is, to “capture the caricature,” to return to Ingres’ expression. And we have already seen that a caricature can be made without lights and shadows, using only lines.
More light than shadow: that is the modern portrait.
Let us now make this principle more concrete:
Only slightly to the side and only slightly elevated, so that the nose casts merely a precise shadow below it, almost vertical; but sufficiently from the side so that the part of the face nearest the artist remains in shadow. See the example illustrated above.
What has just been said should be taken as a general rule and may vary slightly according to the model’s physiognomy, character, age, and sex. It would be a mistake, once a certain lighting direction has been studied, to apply it identically to every model. That would be like working in a photo booth, where one enters, sits down, the light turns on and off, and so on. No, certainly not! What would then become of everything we have said about likeness?
For your own information, observe the lighting directions used in the portraits throughout this chapter (pages 48, 50, 55, 59, 75, 77 and 78). Compare the heads with one another; the model is different in every case. Notice also how the shadowed areas have been treated differently depending on whether the face is feminine or masculine, which is extremely important for both lighting and interpretation of the model.
WE ARE NOT PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS
With regard to the model and its interpretation, we must remember that artificial light is a constant light in both quality and quantity; that is, it always produces the same intensity and the same type of light and shadow, sharp and defined, regardless of whether the model is a man or a woman. This consistency is ideal for a camera. If one photographs Florence, a young, delicate, refined girl, one obtains the same contrasts and the same qualities as when photographing Olivier, a robust and athletic young man.
But we are not photographic cameras. We can and must interpret the model, hardening or softening effects by blending more or less, by breaking down or grading the transitions from light to shadow, depending on whether the model is strong or delicate, a man or a woman, a child or an elderly person.
Look again at the full-page portraits illustrated in this book. Compare some faces with others; observe the interpretation of a feminine face and compare it with that of a masculine head. Are they not different? The treatment is personal to each face and particular to each case. That is how you must proceed when a model sits before you. Do not limit yourself to copying exactly the values and contrasts presented by the model. Interpret them in your own way, adapting that interpretation to the character, age, sex, and personality of the subject.
Once the lighting and the model have been arranged and the appropriate form of illumination established, the artist begins to concern himself with the pose.
