Portraiture

Portraiture, the art of drawing face on paper. But for us artists, we know a lot more goes into that word. Portraits could be a scary topic for young artists as the tiniest of mistakes could distort the likeness of the subject.
But in same vain could be handled like a pro, taking to account the fundamentals of portraiture, following basic rules governing the face, learning the facial anatomy to know what goes on under the skin, studying each facial features with its respective anatomy and finally achieving the desired likeness by working from the general proportions to the specific.

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In my next series of posts, we would be taking the Pro approach to learning portraiture. You do not learn to drive by driving, this is also true for drawing portraits. I would handle the best I can to give you a solid foundation to portraiture and you should be filling portfolios and sketchbooks with faces in no time =)

What are portraits?

Portraiture in my definition is the representation of a human being features (head and shoulders, face or full body) by an artist. Portraits could be sculptures, paintings, drawings as far as human is being portrayed. Portraiture has a large mass appeal in my belief as they are easily identified by non artistic inclined people thus a larger appeal. Portraiture is no recent phenomenon, since the ancient Egyptians, sculptural pieces were used to honour the pharaoh.

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Portraits in Renaissance times

The masters like Da vinci have used the art for the means of honoring the elite in times of old . So it is common to see more portraits than landscape in the renaissance period. Portraits in those times carried a great value of respect to the person dignified and this has not changed till today. Like the Mona lisa

[source](https://focus.louvre.fr/en/mona-lisa/compare/renaissance portraits)

In modern times

We have seen how portraits has helped to save the history of some of the culture of the world. Ancient portraits mainly sculptures are well kept now in museums like those of the Egyptians and Greeks.
Political portraits are also a thing, we have presidential portraits of the president which in itself honours the position and really dignify the the office.
Obama presidential portrait is a good example of this.

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It is in my description to say that portraiture should be one of your sharp arrows in your artistic quiver. I would advise you join me on this wonderful journey into the world of portraiture. On this journey I would take you through the fundamentals, tools and techniques and general tips and tricks to make your portraits a delight.

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