Portrait Painting

Portrait painting is a challenging area of painting, but over time many great artists have chosen portrait painting as a major focus of their art. In middle European eras, many artists were sponsored by important or wealthy personages to pursue portrait painting especially for their supporters. Oil painting was the medium for most portrait painting in earlier centuries.

As various schools of painting have evolved, portrait painting has become somewhat less popular, yet will always remain an important genre in the art of painting. While figure painting demands an intimate knowledge of the construction of the body, portrait painting demands more than a knowledge of the structure of the face and head, though of course that too is required for portrait painting.

Although the underlying structure of the skull is fairly simply, what overlays the basic bones is what makes portrait painting difficult. The slightest movement of a facial muscle can change the entire expression of the face during portrait painting…challenging the artist to capture exactly the expression he wants to show in the portrait painting. This represents one of the difficulties in doing portrait painting directly from the model. Often, after making initial sketches and appraisals, an artist may do final portrait painting from a photograph which holds the expression and angle of face he wishes to portray in the portrait painting.

Beyond the actual delineation of structure and expression, the artist doing portrait painting must somehow capture not only the feeling of a living person, but the portrait painting must somehow capture the personality and essence of the subject. This is often evidenced by subtle expressions…particularly about the mouth and eyes. In the process of creating a portrait painting, the smallest brush stroke can alter the entire expression of a face. A wrong line or misplaced shadow can alter the result in a portrait painting, changing the image the artist is creating.

Choosing appropriate colors to represent skin tones is a major part of successful portrait painting. Depending upon the degree and angle of light, skin tones can change drastically.
If doing portrait painting directly from the model, consistent positioning and lighting are essential to a successful result. Choosing the clothing and colors the subject will wear are also important in most portrait painting. The subject will participate in this process, though the artist may make the ultimate decision about background and color when creating a portrait painting. Portrait painting is challenging but can be highly rewarding.

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