How to Draw a Portrait

Man, with just two days left on the plantation, I am chomping at the bit. As I finish up projects and answer phone calls from people who may or may not have metal plates in their heads, I don't know if I'll really miss much. But then I remember the wisdom that springs forth from these artists. The gems just keep coming. Take, for instance, one of my last assignments: I'm writing a review of this book on how to draw faces, and the artist-author is a real random. Such asides include, "One of the hardest part of drawing a children's portrait is getting the little beast to sit still. I think God will forgive us for working from photographs in this case."

And, in the section on how to capture facial expressions, he writes:

"Here we see a hint of a smile. I can keep a woman smiling until she realizes she despises me, but if you can't, try the following strategy. Ask the model to smile for 30 seconds..."

I'd been trying to ignore these random asides and focus on the instructional highlights, but the following, in the section on avoiding common mistakes, just could not go un-blogged:

"Here are some tips for dealing with criticism...Ask yourself, 'If the model is attractive, would you date your drawing?'"

W
T
F
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How to Set Up A Still Life

That's the title of the article I have to write for work.
I've been emailing various still-life artists, asking their advice for beginners. It's been a real snooze-fest....until now.

Here's a bit of advice one artist sent me this morning:

Very important: Put things together,which works well together,which create harmonies.Its not harmonious,when you paint a beautuful flower bouquet,and on the bottom near the vase you place a half full ashtray or a open package with condoms.


How true that is.