The Artist - UK (2021-02)

27i February 2021 http://www.painters-online.co.uk

DIGITAL ISSUE EXTRA CONTENT

TA12 PRODUC SHOTS IN FOLDER – NOT

FORMATTED. CAN’T USE THE COLOUR

CHARTS

t Common mistake

Not being faithful to the central line. Here the

mouth has been treated as sitting flat-on to the

viewer, rather than curving round the face

Avoiding common

mistakes

After running many workshops on portrait painting I have noticed how common

certain errors are and how consistently these mistakes are made. These errors

occur either through lazy observation or painting what you think is there, as

opposed to what is really there. The problem with these blind spots – I have had a

few myself – is that unless you become aware of them, they become an ingrained

habit. In most cases, just being aware of the problem and understanding how it

happens is enough.

Draw what

is in front

of you, not

what you

think is there

This error is more obvious when the

head is turned (three-quarter pose).

People favour either their left or right

hand, and there is a natural leaning

to that side. If you are not aware of

it, this leads to the features leaning

towards the dominant hand as you

Swinging to the dominant

hand

progress down the head, resulting in a

very unpleasant distortion which will

certainly not please your model.

The cure is simple – draw a central line

from the centre of the philtrum (Cupid’s

bow) of the lip to the bridge of the

nose, and stay faithful to that line. You

can also take an angle from the brow to

the chin, which will help.

u Corrected

The centre of the mouth now lines up with the nostril

and where the nose curves by the eye. The left side of

the mouth appears shorter than the right, owing to

the angle at which the sitter is facing

Rob Wareing.indd 22Rob Wareing.indd 22 14/12/2020 20:1114/12/2020 20:11