The Portrait chapter 11
In many portrait drawings, a common occurrence that compromises the form of the work is overmodeling. Overmodeling
occurs when you complicate the value of different tones in the shadow area, or in an area that is lit. You will not only lose the
quality of the surface that you are rendering, but you will also lose the sense of three dimensions; consequently, the form of
the head will appear flat. Very often, a student becomes fascinated with the range of tones within the shadow, or in the light,
and overstates, or complicates them. This drawing shows that the shadow, even though treated very simply, as a large area of
tone, can achieve the desired effect of rendering a major change in the form of the head. As usual, the goal is to separate the
front plane from the side plane of the head (a).
After you become familiar with the large forms and planes of the head (b) and you have some experience accurately
observing and drawing the shapes you see, you can start to omit visual information for the sake of aesthetics and still make
your drawing believable.
Very often, if a work has too much information (or detail), it becomes overly literal and dull. A skillful artist knows that sug-
gesting fewer aspects of a subject can allow the viewer to “fill in the details.” Limiting the details often makes for a much
more engaging work of art.
a bCONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE