COMPOSITION
figure is included or the composition
includes spaces and interiors around
the figure. The same is true for
smaller figure studies. The figure sizes
and canvas sizes all depend on the
artist’s goals and aesthetic choices.3
ANATOMY
An important point for an
artist who wants to do
naturalistic portraits is to familiarise
themselves with the anatomy and
structure of the head and body. A
commonality between historic
painters like Rembrandt and modern
painters like Lucian Freud is that they
both understood and utilised portrait
anatomy and structure to create
lifelike images.
Many great painters of the modern
era, such as Picasso and Modigliani,
understood these elements very
well but chose not to use them for
expressive purposes. Having a
good grasp of the proportions of
the head and its relationship to the
body as a whole will help to ensure a
strong composition and the internal
relationships of the painting as
a whole.
An understanding of portrait
anatomyandstructurealsoimpacts
oncapturinga goodlikenessofthe
subject.Evenwhena generallikeness
is presentatthebeginningofthe
portraitpainting,it is therefiningand
honingofsmallangles,tilts,widths
andanatomicaldetailsina facethat
createsanexactlikeness,ratherthan
juta goodone.4
PREP STUDIES
Compositionalsketchesused
toworkouttheintendedlook
andfeeloftheportraitcomposition
areextremelyuseful.TheycanThomas Eakins, The Artist’s Wife
and His Setter Dog, c. 1884-’89,
oil on canvas, 76x58cm
Thomas Eakins did not flatter his sitters, but
rather focused on the reality of the person
before him. This full-length portrait of his wife,
Susan Macdowell Eakins, also a fine painter,
is done in the grand manner of the late 19th
century. The casual diagonal pose, balanced by
the dog, creates a stable triangle in the midst of
the room’s rectilinear geometry.FLETCHER FUND, 1923. THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK, USA