Extreme Perspectives in Portraiture

Description

Most portraits are drawn from one of three perspectives: frontal, three-quarter, or profile, all typically from eye-level. As artists, we can become so used to these views that trying something different can be challenging. Drawing from extreme upward or downward views, or sideways when the model is lying down, can feel so unfamiliar that it’s difficult to know where to begin. As a result, we often resort to familiar formulas that are inappropriate in these contexts, leading to unsatisfactory outcomes.

In this six-week class, students will learn to draw portraits from unconventional viewpoints. We’ll explore techniques for understanding perspective effects, and how the shape and distribution of facial features change when viewed from different directions. By the end of the class, students will be better equipped to draw the human head in any line of sight.

Instructor David Jamieson will demonstrate his procedure for drawing portraits in a 3-hour demonstration each week, live on camera. Each step in the process will be clearly explained, with particular emphasis on understanding the proportions and structure of the head when seen from different angles of view. Strategies for establishing shapes correctly the page will be demonstrated and rehearsed with multiple portrait drawings over 6 weeks.

This class will be streamed live via Zoom on six Wednesdays. The primary class session will meet between 1:00pm and 4:00pm on Wednesday afternoons (Central Time), when David will teach and demonstrate on-camera. Each class session will focus on a unique perspective on the human head, and students are encouraged to work along with the instructors and ask questions in real time.

For students unable to attend live on Sundays, a recording of each class session will be available for 7 days until it is replaced with the subsequent week’s video. That way, there’s a full week available to get caught up if you miss anything, or to review any concepts presented.

High-quality photo references will be made available to all students at the beginning of the class. These will be the same references that David will be using, and as such, we’ll all be able to work with the same models, from the same point of view – something not possible when working from life in traditional on-ground classes. Another advantage of this format, is students will be able to work on their drawings between classes, although we recommend not getting too far ahead of the demo each week.