Portrait Tutorial Step Two: Choosing a Canvas + Doing the Underdrawing

Welcome back to my tutorial on portrait painting.  In Step One I covered choosing the right photo. Now that you've chosen the photo, you'll need to finalize the composition, choose an appropriate canvas for your portrait, and then proceed with the underdrawing.

Choosing a Canvas + Finalizing Your Composition

In the last post, I mentioned a few things about composition and suggested a few things to think about when composing for a portrait. Another factor that may affect your composition will be your canvas size and proportion. It is important to consider whether or not your photo is composed in such a way that you will not be able to crop it, or conversely, if you have some wiggle room on any or several of the sides. If your image is not one that can be cropped, you will need to look for a canvas with the same proportions as your image. If there is some wiggle room, you can choose your canvas to your liking and then proceed to finalize your composition. Either way, there are a few things to think about in the process. Let's discuss them using my photograph as an example.

This was the original photo:

My client (who also happens to be my father) has a particular place in mind where he will be hanging this portrait. Currently he has a painting in the location that is 20 inches tall by 30 inches wide, and we both confirmed that shooting for a similar size with this portrait would be preferable in this particular location. With this in mind, I started with an idea of the canvas size and adjusted my composition accordingly. Note: You may not be able to find a canvas with the exact proportion to your image (i.e. a 20x28 canvas for your 5x7 photo) without getting a custom canvas built, so cropping or adjusting your composition may be inevitable.

When I went to my local art store, they did not sell 20"x30"canvases, the size my dad and I had discussed. So I had to chose between buying one of the two closest sizes; a 22"x28" and a 24"x30", or ordering a canvas online. I discussed it with my dad and we decided on the 24"x30". For this tutorial, I will be using the above sizes as examples to show what sort of difference your canvas proportion actually makes.

First, I want to show you why getting a canvas that is the same proportion (or cropping to create the right proportion) is so important. If you were to take a photograph like mine (with the proportion 5/7; 5 inches tall and 7 inches wide) and simply stretch it to fit any canvas you happen to pick up, you will inevitably end up with some distortions, and they usually aren't very flattering, let me tell you. Below I have taken my photograph and stretched it to fit the three canvas sizes we had discussed. You can quickly see the distortion created. This is why stretching to fit instead of enlarging proportionately is a big "no no".

Note: to find the proportion of your image or canvas, create a fraction by taking the height over the width and then simplifying it down. Examples: The 20x30 canvas has the proportion 2/3, the 22x28 is 11/14, and the 24x30 is 4/5. We can tell from this that none of the canvases were the exact proportion of my 5x7 photo. However, if they would have had canvases available at these sizes: 10x14, 15x21, 20x28, etc. (any dimensions that can be simplified to 5/7, or, any dimensions created by multiplying the same number to both 5 and 7) I could have snatched it up and been ready to go immediately. Because this was not the case, I know I will have to work with the composition a little.  

To create a compelling composition, filling the entire canvas, you will either need to crop, zoom, or be willing to come up with reasonable solutions to fill in gaps created by the placement of your image. Below you can see possibilities for cropping and for leaving gaps on each canvas size we were considering.  

Remember, there are different ways to crop. You don't have to take it all off one side. Consider where the focal points are and try to arrange them nicely on the canvas, potentially cropping from multiple sides, or zooming in.

I eventually went with the top example of cropping, though now that I have decided to change the background entirely, I realize it may have been better to use the second one down (creating more space on either side of my sisters).

Also, be aware that you will need to be careful not to create any unnecessary areas of tension when finalizing your composition. These areas usually occur when an edge of the subject comes too close to the edge of the canvas. My sister's arm is a good example. Here, Lindsay's arm sits right up against the edge of the canvas, causing visual tension. You want to avoid this where possible.

Instead, try shifting the image to where her arm either goes all the way off the canvas or pull it in far enough that the tension is lessened.

The Under Drawing

As I have mentioned before, gridding is something I do pretty frequently, though not every time. Some people consider gridding to be a form of cheating. Many of these same people use other implements to make comparative measurements without considering it cheating, so I say, use what you need to get your proportions and measurements correct, and let haters be haters. There is still a great degree of inaccuracy possible when using a grid, so I find their argument unfounded anyway. Moving on...

You can grid in a number of ways. All a grid does is create reference lines and points from which you can adjust a drawing to make it more accurate. The more accurate your under drawing, the less tweaking you will need to do later, and the better likeness you will be able to achieve.

Gridding on the Computer

I used Photoshop to grid off my reference photo because I already own and am familiar with the program, making it quick and painless for me. If you have Photoshop, continue reading and I will walk you through how I do it. If not, skip down to "Gridding by Hand" below.

To start, open a new file the same size as you canvas. This is very important. You can change the size, as long as the proportions stay the same, but you will have to do more math later on. A trick I use on occasion, if the image quality isn't fantastic, is to make a file the right size but lower resolution, or I change to centimeters. You will also want to turn on "rulers" (command + R).

I choose the size of my grid depending on the number of people in the portrait and the size of my canvas. If I have a large canvas, but only one person who takes up the majority of the composition, I tend to make my grid much larger than if I have a couple of people on a small canvas. Because this portrait is of three people, and relatively large, I chose to do 2" squares. With my 24"x 30" canvas, I ended up with 15 squares across and 12 squares down.

To create a guideline, click on the ruler itself and drag away from it. A guideline will follow your mouse and will be placed wherever your mouse is released–so just drag it to the point on the ruler where you want the next gridline to be and release your click. Remember that if you want a vertical line, drag from the ruler on the left hand side. If you want a horizontal line, drag from the top ruler. It is as easy as that.

Can't figure it out, that's okay! It is not necessary for you to grid your reference image on the computer because you can always do it by hand! You are going to have to grid your canvas by hand, anyway, so it may just be easier to print out your image. Just make sure it is cropped to the right proportions for your final composition.

Gridding by Hand - either on your reference image or your canvas

What you will need:

1. Your printed reference photo or canvas. It is best to print two copies of your reference photo if you are planning to paint from a printed reference. If you only need it for your under drawing, and will be using a monitor or iPad to paint from (as I do) one copy will be fine. I say this because using your gridded reference photo to paint from becomes frustrating. Not only do all the lines become distracting, but it will also make it difficult to see things that the lines may be covering up. Attempting to erase the lines will only be trouble as well. It really is best just to print out two copies.

2. The largest manageable ruler you have, or a ruler and a long straight edge.  Now, if your drawing is only an 8x10, there is obviously no need to pull out a yard stick, a 12 inch ruler will be fine. However, if you are painting on a canvas that is larger than the average ruler, a yard stick may be your best bet. A t-square is really useful for gridding off canvases as well, so if you have one of those laying around, grab it. Choose what is most appropriate for your specific project.

3. A pencil. I would suggest a harder lead, like a 2H or 4H if you have them, just because they make lighter lines which will be easier to paint over. See my post that discusses pencil leads here. If you do not have drawing pencils, your scantron-friendly #2 will do just fine, but be careful to press lightly.

4. A calculator. This is only necessary if you don't love doing math in your head.

Getting started:

1. Decide what size grid you will be drawing. At what increment will you be placing your lines?

2. Hold your ruler at the top of your image/canvas running across, with 0 at the very edge. Making sure to stay level,  place a mark at each interval you decided all the way across the image/canvas. Do this again along the bottom edge of your image/canvas. If your ruler or straight edge is not long enough to connect the marks from top to bottom, you will need to create more marks across the center of the canvas, and connect the top and middle marks, then continue from the middle to the bottom. (This is why I mentioned the largest manageable ruler you have.) Connect each corresponding mark to create straight lines from top to bottom. 

3. Turn your image/canvas 90 degrees and do the same thing again. Make a mark at each interval you chose on the top, bottom, and potentially across the center. Then connect the corresponding marks. 

4. Adjusting for the size difference, do the same thing to your canvas if you haven't already. You want to have the same number of overall squares, not necessarily the same size squares. If your canvas is 3x bigger than your reference photo, the squares should also be 3x bigger. Make sense?

Beginning the Underdrawing

What you will be drawing:

For your underdrawing you will be drawing contour lines and shadow/highlight shapes to use for reference when painting.

What are contour lines? They are boundary lines–the lines most people draw without thinking. For instance, the line that separates the boundaries of my hair with the background. Now, there is not an actual black line that runs around my hair that keeps it separated from the space behind me. But the fact is, there is a boundary there and it creates an important distinction–this is where my hair stops, and the background begins. Nearly every line seen in a coloring book is a contour line. Think about creating the coloring book version of your image on your canvas. Again, even though you are drawing lines, it is best to think about these lines as boundary lines, not actual lines, because when you are painting, there may be only a slight shift in color or tone, and a line would not accurately represent that boundary.

I also mentioned shadow and highlight shapes. If your subject is smiling, there is a very good chance they will have some shadows defining their cheeks, running from their nose to their mouth. The shape of this shadow is dependent on the shape their cheek makes when they smile, and therefore is something relatively unique to them. Anything that is unique to a person is something you need to carefully consider and try to capture as accurately as possible. It is an opportunity for you to achieve likeness. Instead of drawing a single line in these places, consider drawing the shape that the shadow makes. This is helpful when trying to remember how far to go with the shadow tone. (Where does it start and stop?) These are also boundary lines, and can be considered contours, though they may not be the first ones you think to draw.


Getting Started:

To begin, I usually find a location where one of my subject's contour lines runs almost directly through an intersection on the grid. I start there and begin filling in the grid, contour line by contour line or box by box.

When drawing in general, you want to train yourself to pay just as much attention to the formation of the negative space shapes as the positive space shapes. This means, not only are you wanting to create the right shape for your subject, but also the right shape for the background behind and around your subject. I'll give you an example.

You not only want to be looking at the shapes that make up, say, the sweater that Brooke is wearing, or the shape of my arm...

...you also want to be paying attention to the shapes that are formed between my arm and her sweater, or between my arm and my blouse.

See what I mean? The reason it is important is because positive and negative shapes depend on one another. If one is off the other is going to be off as well.

Now, if you are going to err, it is best to err on the side of the negative shapes, because the positive shape is your subject, and that could get offensive. :) But you get my point, paying attention to the contours of negative spaces should also help you in creating better positive space contours. Just another push and pull that I like.


Another helpful tidbit:

When drawing your contour lines, imagine that every box is divided up even further, like into quarters or eighths. This will help you when you are trying to determine how far a contour line should travel into any one of your grid boxes. Think, "Okay, this line comes down from the left corner to about the center of this box and then slopes down to where it hits the right side about a quarter of the way up." As you get more comfortable, you will not have to think this critically and your brain will begin making all the necessary evaluations and comparisons for you as you go.

For my portrait, I started with the side of my hair, because it travelled down one of my gridlines. Then I moved over, watching both the positive and negative shapes as I drew Lindsay's head. I bypassed her face until the end.

Once I had all of the general contours around our faces and hair, I moved to our bodies.

I had the canvas propped up in my lap while I looked at my reference photo on the screen.

I finished the underdrawing, propped it up, and pulled out my phone to take a snapshot of it for this tutorial. By the time I had unlocked by phone and pulled up the camera app, I saw this on the screen... 

#rolobombing

This was the completed underdrawing. It always looks a little weird, but that is usually because you have lines in places that don't look right without the corresponding tone on either side. Check back over your drawing once you have finished, making sure things are placed as accurately as possible. This way, even if it looks weird, you can be confident you have everything in its place and are ready to go.

A closer shot of our faces.

I hope you found this helpful. Please leave any feedback, questions or comments below. 

Note: Contour line only underdrawing has been common practice for me for years. Just recently, however, I have seen other ways of doing it–using charcoal or pencil to create a tonal under drawing instead of simple contours, then fixing it to the canvas with a fixative or retouching varnish before painting over it. I am likely to start using this new method because it seems to give more opportunity to make compositional and tonal adjustments before diving into the actual painting.  It also seems like it will remove some of the "weird" factor that I mentioned contour drawings sometimes have without their corresponding tonal values. I'll see how this goes for me and hope to do a separate tutorial for it later. 

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Portrait Tutorial Step One: Choosing a Photograph

Welcome! Glad you are joining me for this tutorial. This will be the first of a series of posts on portrait painting. I will be taking you step by step through my process. I am doing this for two main reasons; to help others who may be considering dabbling in portraiture, and to more clearly define (even to myself) the process and steps I go through as I attempt to create a likeness of someone.

Three comments I want to make here at the beginning:

1) This is by no means the only way, or even the best way, to go about completing a portrait. This is simply an explanation of the way I currently do it.

2) I primarily draw and paint commissioned portraits, so I use photographs and attempt to recreate the likeness as best I can. This could be very different from how you want to represent people in your artwork, so keep that in mind. I'll also mention that if I wanted to paint a figure in a painting that wasn't a commission, or at least wasn't commissioned for likeness, I may use a photograph or model as a reference, but I would be much less likely to go through all the steps in this tutorial.

3) This third comment is similar to number two, but different enough that it deserves it own point. My process for painting a portrait differs from my process painting pretty much anything else, particularly in the use of a grid for the under drawing. Capturing likeness is difficult, especially because the essence of a person is usually found in something intangible–a twinkle of the eye, a certain face made when laughing heartily–which may or may not be pronounced in the reference image. Because of this, I have found the use of a grid incredibly helpful in checking and rechecking proportions and placement. The best you can do as an artist, I believe, is to get the likeness as close as possible and hope that the curl of the lip, or the wrinkle in the brow, helps to make that intangible essence a little more tangible.

Choosing a Photograph

The painting can only be as good as the photograph it came from. This is often true, but not always. It is dependent on several things: the artists experience with painting–realistically being able to manipulate a photograph to get a better result takes a lot of practice and understanding, the artists understanding of light–how it interacts with forms and creates reflections and shadows, and the relationship of the quality of the photograph to the style of the artist–a low quality photograph will be unhelpful for a photorealist painter who is trying to achieve likeness using a very tight hand, whereas a looser painter may be able to gain the information needed to create a successful portrait.

When I say "tighter and looser", this is what I am talking about:
A painter who has a "loose hand", paints with larger, more noticeable strokes, whereas a painter with a "tight hand" uses a variety of techniques, including brush sized and blending to make the brush strokes harder to notice. I tend towards a tighter hand myself, but am always fighting to keep my strokes looser. Below are examples of a very similar cat painted by two separate artists. On the left, Dreama Perry painted the cat in a very loose style, while Chris Scalf, to the right, painted this black and white cat very tightly. (Note: Chris Scalf's cat is a digital painting, but the idea is the same.)

There are other factors as well, but overall the saying proves true, a low quality photograph will produce a low quality portrait. The reverse isn't necessarily true, but it should go without saying that experience and skill also play an important role in the success of any portrait. The important thing to know is the better the photograph the client provides–good lighting and a clear view of the subject, especially in regards to what is going on with their eyes–the better they will set themselves and the artist up for a successful portrait with a likeness that everyone can be happy with.

Things to look for:

Some artists are very picky about what they will and will not paint, and may refuse to paint from a photograph the client provides, for a number of reasons. Others prefer to photograph the person themselves if at all possible. I normally ask for several photographs so that I can help to pick the one best suited to portraiture (keeping the following criteria in mind). Sometimes this isn't possible, for instance, if the subject to be painted has passed away, and there are only a few photos, all with say, poor lighting. You just have to do your best at that point. If the client likes the photo as it is, hopefully by recreating the photo to the best of your ability, they will like the painting as well. Having said that, 

here are a few things to look for when choosing a photograph:

Lighting- Because artists draw and paint light (that's basically all it is), having a strong light source, or good overall lighting is very important. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but generally, you want a light source that provides interest by creating a range of tonal values. When I talk about value (more or less synonymous with tone), I  mean the darkness or lightness of a color, not the color (hue) itself. The question to pose is this: If the image was to be converted to black and white, would there be enough variety in it to maintain your interest? It may even be helpful to do this very thing–if you have photoshop or another image editing program, desaturate the photo and see what you think. Does it look "blah", or is it just as striking as it was in color?

A value scale for reference:

Would your photo, if turned into grayscale, exhibit values that run the gamut, or do they tend to hover in a smaller range, say between 2 and 7? A strong image will have a variety of values (tones).

Here's the difference. The first photo set is of a photo that looks at first like it may have a good tonal range, but really, it's the contrasting hues, not the value that catches your eye. If I desaturate the image, you can see that the value range is limited. The lowest steps on the value scale have been almost completely eliminated. 

Conversely, this second image not only has contrast in color (not complementary colors, but still contrasting) it also has a range of values, as you can see in the desaturated portion.

Composition- There is so much to say about composition, and I will not take the time to exhaust the subject, but I will point out a couple of things. Generally, composition is a combination of balancing form, line, shape, color, etc. with creating an area (and possibly secondary areas) of interest–a focal point. It is also helpful to create a pathway that you wish the viewer to take with their eyes, and lead them through. This can be difficult when painting portraits as you may have less control over the composition than you'd like. (One reason it may be a good idea to shoot your own reference photos.) It is important to note that balance does not necessarily equal symmetry, though strict symmetry is a form of balance. I tend to prefer asymmetric balance in compositions myself, but a nice graphic symmetry is nice now and then. Generally, portraits of one person tend to have them large and in the center, creating somewhat of a symmetrical balance. There is a time and place for this type of portrait (I have done many of them myself), but see what you can do to create more interest, or find a photo that has more interest. Maybe there is a flattering photo of the person looking back at you, or maybe there is a neat shot of them in action. If you do have some control over the composition, consider the ever faithful Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds very simply suggests you place your subject, or at least the highest areas of interest at the "power points"–the intersections created by gridding off your paper or canvas into thirds vertically and horizontally. Google "Rule of Thirds" for more information.

 photo credit

Most of the time, however, you will just be given the photo you are given, and you just go with it. Consider though: Would it be possible to crop the image in such a way that the composition is more interesting without losing overall balance? Is there a color that could be shifted to create interest or draw the eye to a focal point you are wanting to emphasize? How about the background? Is there something you can change there, and how would it affect the overall composition? Ultimately, and I may be berated for saying this, the goal is to use your specific style and your specific giftings to serve and bless your client (and create a piece that they will treasure for years to come). If you have to deal with a less exciting composition, I say, "So be it!"


Clarity- This one is pretty obvious, but like I mentioned above, it is best to choose as high quality of a photo as possible. If you are submitted a digital photo, especially one off Facebook, that is low resolution (okay for screens but not necessarily for seeing detail/zooming in) you will only have so much information to work from. Unless the photo is a closeup selfie, you are not going to be able to see the face. And what you cannot see, you cannot paint, with any accuracy anyway. Ask your client to email you the largest file they have of the particular image they want. Try zooming in and out to see if the image contains adequate information. Be honest with your client. It is better for them to know what is going on up front, and have the option of choosing a different photo, than it is for you to frustrate yourself to no end, squinting and guessing, and it turning out unsatisfactory. If you decide to print out the photo, the larger the better, if you ask me. It can also be helpful to print out large details of certain areas like eyes and hands.

Here is an example of a photo off Facebook that looks okay from a distance, but trying to see any details clearly becomes a nightmare. (Yes, this is my husband and I at our wedding, swoon.)

My Photograph

For this tutorial, I will be using this photograph of my two sisters and myself, taken by a dear woman and family friend, Hollie Rouse. She has shot our family photos for several years now, and has done a fabulous job. She is based in Austin, TX and you can find out more about her work here. I want to also take a moment to discuss image permission. Some photographers make prints for their clients, but often continue holding the rights to the actual image (which makes sense, they captured it, it is their art). If this is the case, you will need permission to use their image to create a portrait. All the client needs to do, is contact the photographer of the photo they wish to use and ask if it would be okay by them. It would be preferable to get this in writing, just in case. Copyright issues can be tricky, and it is better to be safe than sorry.

There are a few changes that I will be making as I go along, including things like the background and the color of Brooke's sweater (far right), but overall it will be close to the original.

On a personal note, I love this photograph. It was taken right after a tragic event in my life. My sisters were there for me, at that time, in ways that were not surprising (because I already knew their love for me) but very touching, particularly when I needed them most. It means the world to me to have my sisters near me, and the love that is expressed in this photo by being cuddled all together warms my heart.  I look forward to completing this portrait, but if I'm honest, the level of importance it holds for me makes my blood race a little. 

Well, that's it for Step One in this tutorial series. I hope you join me again next time for Step Two: Choosing a Canvas + Doing the Under Drawing. Have a great week, and don't forget about Thursday's throw back piece.

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