Portrait Drawing Tip 77
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How to apply proportions in portrait drawing
A good portrait is well-proportionate. Any distortions in proportions of a head and face result in a distorted portrait. While some distortions are unavoidable, like foreshortening in perspective, for example, other distortions can be minimized. To draw a realistic portrait, an artist has to know a classical canon of head and face proportions. Not every model has a "classical" head, but it is not about drawing an idealized portrait, but using such proportions to understand the deviations from them. There are two aspects of applying proportions in portrait drawing - you need to know such proportions to know what to measure from life and also you need to know the classical canon of proportions to understand how your model deviates from that canon. This way, you will be able to check whether your portrait has any mistakes as well as it will be much easier to memorize your model's individual features and draw a portrait from memory.
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