CHAPTER VI.
Crayon is especially adapted to portraiture, on account of the brilliant effects which it is capable of producing, as well as the great softness and delicacy of finish which may be obtained by its use.
Portraits should, of course, always be taken from life if possible, though if the person be an invalid or is for any other reason unable to give many sittings, a photograph may be used for the beginning. The portrait is carried on from this until well advanced; if one or two sittings from life can then be had in finishing, it will be a great advantage, especially in regard to the expression.
In portraits of children a photograph is frequently a great assistance, particularlyif the artist has not had much experience.
In all such cases, however, it is best to decide upon the pose, and sketch it from life, and then have the photograph taken in the pose you have selected.
In this way, the light and shade are arranged to suit the artist, and the pose being decided upon by him, the portrait will have the effect of being drawn from life instead of being merely a copy from a conventional photograph.
In general the effect of light used by photographers is exactly the reverse of that chosen by artists. It will be noticed that ordinary photographs have the greater part of the face either in shadow or covered by strong half-tints.
An artist, on the contrary, in posing a head for a portrait, prefers exactly the opposite arrangement, selecting broad and simple effects of light with only enough shadow to give the necessary variety and relief to the features.
When arranging the preliminaries for aportrait, there are several things to be considered.
In the first place, study the head carefully and see which view is most agreeable. Sometimes features in the same face look differently when seen from opposite directions. Some noses or mouths look well on one side and distorted on the other.
A very broad face should not be given a full front pose, but would look better seen in three-quarter.
A very retreating chin must not be seen in a profile view.
This same pose, however, for a person with a cast in the eyes is preferable, and so on. After all such matters have been considered, see that the head is not thrown up too high, as it will make the nose look short, while lowering the chin too much will make the nose look long. A good rule is that the eyes of the sitter should be on a line with those of the artist as he sits or stands at his work.
The method most generally in use for crayon portraits is that described in thepreceding pages, in which the stump is used. All the old-fashioned ways of stippling and hatching are seldom resorted to, and not considered artistic.
In drawing a life-sized head the artist must not be too far from his subject, the easel being placed about four or five feet distant. It is well to get up and walk back occasionally, looking at the work from a distance so as to see the general effect.
There are several different kinds of paper used for crayon portraits, some artists preferring one make, some another. The ordinary “Lalanne” and “Michelet” papers used for charcoal and crayon studies are a little too rough in texture to please every body, and do not produce quite so fine a finish as is desirable. They come in too small-sized sheets for a large portrait head, for which one wants plenty of room.
This, however, is merely a matter of taste, that can be indulged when one has become sufficiently proficient in the workto judge for himself. We will suggest that Whatman’s crayon paper is one of the most satisfactory; this comes in large sheets, and should be stretched before using in the manner already described. A good sized stretcher for an ordinary portrait is 20×24.
If more of the figure than the shoulders is to be seen, a larger size would be better.
The portrait is first lightly sketched in with charcoal, and if the student is not very proficient in drawing from life it is better to make the first sketch upon an ordinary sheet of charcoal paper.
When all corrections are made, and the general proportions of the face appear to be right, the outline is transferred to the stretcher in the following manner:—
Take the sheet of charcoal paper on which the sketch is made, and with a stick of charcoal “scribble,” so to speak, all over the back, so that the paper is entirely covered behind your sketch.
Now lay this sheet with the face upwardon the clean stretcher, placing it so that the head will come in exactly the right place, neither too high nor too low.
Fasten it with pins at the top and bottom, so that the paper will not slip, and then with a sharp, hard lead-pencil carefully go over the outline, and every important part of the face and head. If the paper should move in the least the whole thing is spoiled, therefore it is best in transferring to lay the drawing upon a table till finished. Remember not to rest the hand heavily upon any portion of the paper except the line to be traced, as every touch leaves a black spot beneath.
On removing the sketch a perfect outline will be found upon the stretcher, which will be a sufficient guide to the proportions and general likeness. Now, with a sharply pointed charcoal stick begin to draw in the head, following the outline, block in the features, massing the shadows in the face and hair.
Do not begin to use the crayon until the general likeness is assured, for thepaper must not be roughened by too much erasing.
Use the soft cotton rag for dusting off charcoal whenever you can, instead of bread, as too much rubbing with bread will grease the paper; for very large spaces, where erasing is necessary, use Faber’s India rubber.
When the crayon is put on, advance slowly, remembering that in a portrait there is much more careful work than in an ordinary life study, and that there are many more things to be considered than merely the drawing. The likeness is to be secured, which is sometimes a difficult thing even for those with experience.
This is accomplished gradually; the student must not always expect to see the likeness in the first sketch; it comes by degrees, as the drawing progresses, and it is a good rule to draw the head in exactly as you see it, emphasizing the salient points, no matter how ugly it may appear. Do not attempt to improve andmodify until the drawing and general likeness are secured.
The expression comes last of all, and with it the beauty. If you attempt to make the face pretty at first, you will weaken the drawing and lose the character. For this reason, many artists make it a rule never to show their portraits until finished. The sitter does not understand the methods of working and is tempted to criticise, which renders the worker timid.
After the head is put in with the crayon and modeled with the stump, in the manner described in a previous chapter, the finishing is carried on with the crayon point, the small stump, and the pointed rubber stump, which is found more useful than bread at the last.
The animated expression is put in the eyes by dark touches in the pupil and under the lids, while sharp lights are accented in the iris and on the eyeball.
The form of the under lid must be carefully studied.
The nose, also, has much to do with the expression; especially the shape of the nostrils, and the direction of the lines at the side of the nose running down to the mouth. Observe whether the nostrils droop downward at the outward edge; this gives a serious expression; if, on the contrary, the line is elevated, it tends to give a bright and animated appearance to the face.
The mouth, of course, is of great importance, and influences the expression more than any other feature; when smiling, the corners are turned upward, and the lines or dimples are curved in an outward direction. In a sad face the corners of the mouth drop downward and the lines grow straight.
If the student learns to look for such indications in many faces, he will find more suggestions of importance to aid him in developing the expression. Without such knowledge, he may accidentally reverse these conditions, and work on blindly, puzzling himself vainly to find out wherehe is wrong and why the expression is just the opposite of what it should be.
In drawing the hair, no matter how elaborate its arrangement, it must be blocked in at first in simple flat masses of light and shade without any attempt at detail. Try, however, to give the general character of the hair in putting in the form of the shadows where they meet the light. In smooth, black hair, the effect will be large masses of black with sharp, clearly-defined high lights.
Light curly hair will have much lighter tone in the shadow and much less brilliant lights.
After the hair is thus laid in with charcoal and the stump, the crayon is taken up.
The half tints are studied and the deep accents of dark put in the shadows, always following the outline of the form of each shadow very carefully.
Avoid putting in a number of lines torepresent hair, as this destroys the effect and means nothing. All details are expressed by carefully rendered light and shade.
In finishing, the high lights are taken out with bread rolled to a point, or if more convenient, the india-rubber stump is used.
Soften the hair where it touches the face, never leaving a hard, dark line. When a tone is too dark, it is not always necessary to use either bread or rubber, but first try rubbing with the stump, which may be found sufficient.
A background gives relief and importance to the head, and should be managed with judgment.
In the first place, never make the background exactly the same value as the head. If the hair is light and the general effect of the face fair and delicate, the background should be darker than the head, though not too dark.
Everything must be harmonious, and a spotty appearance is to be avoided.
For instance, a very light effect of hair and face with a moderately dark dress and a jetty-black background is very bad. Also, a head with black hair, white dress and very light background. All violent contrasts should be avoided.
Put the background in at first with charcoal only, using parallel lines in one direction, then crossing them diagonally. After this take the large stump and rub these lines into one tone, yet leaving a slight suggestion of the lines to show through.
Put in this tone only around the shoulders and lower part of the head, leaving the upper part of the paper bare, or nearly so.
In this way try the effect, working slowly and adding more charcoal as the tone needs to be darker.
When you have decided that the background has the right effect in relation to the head, use the crayon point in the same way as the charcoal, putting in crossedlines and rubbing them together again with the stump until a transparent effect is achieved, which will give atmosphere and relieve the head.
If you get on too much crayon rub it all over with a soft rag. This is an excellent thing to do occasionally, as it softens and unites the whole while making the tone lighter.
Sometimes in finishing, a few touches of the rubber point may be used at the edges of the background and where it softens off at the top. Use the rubber in the same manner as the crayon point, making light lines crossing obliquely.
Remember that hardly any appearance of lines must be seen. When all is done they must be so softened with stump and rag as to present almost the appearance, at a little distance, of an even tone.
In some cases the background may be carried up higher than the middle of the head, but it is very rarely necessary to surround the whole head with it.
Sometimes a very light tone may beput all over the paper with the large stump and rag.
In this case the lines are only used at the darkest part around the shoulders. These matters must be determined by individual taste, and the composition of the portrait, as it is impossible to make general rules for every case.
Never attempt to make landscape backgrounds or effects of drapery and still-life behind a simple portrait head. Every thing should be kept subordinate to the face, which is the most important thing of all. Never use white chalk or crayon with the black in such portraits; take all lights out with bread, or leave the paper clean.
All drapery in a crayon portrait must be treated as simply as possible, being regarded only as secondary in importance to the head, which is, of course, the main object of interest.
All elaborate trimmings or pronounced fashions should be avoided.
Different kinds of material are interpreted by carefully studying the different forms of the lights and shadows in each. For instance, black satin is rendered by large masses of black, as black as crayon can be made with sharp, narrow high lights, so light as to be almost white.
In black silk, the masses of dark are lighter in their general tone, and the lights less sharp and brilliant.
The different colors are represented by lighter or darker tones, as the case may be.
In black velvet, the masses of dark are softer than in satin and not so jetty black, while the lights are less brilliant and more diffused in effect, leaving more half tints than are seen either in silk or satin. In black cloths the lights are quite low in tone and the darks are not very black, no sharp high lights are seen at all, both light and shade taking large and simple forms.
White stuffs, such as lace, muslin, etc.,are also kept simple in effect, and are laid in with a very delicate tone all over the mass of light, and the high lights are taken out with bread.
The shadows should also be delicate and transparent and not too dark. White hair is treated in this way also, the character of the hair being indicated by the form of the lights.
When there is a white cap upon the head or lace of any kind, do not make it too prominent, but carefully study its value in relation to the face.