Getting the knack of Frankii

Drawing a portrait and getting a likeness are very exacting skills. When we have the privilege of a live model I like to start the session with the head seen at a series of different angles. Not only as a warm-up, but as opportunity to really appreciate the face as something living – something a photo doesn’t give you.

In all the examples here you can see the process of getting to know the face. All the poses were around 5 to 7 minutes – except for the last one which was over 10 minutes – and you can see how it is usually the last drawing that most comes alive and appears most like Frankii.

These sequences always remind me of family photos of famous people: you scan them to see which is the actual person, as opposed to siblings who share some family features…