Advice on drawing portraits by Genie Monday 10 October, 2011

Things that I have learnt about faces and from drawing lots of portraits.

In our minds eye we think that we know what our dearest friends and family look like, but once you put pencil to paper the inaccuracy of our visual memories become apparent. It is almost like we see people from all angles at once in our thoughts, in a way the cubists expressed most accurately what our memories look like, by pulling faces apart and reassembling them in facets from different angles.

I have been trying to draw honest portraits of family, and I have found that due to the sheer size of the portraits, it has been hard for me to neutralize people’s features.  It is the closest that I have come to drawing the people that I love accurately.

To all those drawing portraits I can give the following advice:

- Faces are not symmetrical at all, and age takes a huge toll on symmetry.

- Mouths do not have lines around them; they are merely folds of flesh.

- Eyes and mouths are smaller, and noses are generally shorter than you think, however if you do portraits on commission clients will almost always ask you to make the eyes of their child/horse/dog/cat bigger.

- The features of the face are not only defines by the eyes, nose and mouth, spend as much time contemplating the shape of the face and the lines of the rest of the face.

- The lightest point in the face is the highlight in the eye, it is the only thing that is truly white.

- If you are unsure of where to start, start with the line in the middle of the mouth, this is usually the darkest and hardest line in the face and can be reworked later when you are more comfortable if necessary.

To all those wanting to have their portrait drawn, please do so, it is an amazing experience to see how people interpret you.  Looking at a photograph of yourself comes with so much predetermined ideas about yourself and what you look like. It is almost a therapeutic process to see what you look like to others and what they capture about you.

Nike Colour by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

I often wondered if I could develop an illustration style based on my drawings. I scanned in one of the drawings that I did for NIKE’s head offices in Joburg and started treating it with colours and textures in Photoshop. I must say that I am quite pleased with the result, and I cant wait to take this style even further.

Nike Process by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

The portraits for NIKE have been quite an interesting undertaking and I learnt allot from the process.

Firstly I had round stencils laser cut at the exact sizes that I needed them at the Cape Craft and Design Institute. This is an amazing organization that offers equipment and consultation on all industrial design processes.  It is well worth paying them a visit.

Secondly it was a challenge for me to work as expressively on a small scale as I usually do in my larger drawings. I made several drawings of Caster Semenya, before I eventually loosened up sufficiently and applied the style to Oscar Pistorius.

Then I also experimented with drawing with charcoal powder and sponges. I like this idea and will definitely use it in the further abstraction of my big drawings. 

Nike by Genie Wednesday 05 October, 2011

I was approached by Trigger/Isobar to do portraits for NIKE’s new head offices in Joburg. The portraits are of the talented African athletes Caster Semenya, Oscar Pistorius, Didier Drogba, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Stephen Muzinghi.

The portraits are all done in charcoal on fabriano paper, and are going to be framed in round frames in the shape of medallions.

Thanks to Trigger/Isobar for the opportunity to work with you on this amazing project.