Portrait and Figure Study
Domain 8: Portrait and Figure Study
This domain tests proportional accuracy, structural understanding and sensitive value control in the head and figure. Expect questions on facial placement, the head as a volume, gesture and skin tone.
Proportion
The adult figure is about seven-and-a-half heads tall. In a frontal head, the eyes sit at the vertical midpoint; the nose base is halfway from eyes to chin; the mouth is about one-third from nose to chin; the ear runs from brow to nose base. Eye width is roughly one-fifth of face width. The neck is narrower than the jaw, and shoulders span about two head widths. In three-quarter view the centre line curves, the far eye narrows and the far ear moves toward the profile edge. Use a Loomis-style sphere and jaw planes to build the skull.
Figure and colour
Find the line of action first, then gesture, then masses. Contrapposto shifts weight to one leg and tilts shoulders against hips. Foreshortening compresses forms toward the viewer. Skin has local colour, warm light, cool shadow and reflected colour; avoid a single flesh tone. Hair and clothing are masses with direction, not outlines.
Worked example
Three-quarter head: draw a sphere, slice the side planes, place the brow line and the vertical centre curve, then set eyes at midpoint. The near eye is wider and the far cheek disappears. Reasoning: the head is a box-sphere; features follow the curve of the form, not a flat template.
Traps
Do not place eyes too high; do not draw symbols for eyes and lips; do not flatten the cheek plane; do not paint skin without shadow temperature.