Portraits are created to depict individuals and are usually commissioned by royalty, wealthy patrons, or created by artists for their own purposes. Throughout history, portraits have been created by painters, sculptors, photographers, and filmmakers to represent both real people and deities. The document discusses the evolution of portrait painting from early examples from ancient Mesopotamia and China to works by famous European artists like Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Braque.

1. When do people create
portraits?
and Who creates them?
and Who creates them?

2. Inanna - Female Head from Uruk, c. 3500 3000 BCE
Inanna is currently located in
Baghdad, Iraq
Inanna is the Sumerian
goddess of love, fertility, and
warfare
Can anyone tell me where
Sumer is located?
Inanna is one of the earliest
examples of portraiture, and is
a perfect example of basing
portraits on gods and
goddesses.

3. Portrait bust of a man, 1st century BCE
Roman bust
What term was
coined by the
romans?
Romans were some
of the first people to
create portraits of
people who were not
deities.

4. Court portrait of Emperor Shenzong of Song (circa 10671085), Chinese
What are some
differences in this
portrait and portraits
we have looked at
from western
countries?
This portrait is from the
earliest time period of
surviving Chinese
portraits
Portrait painting in
China probably goes
back to 1000BCE

5. Rembrandt, Portrait of the Artist at His Easel
1660
Rembrandt Van Rijn, Dutch, Is
considered one of the greatest
European portrait painters of all
time
Rembrandt is known for his
highly realistic, well trained style.
Rembrandt is especially known
for his self portraits.
A letter published in 2004 by Margaret S. Livingstone, professor of neurobiology
at Harvard Medical School, suggests that Rembrandt, whose eyes failed to align
correctly, suffered from stereo blindness.[67] This conclusion was made after
studying 36 of Rembrandt's self-portraits. Because he could not form a normal
binocular vision, his brain automatically switched to one eye for many visual tasks.
This disability could have helped him to flatten images he saw, and then put it onto
the two-dimensional canvas. Livingstone theorized that this was an advantage for
the painter: "Art teachers often instruct students to close one eye in order to flatten
what they see. Therefore, stereo blindness might not be a handicap—and might
even be an asset—for some artists."[68]

6. Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Portrait of Dr
Gachet Seated at a Table 1890
Van Gogh, another
Dutch painter, was
known as a post
impressionist, whose
work was seen by few
and liked by fewer.
His work features loose
lines, brush strokes,
and bold colors.
This workwas sold for
$82.5 million in 1990

7. Georges Braque, Head
Braque, a contemporary
of a woman, 1909 a
of Picasso, was also
member of the cubist
movement
Notice the way the
different planes of the
face is abstracted to
emphasize the different
planes on the face
What are some
differences in his work,
and the Picasso works
you havee seen?

8. What other professions can
you think of who create
portaits?
Author
Biographies
Portrait photographer
family portraits
year books
prom pictures
Film makers
Documentaries
Biographical films

9. Assignment: Drawing
facial features

10. establish proportion and
perspective of the eyes and
brow
determine the placement and
movement of the eyebrows,
these are important in
conveying an expression
Develop tones within the eye,
iris, pupil, lids, highlight of the
eye. Highlight will help to give
the eye a glossy wet texture
Finish developing tones
around the eyes, as well as
within the eye, also
completing eye lashes and
brows.

11. establish perspective
of brow, nostrils,
bridge, and tip
establish different
planes of the nose
look for obvious dark
tones and begin
adding tones from
there
develop the darkest
tones and soften
where lighter tones
meet highlights.

12. establish perspective,
determine where
highlighted areas are
develop the form and
texture, between the
two lips is he
strongest line
build tones and and
any highlights with
eraser

13. determine position of
ear on the head
create main lines and
forms within the ear
develop the forms of
the ear, look for
darkest darks and
lightest lights.