Painting a portrait

[Toby Frost]

I'm vaguely writing a story in which a character's portrait is painted. The problem is that I've just realised, several thousand words in, that I've no idea how this is done. Presumably, preliminary sketches would be taken, and they would be used as the basis of a larger picture, but I'm not sure what occurs beyond that.

Can anyone point me to a detailed description of portrait-painting, preferably applicable to about 1600?

Thanks!

 

[The Judge]

Can't help you with anything detailed, or non-detailed for that matter. I think, though, it very much depends on your artist, what medium he is working in, whether he's painting on wood or canvas or direct onto a wall, where he trained/who he trained with, current fashions in portraiture, whether we're talking a miniature or a full-length affair, and his own habits, bad or otherwise. Things will also vary depending on the sitter and his/her wealth/power/prestige/time available.

For instance, I recall reading that Holbein required only one or two sittings but he made very detailed preliminary drawings, not mere sketches, and he then worked from those. Other artists have insisted on dozens of sittings -- Lucien Freud, I think, was one. Yet others might complete the work from a mannequin dressed in the appropriate clothes, rather than have the sitter him/herself there. In the past some famous -- or then-famous -- artists would only do the face and leave the rest of the body and the background to an apprentice or journeyman in his studio.

I think you could pretty well justify any arrangements, especially if your main character is only the sitter, not the artist -- he/she won't then be expected to know much or even if the artist's methods differ from the norm. Perhaps, though, it might help if you find an artist from the 1600s whose work you like and research him in a little detail.

I've read a couple of historical novels in the last year whose main characters have been artists. I can't actually recommend either one, unfortunately, but you might like to glance at them to see if they help. The first was about Hans Memling, who lived a good bit earlier than your 1600, since he died 1494, but the novel did, necessarily, deal a bit with his art and technique -- The Master of Bruges by Terence Morgan. Also too early for you, the second had Leonardo da Vinci as a protagonist (as well as Niccolo Machiavelli and Cesare Borgia) and though it was mainly concerned with politics and warfare, and hence his mechanical ideas/devices, I think it has him sketch/paint Borgia's mistress at one point -- The Ground is Burning by Samuel Black.

 

[Toby Frost]

Thanks. The portrait-painting is part of an attempt to write a fantasy story where not much happens – at least, not much real action. Basically, the painter, who is the POV character, is brought by a diplomatic party to paint the picture of a princess, who is the daughter of a ruler with whom they want to make a treaty. Both daughter and painter are “out of the loop” but, during their conversations, we learn about the painter’s background and the truth about the daughter’s forthcoming marriage. Although the daughter innocently befriends the painter, the painter comes to realise that the things she’s been told may put her life in danger. This would be an important part of a larger story, with the painter as one of a few lead characters.

I agree that the painter could probably get away with a lot. What’s more worrying is that the sitter might not be there for some of it – she might just provide a mannequin and only turn up to have her face painted. But I can work round that. Court life is deadly dull (or deadly and dull) so she’d probably like having someone to talk to.

Anyway, it’s probably rather ambitious, given the lack of space-ants and explosions, but you’ve got to try something new every so often.

 

[Vertigo]

Anyway, it’s probably rather ambitious, given the lack of space-ants and explosions, but you’ve got to try something new every so often.

What not even any lemmings?

 

[SciFrac]

The painter runs out of yellow ochre and has to harvest it from space ants. Boom! The action plot explodes.

 

[The Judge]

Had another think about this, and particularly what well-known European artists were active around 1600.

There's El Greco, and though his figures always seem to me to be stretched too far to be realistic, he did this lovely portrait of a woman. And this one of his son may be of interest re the artists materials. Caravaggio is probably a bit extreme in both his life and art to be of help, but I wonder if Rubens might be the right kind of artist for you, in his early years, that is, such as this portrait, before acres of rather chubby female flesh became something of an obsession. (Interestingly enough, he was engaged in diplomatic missions later in his life, and according to Wikipedia: After the end of the Twelve Years' Truce in 1621, the Spanish Habsburg rulers entrusted Rubens with a number of diplomatic missions. In 1624 the French ambassador wrote from Brussels: "Rubens is here to take the likeness of the prince of Poland, by order of the infanta" -- reminiscent of your plot!)

Rootling around further I found this site, which might be of help regarding techniques and materials for that time period Rubens palette, painting materials, technique, bibliography. Other historic technique pages, Lala Ragimov.

Hope some of that is of help/interest.

 

[sknox]

Different artists work differently, but a common approach is to sketch, directly on the canvas. Or wood or whatever surface you care to use. Canvas was in use by 1600.

The sketch is used mainly for composition, deciding on the pose, background, lighting. Once that is in place, then you go for the oils. It's easy enough to blend and touch up oils, but making a major change, such as having the subject sitting rather than standing, would be pretty difficult. Hence the sketching at first.

Doing separate sketches is called doing studies. He wouldn't likely be doing that. One does studies of anything and everything; it's the artist's version of practicing scales on the piano. Your artist would have books upon books of these filled with faces, bodies, hands, feet, everything, in every imaginable angle and pose and emotion. But those all stay home when called in to do a portrait. All those studies have schooled the eye and the hand.

So, sketches. Good for an hour or even a few days, depending on how long you want to draw it out. Then the actual painting process. You can even have delays because the light is wrong (a storm outside, for example). Another good delay is the paint itself. Artists were still mixing their own, so your MC could run out of something and have to wait. Oh, and give some thought to the room itself. The artist needs to see his canvas, but he also wants the light falling a certain way on his subject.

Finally, there's the patron. Not the woman, but her father or whoever is paying for this. Sometimes they had specific demands. I want stags in the background! More gold on her dress! Whatever. Good for secondary conflict.

hth!

 

[tinkerdan]

I have no idea if this will help but it sure is interesting.

Portrait Art: History, Types

Portrait Art: History, Types

 

[millymollymo]

My sister's an artist. She draft sketches on rough first, especially the trickery aspects of the piece. Though she doesn't often work in paper format any more she maintains the process she adopted. These drafts you'll find around the outskirts of the paper (or digital space) then "second draft" will have the main piece in pencil (if working in that medium) much like a draft of written work, re-sketched several times on the same sheet. Colours are then tested and she commits to a overall draft. The advantage of digital work is it can be removed/reworked a lot easier that oil on canvas can be.

 

[Toby Frost]

Thanks guys. I'm not especially connected to the year 1600: to be honest, what matters is that it's not based on the medieval period but some vague cannons-and-mercenaries period after that. This should give me the opportunity to put in a lot of conflict, which isn't easy since it's about two people sitting in a room, one of whom is rather timid.

 

[The Judge]

I don't know if this is still an issue, Toby, but I'm just reading Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier which might be of interest. A fictional look at Vermeer's household and his art, it's set in the 1660s and has a wealth of detail about creating the setting, the grinding of pigments, and the application of the ground colours and the thin glazes on top. There's also some interesting stuff about the use of a camera obscura, and there's been a documentary and a couple of books on that.

 

[Toby Frost]

Thanks - it's still relevant, although the details are to an extent background to the story itself. But I'll try and get hold of a copy. Those sound like the details I need.

A while ago I saw a very interesting documentary about the camera obscura, presented by David Hockney. I suspect that he exaggerated its importance, but it was useful anyway.