Learning from portraits

If you’re seeking a good likeness in a portrait drawing, the contours and spaces have to be right.

The distance between the eyes. The distance between the nose and the cheek’s edge. The distance between each feature. The contour of the chin. The placement and shape of the hairline. The shape of the brow.

When all these things come together, a drawing can look a lot like the subject. When they’re off, the drawing looks like another person.

But all these details serve as a poor reminder of who we are. Yes, it’s how we look at a given moment in time. But what’s a shifting hairline? What’s an elongated ear? A wrinkle or a jowl?

All these are nothing but a passing physical manifestation.

And we are so much more than that.

Absent what the eyes see of your physical self, what makes a good likeness of you?