Art Focus On The Features

Savannah Kerwitz Painting 2 Art Periodical Block B Focus on the Features

Focus on the Features by Paul Leveille helps aspiring artists to understand the basic structures of all various facial features go a long way to achieve a realistic depiction. While all facial features share basic similarities, each face has subtle and not so subtle differences. Like any portrait, it starts with the eyes and works its way out. The eyes hold emotion and feelings of a person, and often they say more than words. The muscles and skin around the eyeball is what actually reveals expressions in someones face, and Leveille shows how different shapes give off different feelings. To make eyes look to one side or the other you create a teardrop shape with the skin around the eyeball. Attention to detail makes for entirely different expressions and feeling in faces. Such as in box C when the eyelid is open and has folded up under the brow a shadow forms and were are looking at the person from straight on. The nose is one of the most distinctive features of the human head and gives faces depth and character. Leveille goes into his technique of creating noses such as the put the highlight on the skin on the bond of the upper nose, and it will make it appear to come forward. Leveille even includes how to create a nose in just three steps, first to create a wedge shaped series of planes, to create the rounded form of the bridge and nostrils, and shade in the light and dark areas. Next we have the ear. In profile the top of the ear is in line with the eyebrow and the bottom lines up with the base of the nose. When creating the nose it is suggested to focus on the lobe, bowl and rim and search for individual characteristics in

these areas. Lastly the mouth which I personally find the most difficult part of drawing faces. It is the faces most animated feature because it is constantly moving with expressions and emotions. The share from lips come from the teeth and bone the lips wrap around. The upper lip consists of three shapes and is at a steeper gradient while the lower lip is normally thicker and made of two shapes. While I enjoy drawing all parts of the face I believe my favorite is the eyes because paintings and drawing look so much more alive or realistic when the eyes are done well. I haven't drawn ears much because most of the time whomever I've been drawing has hair covering their ears, but in my next portrait I am excited to definitely try it, and all these other techniques. Reading how someone else starts and works through their art is always interesting because everyone has their own routine and way of looking at things. I think Leveille definitely did a really good job in all these facial sketches, I can get the idea of the different emotions behind the fetaures, and can imagine that the rest of their faces would look like.