Coloursoup

By Des Haughton, The Art Academy London

We have all heard of the saying “a picture paints a thousand words“. When an artist paints a portrait he is very aware of this need to communicate, and in the execution of the work the primary aim is to create something that provokes thought in the mind of the viewer. The end result should be something that cannot be easily said with words.

Probably the most admired portrait in the history of western art is the portrait of Pope Innocent X by the Great 16th century Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez. Pope Innocent X trained as a lawyer before becoming pope and was a particularly mean, cunning and cruel person. One could go into long descriptions and lengthy anecdotes describing his cruelty, but thanks to the skill of Velázquez we don’t need to, all we need to do is a look at the portrait.

So what makes a great portrait?

There are three things to look for in a portrait or figurative painting.

1) Vision

Does the artist have a strong vision of what he is trying to convey? Is there a message behind the painting?
” Having a strong vision creates strong imagery, a weak vision will only creates weak imagery”. [Quote source]

2) Technique

Is the subject well painted? Technique is essential in creating a great portrait, and is sometimes overlooked in contemporary work. Some argue that the skill aspect of creating a portrait has little relevance in creating great art – and may even hinder the creative process. I'd argue that the truly great portraits combine great technique with a strong artistic and emotional message.

3) Colour

Does the artist make use of colour effectively in the artwork?
For century’s debates raged about the importance of “Line and Colour in painting the portrait. In Renaissance art colour was sometimes viewed as inferior or secondary to how the artist used lines in a work to express emotion and feeling. The most famous example of this is when Michelangelo criticized Botticelli calling him merely a decorative artist who executed his works with a very good use of colour but possess very little expressive qualities in his works.

In modern work colour has an essential role in conveying the emotional content of a painting. A great example is Van Gogh's “Sunflowers”.

A good portrait combines various sensation triggers to both impress the viewer and convey a deeper message. It takes great skill to marry the artist's vision, technique and use of colour into something rounded, wholesome, and that reminds the viewer of the human condition.