Class Human Figure IV

This UC is about Portrait. Based on drawing by direct observation of the faces of male and female models, the students represent each other.

Aware of the anatomy of the face and its proportion as an adult, each student must represent the face of their classmates (Portrait) and their own face (Self-portrait) using the language of drawing, taking into account the natural scale, composition on the support, verisimilitude, masking, exaggeration (anamorphosis, caricatures and distortions) and expression of emotional states.

Several methodologies are explored in portrait drawing by direct observation: sketching (quick registers); contour and volume drawing (slow register) always taking into account the verisimilitude in relation to the model and the various plastic possibilities of Drawing as an artistic discipline.

The contents of this CU are: Portrait and Self-portrait by direct observation.

Face drawings, quick timed pose:
- Blind contour drawing;

- Expressive drawing;

- Sketches;

- Shared drawing.

Face drawings, longer pose:
- Rigour in the representation of the natural scale and proportion;
- Modelation;
- Contrast;
- Figure/background; centered/decentered; whole/detail;
- Graphic experimentation: ampliation, blurring of contours, face expression/emotion;
- Exploration of the relationship of the face with other objects (props, jewelry, glasses, hats, scarves, phones, earphones, masks) and body parts (hands, arms).

The contents of the program are made according to 3 approaches:

1. Quick exercises;
2. Slow exercises, analytical representation of the face;
3. Thematic graphic diary with 5 drawings per week on details of the face.(1 drawing per page).

The relevant pedagogical methodology in this CU is the individualised monitoring of the student. This approach aims to broaden and stimulate the development of plastic languages, technical processes and critical vision on the results achieved according to the potential of each student. The individualised accompaniment is a decisive support for the objectives to be achieved: technical, plastic and artistic quality of the drawings by direct observation of the model and, in this way, promotes the progression of an authorial language. The critical and self-critical capacity is valued through collective discussions in the classroom where processes and results in the realisation of each exercise are debated, promoting the use of appropriate technical terminologies. These conversations also discuss affinities and differences between the imaginary of colleagues, issues of technical rigour in the chosen media, capacity for experimentation and plastic quality.

BABO, M. A. (2003) Olhando o olhar no retrato. In Revista Comunicação e Linguagens – Imagem e vida, nº 31. Lisboa: Relógio d’Água

DUBUS, P. (2006) Qu’est-ce qu’un portrait?. Paris: Insolite.

GERODEZ, J. (2010). Le nu, modèle vivant. Paris: Eyrolles

JENNY, P. (2014). Desenho anatómico. Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.

MAIA, T. (2009) Assombra. Ensaio sobre a origem da imagem. Lisboa: Assírio & Alvim. 

NANCY, J.-L. (2000) Le Regard du Portrait. Paris: Galilée.

PONTÈVIA, J.-M. (1993, 2ª ed.) La Peinture, Masque e Miroir. Écrits sur l’art et pensées détachées. Périgueux: William Blake & Co.

RAMOS, A. (2010). O desenho da presença. Lisboa: Campo da comunicação.