In general the effect of light used by photographers is exactly the reverse of that chosen by artists. It will be noticed that ordinary photographs have the greater part of the face either in shadow or covered by strong half-tints.
An artist, on the contrary, in posing a head for a portrait, prefers exactly the opposite arrangement, selecting broad and simple effects of light with only enough shadow to give the necessary variety and relief to the features.
When arranging the preliminaries for a portrait, there are several things to be considered.
In the first place, study the head carefully and see which view is most agreeable. Sometimes features in the same face look differently when seen from opposite directions. Some noses or mouths look well on one side and distorted on the other.
A very broad face should not be given a full front pose, but would look better seen in three-quarter.
A very retreating chin must not be seen in a profile view.
This same pose, however, for a person with a cast in the eyes is preferable, and so on. After all such matters have been considered, see that the head is not thrown up too high, as it will make the nose look short, while lowering the chin too much will make the nose look long. A good rule is that the eyes of the sitter should be on a line with those of the artist as he sits or stands at his work.
The method most generally in use for crayon portraits is that described in the preceding pages, in which the stump is used. All the old-fashioned ways of stippling and hatching are seldom resorted to, and not considered artistic.
In drawing a life-sized head the artist must not be too far from his subject, the easel being placed about four or five feet distant. It is well to get up and walk back occasionally, looking at the work from a distance so as to see the general effect.
There are several different kinds of paper used for crayon portraits, some artists preferring one make, some another. The ordinary “Lalanne” and “Michelet” papers used for charcoal and crayon studies are a little too rough in texture to please every body, and do not produce quite so fine a finish as is desirable. They come in too small-sized sheets for a large portrait head, for which one wants plenty of room.