My Favorite Way To Get The Right Proportions For a Portrait

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Hi, I am the son of two artists and began painting in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia before I could walk. I was a rare combination of artist and athlete so I moved to Los Angeles in 2008 to play football for USC. I left the team my sophomore year to focus on painting and filmmaking, applying the same focus and discipline from my football career to my art. I primarily work in oils, and spend most free days painting "en plein air" in my new home of Sarasota Florida.
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[theart]

I paint for a living, and I must say, your a really good teacher. You say things that I have never been able to put into words.

[Pavelek]

It's uplifting to see that PROs are still struggling with the same things as beginners do :) Overcome problems with confidence built by experience, that's the main diference :)

[spiritscraft]

As a beginner I used to make the mistake of completely finishing one eye before starting the other and I could never get them to match! Working large to small amd general to details all over the picture in stages is so muchbetter fir getting a good likeness. Much easier to catch mistakes early and correct them too.

[dorryrice]

You are a great artist - your portraits are magic, but if possible, you’re an even better teacher. You have the ability to remember your journey and communicate it to us! You know where you had a problem and figured out most of us would have the same issue. I’m on the patronnpag3, and I love faces, so when I can manage it, your portrait course is next.

[ktuukk]

just wanted to start a painting, been struggling to get the proportions on my sketch right and tadaaa, you uploaded the solution for all my problems :DD such a magician <3

[emilleum]

This is ret., military disabled from numerous combat injuries. I think you are a great painting teacher, but when you broke your value steps down into images that I could print-out. That is so much more valuable for me because I have troubles having to stop and start the videos. For people like me, please do more of these for others like me. I can also use theses to help me work-out other portraits, thank you,
MSG Leum

[themishening]

I thought I was alone with using this method! I like to get a rough sketch down, block in then sculpt away the mistakes. Perfect measuring has never been my strong suit and I used to be really bothered by it until I found this technique.

[grghkllb]

Hey Chris, been watching you for a few years now and noticed you're really starting to come into your own as an artist, especially portraits. Nice job, looking forward to seeing what you do in the future.

[StClair]

This video appeared on my YouTube screen and for some reason I decided to watch it and this guy is an excellent teacher. I paint in watercolor (used to paint in oils) but still found value in what was presented.. I have a proportional divider and have found it an incredibly useful tool. Also, his method of painting is solid and good to think about even when using watercolor light to dark. Creating a poster sketch first is a good way to work for that (he makes me miss painting in oils). Just keeping the concepts in mind is helpful and I like the way he presents them in a no nonsense way. He seems to have a fresh memory of having learned himself which is great for helping people who are just starting out.

[stardustgirl]

It's a lot of effort to get a painting right ❗ Patience is 🗝️ key! I can't paint on a day I can't sit still! Painting 🎨🖌️ dosen't come naturally, I have to work at it, unlike my Father who could paint anything! He passed away and he never got to help me with 🎨 but he was very talented!

[daveemilio]

Great video. So well explained and stresses the importance of being able to draw. ( a weakness I’ve developed from not drawing enough)

[RatusMax]

This method just works better. I leaned towards this when I started 2 years ago. Now thinking about it, It's kind of like calculus lol. (Hopefully that didn't scare you away. ) As the shapes get smaller and smaller, the painting looks more like the reference. (This is similar to how calculus works, as we keep splitting the squares under the curve to fit it, it starts to approximate the area under it)The thing is, if one get's very good at this shape building, they should realize it doesn't ever have to be detailed. As one looks at the painting, the question being asked is (whether they know it or not) "How little do I have to put in this painting to get the brain to fill in the rest of the information." I think that might be what Sargant was trying to accomplish.

You know those magicians, pranksters, swindlers, neuroscientists, artists, game developers, etc? They all craft/find ways to make the brain overloaded with information (get the brain to focus on something else while having it ignore everything around it.), fill in things that are missing (The brain will sometimes try to fill in information from previous experiences of what it knows to be there), and just build on the known illusions/brain hacks the brain does to function in the world.

The question I first asked myself when I started painting is "How can I get the likeness exact?" now ask myself is "How can I fool my brain into thinking these things are what I know with as little information as possible?"

Watch a video called "The image you can only see once" on YT. It got me thinking, "Why waste time putting all the details in when the brain can do it for me?" The brain (at least mine lol) loves being engaged by filling it in as well.

Most artists over the years know this consciously or unconsciously. When you start asking yourself how to trick the brain, the paintings can take a different feel to them. Random garbled mess up close can become order in the brain because one has found the key to perfectly allow it to fill in the information well.

I don't have that skill yet lol not for another 3-5 years probably. I am still messing around with perspective and composition lol.

[vartanarakelian]

I am a begginer and this is great especially I was struggling measuring with pencil, but Proportional Divider is the best I think.

[julianaolejkova]

Thank you for your videos and for the possibility that thanks to you I look at the art from a different perspective. I always find motivation not to give up after watching it. ( I apologize If my grammar is not correct. Greet from Slovakia)

[superkeyman]

Man ! Been painting for years living in Ireland and found your videos soo! Refreshing and teaching the right way, to be honest and objective and learn for mistakes we all make 👍

[juliebabb]

Hey Chris, appreciate your simple straight forward approach.

[graces]

Thanks for the tutorial it was very helpful.

[AnimalArtbyTerraCotta]

I never really knew how to use that proportional divider and get the basic coordinates. I hate gridding and so this will be so useful! Thanks! 🥰

[kimvirginia]

Youtube randomly tossed this video at me. I thought, “I’ll give it one minute” — You immediately drew me in and I enjoyed watching the whole thing. Excellent instruction. Thank you.

[jeanetteclark]

Am ordering a proportional divider. Wish I had known about this tool years ago! Thanks so much! I know it’s gonna be much better than what I’ve been doing. Like you, I’ve tried just about everything to get that proportion right. Thanks for your advice and expertise, you’re a very good teacher! I enjoy your videos.