7 REASONS WHY PORTRAIT PAINTING HAS ALWAYS AN EDGE OVER PHOTOGRAPHY AND TECHNOLOGY

7 REASONS WHY PORTRAIT PAINTING HAS ALWAYS AN EDGE OVER PHOTOGRAPHY AND TECHNOLOGY

Portraits are works of art that record the likenesses of humans or animals that are alive or have been alive. The word portraiture is used to describe this category of art.

Rabindranath Tagore in his thirties, painting by Abanindranath Tagore,

The purpose of a portrait is to memorialize an image of someone for the future. It can be done with painting, photography, sculpture, or almost any other medium.

Some portraiture is also created by artists purely for the sake of creating art, rather than working on commission. The human body and face are fascinating subjects that many artists like to study in their personal work.

Types of Portraits in Art

One could speculate that the majority of portraits are created while the subject is still alive. It may be a single person or a group such as a family.

Portrait paintings go beyond simple documentation, it is the artist's interpretation of the subject. Portraits can be realistic, abstract, or representational.

A painted portrait today is often seen as a luxury, even more than it was in previous centuries. They tend to be painted for special occasions, important people, or simply as artwork. Due to the cost involved, many people choose to go with photography instead of hiring a painter.

A "posthumous portrait" is one that is rendered after the death of the subject. It can be achieved by either copying another portrait or following instructions of the person who commissions the work.

Many artists also choose to do a "self-portrait." It is a work of art depicting the artist created with their own hand. These are typically made from a reference photo or by looking in a mirror. Self-portraits can give you a good sense of how an artist views themselves and, quite often, it is rather introspective. Some artists will regularly create self-portraits, some just one in their lifetime, and others will not produce any.

Portraiture as Sculpture

While we tend to think of a portrait as a two-dimensional piece of artwork, the term can also apply to sculpture. When a sculptor focuses on just the head or the head and neck, it is called a portrait. The word bust is used when the sculpture includes part of the shoulder and breast.

Representative Portraiture

Sometimes a portrait includes inanimate objects that represent the subject's identity. It doesn't necessarily have to include the subject itself.

The Size of Portraits

Portraiture can come in any size. When a painting was the only way to capture a person's likeness, many well-to-do families chose to memorialize people in "portrait miniatures." These were often done in enamel, gouache, or watercolour on animal skin, ivory, vellum, or similar support. The details of these tiny portraits—often just a couple of inches—are amazing and created by extremely talented artists.Portraits can also be very large. We often think of paintings of royalty and world leaders hanging in enormous halls. The canvas itself can, at times, be larger than the person was in real life.Yet, the majority of painted portraiture falls in between these two extremes. Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa (ca. 1503) is probably the most famous portrait in the world and it was painted on a 2-foot, 6-inch by 1-foot, 9-inch poplar panel. Many people do not realize how small it is until they see it in person.

Portrait of Vincent Van Gogh, 1886, by John Peter Russell

"There is no greater work of Art than a great Portrait" Henry James

Imagine the time when photography did not come into being, it was only the portrait artists who were the only means of recording the appearance of people. Photography could never dwindle portrait painters. The art of portraiture is more popular than ever.

Artists have proven this fact to themselves many times over. They have been doing portraits for many years, and have found that portraiture is the easiest way for them to make living doing what they love to. They also regard it as one of the best methods to promote themselves as an artist. Why is portraiture still a common art form, despite advances in technology from digital art, Photoshop-manipulated images and portrait studios?

Here are some of the reasons for the undying popularity of portrait art:

1. Portrait Paintings are loved for being an art-treasure

In spite of the popularity of photography-portraits and digital art, people still love a painted or drawn portrait. As it is a combination of artwork and a visual record of the person, people prefer hand-painted portraits as a treasure than photographs or digitally manipulated ones. A painted portrait is a process of a time period, multiple sessions of seating finally result in an art piece. During the course of painting a portraitist put all his/her expertise in the layers of paints and strokes on the canvas, not simply to create an image of a person but to create emotions. This is an attribution what hand painted portrait can bring about what a momentary camera snapshot cannot capture.

2. Portraits can be a thoughtful, original gift

Imagine a person close to your heart unwrapping a gift from you, on a special day, eyes bedewed in tears, speechless simply looking at a portrait of his/her special moment you have gifted just now. It’s virtually a thought that you have made to him/her as a treasure-gift to cherish ever.

3. Portrait-art often stays on the wall indefinitely

While photographed portraits typically get replaced for updated ones, the painted portrait is often a more permanent fixture for a wall, and may even turn into a type of heirloom. With the passage of time a digital image can fade out and lose its worth but a canvas with high-quality paint is permanent support running generations together.

4. Portrait speaks about an artist.

5. Commissioning a portrait is a maturity in thought reflecting one ’s test.

6. Hand-painted portraits are appreciated by society for being an artwork.

7. A portrait is a mark of respect.