Growing Body Syndrome

This is another Tuesday evening portrait.

She is suffering from what one drawing book referred to as "growing body syndrome." We (or I) usually start with the head and in this syndrome the rest of the body gets bigger and bigger as we come down the page. A slight exaggeration can give a weight to the bottom of the composition as well as a monumental feeling. I also like to take a slightly lower viewpoint, sitting in a chair with the model on a model stand; this gives the resulting portrait a nice feeling of importance.

We are so interested in other people and spend so much time looking at them that even a mistake of half an inch or a quarter of an inch can create a proportion problem that is readily visible to a viewer. If they can see it and we can see it (when we are finished) why do we miss it when we draw it?