Portrait Art Definition

Portrait artworks can be anything from a sculpture to a painting or photography that specifically contains a face. Traditionally, portraits include an individual, group, or self-portrait. They mainly depict the head and shoulder, half or full body. 

What Is A Portrait?

A format of the printed image which is higher than its width is known as a portrait. Unlike landscapes, portraits are longer and have more vertical length. When holding the camera upright with the longer edge running up and down, that's portrait orientation. Portrait orientation is the opposite of landscape orientation. 

What Is A Portrait Art?

Portraits are an artistic way of representing people. There are different modes of creating portraits; from traditional oil painting to sculptures, photographs, and other forms of media. In most cases, portraits show part figures, usually from head to shoulders, however, there is no restriction for having whole figures as portraits. They can be an individual portrait or a group portrait. 

What Makes A Picture A Portrait?

Portrait photography is also known as portraiture. It is a kind of photography where the artist holds the camera upright in a way that the longer edge runs up and down; that’s a portrait orientation. The aim of portrait photography is to capture the essence and personality of the person or group being photographed, using several lighting effects, poses, and backdrops.

Types Of Portraits

There are ten types of portraits:

1. Traditional portraits;
2. Candid portraits;
3. Lifestyle portraits;
4. Glamour portraits;
5. Conceptual portraits;
6. Self-portraits;
7. Close up portraits;
8. Group portraits;
9. Environmental portraits;
10. Pet portraits;

What is a Portrait of a Person?

Portraits are a visual representation of a person which can be created in any artistic medium. Portraits of people are often in traditional oil paintings, and more recently photographs. However, sculpture and even mixed media artworks can also be portraits.  A portrait of a person does not always have to be depicted in portrait orientation. A portrait is both subject and orientation, some portraits can be in landscape orientation.

Does a Portrait Have to be a Face?

A portrait does not always have to be a face. Famous portraits like the Mona Lisa often focus on the face. But while many portraits often show only part of their subject, usually the face or head and shoulders, they can also depict the subject’s whole figure.

Can A Portrait Be Full Body?

Although full-body portraits require a lot more hard work than photographing head and shoulders does, there are still full-body portraits. What makes full-body photography difficult is the reason that incorporating full body in the portrait orientation while maintaining the focus on posing your model, choosing the right kind of lens, and the fact that full-body portraits require a lot more complex camera angles, lights, and setting time. 

What is a Faceless Portrait?

Traditionally a portrait would always include the subject’s face. However as art grew more experimental and pushed boundaries, artists looked for other ways to depict a subject without painting or otherwise capturing their face. 

The absence of facial features in a portrait can leave an artwork open for interpretation. For example, viewers may be able to more strongly see themselves in a faceless portrait and identify with an artwork. Faceless portraits may be cropped so the face is outside the frame or canvas, or the face may be obscured, as can be seen in Renee Magritte’s famous painting “The Son Of Man” which obscures the subject’s face with an apple.

What Are The 4 Categories Of Portrait?

1. Constructionist Portraiture: this category is the most recent form of portrait photography. It revolves around photographers directing and creating an imaginary moment with their props through different poses.
2. Candid Portraiture: this category refers to capturing random live pictures of people without informing them. Candid portraits do not require any poses or prior preparation of the subject.
3. Environmental Portraiture: the perfect combination of construction and candid into a single portrait gives out environmental portraiture. The photographer captures environmental portraits by providing the subject with a certain direction, however, the moments captured are totally candid.
4. Creative Portraiture: although each aspect of photography is equally creative, creative portraiture refers to images involving different frame techniques by using several frames at once. The final images are also known as composite images. The photographs in this field are heavily edited to make them look creative.

What Makes A Strong Portrait?

There are five main elements that make a good strong portrait:

1. Location;
2. Composition;
3. Technical setup;
4. Lighting;
5. Feels and emotions.

When all five of these are combined under one photography, the result is a good-quality portrait. 

What Is Portrait Size?

There are different portrait sizes for different photographs. They can either be 8x10, 4x6, or 5x7 depending on what purpose your photograph will serve. The smallest size can be as small as 4x6 and the largest can be as big as 12x18.