個性こせいを捉とらえる似顔絵にがおえ技法ぎほう――特徴とくちょうの把握はあくと観察かんさつの重要性じゅうようせい

The face accurately represents a persons true character, and that is what we call a portrait.

What I can say is that the biggest secret to painting a portrait is to accurately capture the subject’s most prominent features.

For example, in the case of men, just capturing main features like glasses or a beard, or for women, the shape of the face or the mouth, sometimes allows us to easily recognize a person with just a few lines.

For example, when it comes to politicians, the late Prime Minister Yoshida was notable for his glasses and mouth, the late Prime Minister Kishi for his mouth, the late Prime Minister Sato for his eyebrows and eyes, and the late Prime Minister Tanaka for his mustache. These can be considered the most distinctive features of each individual.

Generally speaking, people with strongly distinctive facial features may be said to have unbalanced faces in a negative sense, but that is precisely why they leave a strong impression at first glance and are easy to recognize.

Therefore, when painting a portrait, what is important is not to stare intently at the persons face, but to observe and cherish the fleeting impression.

If you focus too much on the details, you may sometimes lose sight of the essential features.

Especially when drawing a portrait based on a photograph, it can be difficult to capture the visual features because the photograph itself does not always necessarily resemble the actual person.

There are also people whose facial features are not particularly distinctive.

In this case, at first glance, it may seem difficult to draw a portrait, but in fact, having no distinctive features is precisely that persons distinguishing characteristic.

When I paint portraits of such people, I often end up painting portraits of several people around them at the same time.

At that moment, that persons face naturally stands out with its own unique individuality when placed alongside others.