In this commentary we imagine that you draw directly from life or from a appropriate photo. In other words, we imagine that you do not use the so-called grid technique. This technique relies on a grid drawn both on the photo of your subject as well as your drawing paper. If this is so, the first thing you will do is to produce a line-drawing. And the very first part of your line-drawing will consist of drawing the so-called arabesque. In pencil portrait drawing, the arabesque is defined as the complete positive shape of your subject's head. In other words the arabesque is the outer contour of the head. The arabesque includes the proportions, the shape, and the symmetry of the head. This means that the arabesque communicates pretty much an overall likeness of your subject and often a great deal of emotional content. In trying to realize the arabesque we meet our first test as an artist. That is, the test of "seeing the reality". Indeed, when we observe an entity a complex mental process is started which in part falls short of the level of accuracy necessary to produce an satisfactory portrait. The mind, for good reasons (one is to maintain our sanity), immediately replace the very complex object with the an icon it has stored since childhood. For instance, we all know how a child draws a house. It really is more like an icon of a house. But this is what the mind tends to bring up and often even adults draw a house like they did as a child. Clearly, it is these iconic preconceptions (a left brain phenomenon) that are the enemy of the artist. You must train yourself to ignore those icons and really see what the reality of, for example, a house is. Generally, learning to draw involves the reprogramming of the mind's eye. To this end, there is a skill-set that has been developed over the centuries since the Renaissance. Applying this new found skill to the arabesque is particularly significant. "Drawing" the arabesque is maybe the most significant step in the production of a good likeness. Once you have this skill down path all the rest will follow fairly easily. The first step in striking a proper arabesque is to force your eyes slightly out-of-focus. This condition is called observing with a "soft eye". With a soft eye proportions and shape are more easily seen. It also helps you to avoid the invocation of the iconic preconceptions we talked about. To train your eye to better your powers of seeing you must always draw first and correct second. There is very little to gain from pre-measuring. The habit of pre-measuring of the size of your subject's head will hold you back in the long run. When striking the initial arabesque at all times use short straight, i.e., architectonic lines. This will impart a sense of the head's structure and the shape of the underlying bones and tissues. Note that round or curving lines are iconic preconceptions. Also keep in mind the symmetry of the head. The term "symmetry" in the context of drawing and painting does not so much refer to the correspondence of two parts but more to the beauty that comes from proper proportioning and rhythm. After striking the arabesque (without doing any measurements) you can correct the proportions. Take a measure of the primary width (i.e., the width of the arabesque across the brow line) and set it off vertically starting at the bottom of the chin. The end point of the width typically ends up somewhere close to the middle of the hair. The idea is to decide exactly where that end point is at. Best is to judge the smallest of the following two distances: (1) the vertical distance from the brow line up to the end of the measure; (2) the vertical distance from the end of the measure up to the arabesque. The smallest distance is likely to be the most accurate. Do not forget, the arabesque encompasses the entirety of the head including the hair. With practice your eyes will develop this critical skill. Then, once the proportion and shape of the arabesque have been established you are ready to continue with locating the so-called landmarks.
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In this article we discuss the all essential sketching of the arabesque as the first step in the production of a line-drawing. We discuss its properties and its significance to the production of a good likeness of your portrait model.
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