Back To School Portraits – Modigliani Style

Amedeo Modigliani was famous for his elongated and elegant portraits, painted in Paris back in the early 1900s. Heads and necks were long and narrow, giving his subjects a very graceful look.

1. Starting with a 7" x 12" paper, I made light pencil marks approximately 1/3 down the center of the paper, and another third down again. To draw the head, I made an oval that filled up the top 2/3 of the paper. A neck filled the bottom third, along with curved shoulders.
2. At this point, you could remind students of the “normal” placement of features on a face, namely the eyes belong in the center of the head, and the mouth at the bottom 1/8". To make a Modigliani face, the eyes need to be above the center line, and the mouth extra close to the chin. I drew in a long nose in the space that was left. Hair and ears can be filled in as desired.
3. All the pencil lines are traced with a thin black marker, including a signature on the shirt.
4. Modigliani also used a lot of dark and rich colors, so students may be asked to follow that palatte.
CA Visuals Arts Standard: Creative Expression
2.2 Use the conventions of facial . . . proportions in a figure study.

Modigliana Portrait

Amedeo Modigliani was a late-century European artist who never lived to see his success, but his paintings are some of my all-time favorites. I love his portraits with elongated faces in soulful colors.

1. I started with black paper that was 9" x 15". Give the students a ruler and pencil to draw a line down the middle both ways, and then two more horizontally to make 8 equal sections. The students can start by drawing an oval that centers on the middle line and fills the top half of the paper. Neck lines are drawn down to the next line and then shoulders to the bottom edge.
2. Hair may be added in the style of the student, or the person they are drawing.
3. Modigliana drew his faces in stretched proportions as the eyes usually sit in the middle of the face. The students are to draw their eyes near the top of the head, and the mouth near the bottom. Continue with a nose and eyebrows.
4. Once the portrait is drawn, give the students oil pastels. They need to trace the pencil lines with a black pastel, and then color everywhere else, taking care to color around the black lines. Note: I recommend doing this project after you have done one that involves normal facial proportions.