Portraits are a special and wonderful type of painting.

If you go to a museum, you will probably see many portraits. Usually they are very formal, with the subject (the person in the portrait) looking serious and sometimes stern. You can tell a lot from a portrait by looking at other things besides the subject. Here is what I look for when viewing a portrait:

• What is the subject wearing? This gives me an idea of when the portrait was created, and what life was like at that time. Although some of the styles are beautiful, can you imagine what it must have been like to wear those outfits all day long!?!
• Where is the subject? You can tell what the person was like depending on what type of background is in the portrait. For instance, if the portrait was done in a library or if there are a lot of books then that person may have been highly educated or if there are animals that person may have loved animals. Sometimes the artist would choose the background and sometimes the subject would choose.
• Try to notice every little detail. You can almost feel how the artist felt when he or she created a piece of art by looking at all the details. One of the most famous portraits is called the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci. The subject has a beautiful and mysterious smile but her most famous feature is how beautifully Da Vinci painted her hands.

Why don't you try to do a portrait of either
yourself or someone else and let me know how it turns out!