The Oil Paint Website

How to Pose a Model

Basic principle of how to pose a model in oil painting #5:

The normal perspective to view the oil paint model should be at eye level. Any deviation from this oil painting rule should result from the oil painting model's height, the oil painting model's age, and or where the oil painting portrait will be hung.

For example, children in oil painting will look younger if you look down on them. Tall people will look tall if you look up at them. An oil paint model's personality also should contribute to the oil paint artist's decision of the oil painting 's point of view.

Basic principle of how to pose a model in oil painting #6:

How often have you heard someone say, what a beautiful portrait! The eyes follow you wherever you go"

An oil painting portrait will be more successful if the eyes of the oil painting model look at the viewer. You do this by having the model look directly at the oil paint artist as he or she paints the oil paint model's eyes. As a result the oil paint model's eyes in the oil painting portrait will look at everyone who looks at the oil painting regardless of where the viewer stands to see the oil painting portrait. Any other pose of the oil paint model's eyes will make the oil paint model look at anyone.

When should i paint the oil paint model looking away in my oil painting?

An oil paint artists should aspire to paint the oil paint model looking right at him or her unless the oil paint model finds it difficult to look at the oil paint artist while the oil paint model is posing or if the oil paint model happens to have an air of aloofness.

How to avoid painting a snob?

When posing an oil painting model, be careful how you pose y our model or the oil painting will appear of a snob or arrogant person. When you pose an oil paint model with eyes that are focused just above and slightly to the side of your eyes, you can easily end up with an oil painting portrait of a snob.

Basic principle of how to pose a model in oil painting #7:

When oil painting, never place the head of the oil painting model in such a way that it looks as though it is directly in the middle of the oil painting canvas from side to side and from top to bottom. The most natural position in oil painting of a figure should be centrally located without appearing to be geometrically in the middle.