As part of Trad Art day 2007, I've been given/asked for the task of a news item on Portraits.

Without giving you all an art history lesson, the art of portrait making is generally considered one of the most difficult, and has often found itself as part of the cutting edge of any new school or movement in the art world.

While most of the art I'm featuring here is quite figurative and realistic, there exist truly effective examples of portraits across all styles (take Picasso just for one). Remember looking more "like a picture" doesn't make it a better artwork. I would also like to add this is by NO means a definitive best of, just some that caught my eye in my favs today.

The most interesting thing about a portrait is the fact they often tell you far more, or at least as much, about the artist that made it as they do about subject, which is why a self-portrait can be almost uncomfortably personal, and are often the best work produced by many artists throughout history (examples- Van Gough, Rembrandt etc.)

That being said here are a few examples of self-portraits from DA I felt continue that tradition.
Meet your fellow deviants (in no particular order) -

A clear example of the way a portrait tells you more about the artist then the subject is the much hated (by me anyway) celebrity portrait *shudder*, which is an element that you have to deal with if you talk about portraits on DA. These examples really let the style of the artists shine though, far beyond being yet another traced Jack Sparrow.

So many, many other major styles and elements I could go into, but dues to lack of time, I will finish with a collection of arkworks I think are worth seeing. Enjoy!


Remember the next generations art history is being made now, and I greatly suspect the influence of sites like this will be a factor talked about in classrooms when this era of art is mentioned.
Get out there make something!