Portraiture: An Experimental Study of the Creative Process

The author reports the results of applying a new empirical methodology, and related psychological constructs, to portraiture in order to elucidate issues of representation, schema application, abstraction and distortion in the creative process, as it unfolds in vivo. In this exploratory micro-analysis, professional and skilled amateur portraitists were videotaped while they drew portraits under six different experimental conditions, defined by time allotted to complete the work and the presence versus memory-recall of the models during the drawing phase. The amount of attention devoted to 22 different areas of the face and abstraction and distortion in the rendering of facial features were computed from the videotapes and statistically analyzed. Also, the portraits were rated in terms of pleasingness, interestingness and the degree of abstraction and distortion. Among other findings, the artists used fewer strokes and rendered more abstract portraits when they drew with a model present than when they drew from memory, and the portraits rated more abstract were also rated more pleasing and interesting.