Portraying Children

Portraying people is undoubtedly one of the most difficult aspects of drawing. Expressions, movements, emotions and gazes add a series of challenges not present in still life and landscape techniques. In addition, the scant number of books specifically about drawing children leave many of the particularities related to the portrayal childhood unresolved. This book fills this void, offering a method for acquiring a good command of painting and illustration techniques. Using live models, photographs, videos, drawings of faces and entire bodies, either posing or simply naturally, the book explains step by step the specific characteristics of drawing children. Through an introduction to proportions and by teaching readers how to sketch more freely, it captures both the physical and psychological transformation in an exercise in introspection and memory of ones own childhood. The book is intended for illustrators and lovers of drawing, parents and relatives, and anyone else who wants to capture the memorable, enchanting and fleeting moment associated with childhood. Because, in reality, drawing is learning how to see, how to understand and how to love.

Daniela Brambilla studied Architecture and Art Criticism and from 1986 has coordinated the department of Illustration and Animation at the reputed Instituto Europeo di Design of Milan, where he teaches Human Figure Design and Pictorial Techniques. She is the author of our bestseller Human Figure Drawing.