What is a portrait? - Madame Tussauds

What is a portrait?
A portrait is a likeness of a person in any medium. A portrait can be a
painting, a photograph, a sculpture, or any other artistic representation of a
person. The wax figures in Madame Tussauds are portraits.
The face is usually the focal point of a portrait, but some can be torsos,
busts or life-size, like the wax portraits that you see in Madame Tussauds.
The aim of portraiture is to capture its subject’s likeness; what they look
like, their social standing and personality and even their mood.
Different styles of portrait
This does not necessarily mean that a portrait will be a realistic representation of
the subject. Some artists choose to create abstract portraits. Abstract portraits
might not tell you what the subject looks like, but they may give you an
understanding of what kind of person they are and what the artist’s
emotions are towards them.
The wax figures in Madame Tussauds are realistic in style. The face, hair, height
and body-shape are all copied exactly. Real clothes are used to dress them.
Portrait
Abstract
Key words
Expressive
Realistic
Investigating
portraits
Pose
Costume
Worksheet

Activity 1
Look at these portraits. Which are realistic in style and
which are expressive?
Pablo Picasso - Portrait of Ambroise-Vollard
Pose, costume and
background in portraits
The pose of a subject in a portrait, items in the background,
and what they are wearing or holding can tell us
a lot about them.
Historic portraits can be particularly interesting. They can
reveal a lot about how people lived, for example what their
belief systems were, and what was in fashion at the time.
Art top tips
If you are going to be creating a portrait, keep notes on your
subject. What do they wear? What do they do with their hair?
What are their interests? What are your feelings about them?
What do you think they are feeling? All these things will help
you produce a portrait with lots of life to it.
Investigating
portraits
Eyck: Artist's wife 1439. Credit: The Granger Collection / TopFoto
Van Gogh: Postman 1889. Credit: The Granger Collection / TopFoto
D.G. Rosetti: Beata Beatrix. Credit: The Granger Collection / Topfoto
Did you know?
There are wax figures of some of the most
famous artists of all time at Madame Tussauds
London, including Pablo Picasso and Andy
Warhol. Warhol created a unique style of
portraiture which was called ‘pop art’.
Worksheet

Activity 1
What do you think the poses and
costumes of these Madame Tussauds wax
figures tell us about their subjects?
The importance of
observation in portraiture
In order to produce a realistic portrait, it is important to
observe your subject closely.
At Madame Tussauds, the wax figures are usually the result
of one or more ‘sittings’. The celebrities are taken to a private
purpose-built area, where our sculptors take precise measurements
with a tape measure and a measuring instrument called ‘callipers’. Then they
photograph the subject’s head and body from every possible angle. During the sitting, the
sculptors also make observations that will help the sculpture show the celebrity’s personality.
Sometimes it is not possible for subjects to come in for a sitting at Madame Tussauds (for example,
when they are famous characters from history!) and our
sculptors will have to work from photographs or drawings
of a character instead.
Activity 2
Look at these wax portraits. Which
of them do you think was sculpted
following real-life observations
and which from photographs
or other reference material?
Activity 3
Do you think it is better to work from a photograph of your subject, or to
have them sit for you in real-life? Sketch somebody you know from a
photograph that you have at home (maybe a family member) and then
ask one of your class-mates to pose for you and sketch them from
real-life. Which was easiest? Which sketch was most like your subject?
Sculptor
Callipers
Key words
Observation
Sketches
Investigating
portraits
Subject
Wax
Art top tips
Keeping a sketchbook with you at all
times and sketching quick
observations of people that you see
is great portrait practice. You may
be able to use some of your sketches
as the base for more developed
pieces of work at a later date.
Worksheet

A self-portrait is a piece of artistic work, in which
the artist creates a likeness of themselves.
Self-portraits can often tell us a lot about how
an artist perceives themselves, or how they
would like to be perceived by others.
Activity 1
Can you name three famous artists
who have created self-portraits?
Talk about it with the person next
to you if you need to.
Activity 2
Look at the self-portraits to the right .
What can we tell about the artists and
their lives from their work? Look at the
background, the artist’s clothes and the
way they have used their materials.
Activity 3
Choose a self-portrait that you like and
study it in detail. Look at the following
aspects of the work and make notes under
each heading.
Content - what is shown in the portrait?
Form - How are they posed? What angle
has the artist chosen to paint
themselves from? How are they
positioned in relation to the background?
How the artwork has been made – what
kind of techniques, materials and
processes has the artist used?
Effect – how does the self-portrait make
you feel?
Self-portrait
Content
Form
Marc Chagall: Self-portrait. Credit: Luisa Ricciarini / TopFoto
Key words
Technique
Collage
Scrap-book
Self-portraits
Vincent Van Gogh: Self-portrait with cut ear.
Credit: Roger-Viollet / TopFoto
What can we tell about:
their personality
their mood and emotions
how they perceive themselves
what time in history the
painting was produced in
what they were trying to show?
Art top tips
Collect photographs and items that are important to you
(e.g. pictures of friends and family, images of your hobbies
and interests). Use them to make a creative collage. This
will help you to build a ‘picture’ of yourself to support
your work around self-portraits. Refer to
artists such as Rauschenberg or
information on the craft of
scrap-booking to guide you.
Materials
Processes
Worksheet

Activity 1
How would you describe the shape of your face?
What shape are your eyes?
Describe your nose and mouth.
Activity 2
Developing a
self-portrait
Describe your face as you see it in a mirror. On a separate piece of paper, record the following details:
What is your hair like?
What is your skin tone? Describe what colours
you might use to mix it as a paint colour.
At Madame Tussauds, the sculptors use tape measures and callipers to measure every part of their subject’s face and
body before creating their wax figure. You will have to rely on your powers of observation to make sure that your
self-portrait is accurate. Use a mirror to help you draw a self-portrait. Follow instructions 1 – 4 below to help you.
1 2
Draw a horizontal line to show the level of your
eyes. Draw a second line to mark the bottom of
your nose. Eyes are always halfway between the
top of the head and the bottom.
3 4
Draw five ovals across
the eye line.
Draw a vertical line of symmetry.
Draw a third line to show where your mouth
appears. The mouth is around halfway between
the nose and the the bottom of the face.
Draw in the shape of
your face.
Draw in the shape of your face.
Worksheet

Activity 1
a
b
When you have finished your self-portrait, look at it closely.
Does it look like you? If not, why not? What could you
develop or alter to make it look even better?
Swap portraits with the person sitting next to you. What
are the best things about their portrait? Give them some
tips on how they might develop it further.
Activity 2
Many artists have created self-portraits which show their
mood or feelings (e.g. Picasso, Rembrandt, Van Gogh).
Create a self-portrait that expresses a particular feeling or
mood. You could use colour, marks and textures to suggest
what that feeling or mood might be.
For example:
1
2
3
4
Dark, heavy marks or sharp shapes might suggest anger or pain.
Pale, delicate marks might suggest uncertainty.
Pale colours or a lot of blue might suggest sadness or calm.
A lot of bright, vibrant colours might suggest happiness.
You might also like to use symbols to suggest a mood or emotion.
Look at the work of Frida Kahlo. She was a Mexican artist who
experienced a lot of physical and emotional pain in her life and
she often used symbols in her work to reflect that pain.
Activity 3
Write a poem to go with your painting,
expressing the same feeling or mood.
Activity 4
Swap self-portraits with one of your
classmates and evaluate each other’s
work. Think about the following:
Can you tell what mood or emotion
is shown in the image?
Is the composition of the picture
effective?
Symbols
Evaluation
Developing a
self-portrait
Art top tips
Make a number of observational studies of yourself using different drawing
media. Look at how your face changes depending on your expression.
Creating a likeness of somebody, especially yourself, is a challenge, but fun.
The more you practice though, the better you will get!
Looking at, and analysing other artists’ work is a great
way of developing your own personal style. Visit as many
galleries as you can and do research online, making
notes and sketches on their styles and techniques all
the time. The National Portrait Gallery’s website is a
good source of information www.npg.org.uk
Key words
Style
Vibrant
Texture
1
Pablo Picasso:
Self portrait 1901
Credit: The Granger
Collection / TopFoto
2
Pablo
Picasso:
Self Portrait
at Age 26
Credit: The Granger
Collection / TopFoto
Worksheet

Investigating portraits
- sculpture
Creating a wax figure at Madame Tussauds
Activity 1
1
2
Sculpture
Steel
Mould
Detailed measurements
and photographs of
the subject are
taken and a steel
skeleton is made for
the body.
The sculptor uses these
measurements to
create a clay model of
the subject’s head.
Sculptors form the
shape of the body
over the steel
skeleton using clay.
Sculptures can be made from many different kinds of
materials. At Madame Tussauds we use wax. This helps us
to create the best likeness of the celebrities we are modelling.
Other materials can be used in sculpture as well.
Which of the following do you think would be best for sculpting
portraits and why?
Glass
Metal
Clay
Ice
Wood
Papier-mâché
Plaster
Key words
Oil paint
Clay
Papier-mâché
3
4
5
Separate plaster moulds
are then made of the
head and body. A hot
wax mixture is poured
into the mould and left
to cool and harden.
The mould is carefully
removed, leaving a
cast of the wax
figure. The head
cast is then
attached to
the body.
Teeth, hair and eyes are
added to the portrait
and colour is applied to
the wax skin using oil
based paints. Paint is
applied in layers,
creating a realistic skin
colour and texture.
Worksheet

Activity 1
Activity 2
a
You are going to create a sculpture of one of your
classmates. You will need to think about the following:
Who is your subject?
Will you be working from photographs or real life?
How would you plan a photo-shoot of your subject to help you
with your sculpture?
What kind of props might you use in your sculpture to show the
character of the sitter (e.g. favourite hat, hoody etc.)?
How will you pose your subject?
What materials are available to you and how will you use them?
Developing a sculptural
self-portrait
At Madame Tussauds, our guests can walk up to their favourite celebrity figure and walk
around them. It is important to create a good likeness from all angles. Use a wooden
manikin to help you practice representing figures from a number of angles.
Sketch the figure from the front. Now move the manikin. Sketch it
from a sideways angle.
Art top tips
Researching your subject well before you start can really help you with creating
your sculptural self-portrait. Collect information about them (visual and nonvisual)
and make a number of sketched studies from different angles so that you
really get to know how they look from all sides.
b c
Move the manikin to a reverse facing
position. Sketch it from behind.
Did you know?
It can take up to three weeks to
insert all the hair into the head of a
Madame Tussauds wax figure, with
the hair inserters working in
shifts day and night!
Worksheet

Activity 1
Once you have developed a portfolio of sketches and your planning
sheet, you are ready to create your sculpture, thinking about the
following:
Scale – how big will your piece be?
Techniques – what techniques will you use to build the 3D form?
Texture – will your piece be smooth or textured? Will some
parts of the sculpture need a different texture like skin or hair?
Colours – how will you finish off the surface of the piece?
Will you stain it or paint it? Discuss the possibilities with
your teacher. If you are going to stain or paint your
sculpture at a later stage, make notes or record sample
colours to make sure that you can match the colours.
Art top tips
When painting your sculpture, start with lighter
colours. It is easier to start light and continue layering
paint on until the end result is darker rather than
starting darker and trying to take your colour lighter.
Activity 2
Developing a sculptural
self-portrait
Everybody has different tones to their skin, hair, eyes and teeth and all these need to be recorded when creating a
sculpture. The colourists at Madame Tussauds have a palette with various flesh tone colours. These are oil based
paints that are mixed to achieve an exact match to the celebrity’s colouring.
If you have sculpted your model from clay, papier-mâché or modroc, it will now need painting.
Mix up your paints to achieve the right tones for your sculpture. Use the notes / sample colours that you took
when creating your sculpture for reference. You may find you need to use blue or even green for the basic skin
colour for a particular area.
You may choose to use colour expressively rather than realistically.
You will still need to consider which colours work together and which
contrast to achieve a successful result.
Think about how you will apply the paint. Will you put it on smoothly
with a brush? Will you use a sponge for application? Will you tap the
paint off the brush to create a spatter effect?
Apply the paint carefully to your sculpture. There are many different
colours in skin. You may need to build up several layers of colour to
achieve a realistic effect.
key Words
Scale Palette Skin tone
Did you know?
Madame Tussauds was founded in
the 1800s by a lady called Marie
'Grosholtz' who later became
Madame Tussauds. Back in the early
1800s there was no TV, radio or
magazines, so most images of
celebrities at the time were painted
portraits or sculptures. Madame
Tussauds created exact replicas of
famous people in three
dimensions; the techniques
she used are still used today.
Worksheet