I was not aware that this portrait of Catherine existed, and as soon as I saw it, I was sure
that people must have found it... ominous.
And it's because a series of signals hidden in plain sight, that you're about to find
out.
Welcome back, my body language buddies!
my name is Jesús Enrique Rosas, I'm the Body Language Guy, and it would be great if you
join us by just liking this video, subscribing and hitting that bell! let's get down to it!
Now, the first thing we are gonna do, without saying any word, is to preSENT this painting
in a way that you can just take a look at it.
I'm not going to delve into any details yet.
I just want your intuition to just pick up what is the general feeling that you get from
this.
One great thing about analyzing art, is that you can exercise that part of your brain that
reacts in an instant and makes you feel something.
Maybe it's hard to put in words, but that's the key.
You have to get used to listening to that first impression.
That gut reaction.
That really helps to polish your body language reading.
Most probably, the first reaction that you had was a bit of a shock with that dark background.
And it's not that a dark background cannot be used, because there are many famous portraits
with this style.
The most common approach to this is that you should include some kind of light at the back
so you can separate the model from the background.
Have some depth in the scene.
Both Rembrandt and Velasquez relied heavily on really dark backgrounds, but they always
used that back light to add a sense of space.
Since Kate is literally blended into the blackness, we don't have a reference of where she is,
or what is the size of the space She's at.
This can even give you a sense of claustrophobia.
Now, just to be clear: it's not that you cannot use this kind of effect, or it's wrong to
do it.
If that is the artist's intention, then they can perfectly use it.
In fact, there is a very famous portrait that is "Girl With A Pearl Earring" from VerMEHR.
It has a flat, dark background and it works like a charm in this case.
But there are two reasons why it works.
First, you can clearly see the silohuette of the girl.
It's perfectly cut against the background.
In Catherine's portrait she's fused with the darkness from all sides.
And the other big difference is the pose of the model.
The girl is not really facing us.
Her chest is facing away from the spectator, and she's turning her head to meet our eyes.
There's an action implied.
There's movement depicted here.
In Catherine's portrait, she's right up front looking at us.
And this is quite a blunt pose for a portrait, because there is no movement to it.
She's staring right at us, and from what you can make of her shoulders, both chest and
face are facing in our direction.
You might have seen that subtle difference in criminal investigation shows, when they
are doing an interrogation.
The same detective can convey being laid back just by turning his body a bit to one side.
But when things get real, he's gonna be front and direct to the suspect.
That's what I mean with the word, 'blunt'.
And we have another problem, that is facial expressions.
What is so fascinating about "Girl with a Pearl Earring" is her facial expression.
Her mouth slightly open, her longing eyes, is being pleasantly surprised.
You look at her, and her facial expression makes you feel good, because it's depicting
a reaction to your presence.
That's what makes this portrait so famous, because it makes sure to include the spectator.
This is where things get complicated, with Catherine's facial expression.
Now, it's time to reveal that this portrait was actually based off a photograph.
As you can see in the picture.
And yes, most probably you are noticing subtle differences in both expressions and you just
can't define what it is.
But don't worry.
You are not crazy.
There IS one difference, and I'm going to show you right now.
You're going to see only the eyes of both pictures.
First the portrait, and then the photo.
And you are going to try to relax and let your intuition tell you what do you feel in
each case.
First, we go with the portrait.
I'm going to give a few seconds so you can look at her eyes, without looking at her mouth.
Try to define what you feel when you look at them.
Ready?
Now, let's change to the original photo, and once again, let your intuition do the job.
Try to name that feeling that the original picture gives you.
And now, just to be sure, I'm going to put them one over the other so you can compare
them, side by side, so to speak.
You might have noticed that the original photo has just the hint of the smile that is not
present in the portrait.
So, in the photo, her closed smile works.
By the way, this is not a common smile for Catherine, I think there are other pictures
that better convey her personality.
But when painting her portrait, something is missing.
We see the mouth in a closed smile, with the lips a bit pressed, but there is not the same
expression in the eyes.
As they say, "The eyes, chico.
They never lie".
And they never lie, because we've got specialized areas of our brain just to look at faces.
And a huge chunk of those areas is dedicated just to look at people's eyes.
To be fair, that is one of the most difficult feats in painting portraits.
Nailing the body language and facial expression that Accurately depicts the personality of
the model.
But that's the main problem with the original photo.
It doesn't, even remotely, depict Catherine's personality.
And there is another problem, too.
The color palette used in the painting was a bit dull.
It could have been more saturated.
More vibrant in terms of color.
Now, let's make an analogy of these artistic decisions, with body language.
There is no 'correct' body language that works all the time.
Sometimes you have to act in a certain way, and sometimes you have to change your nonverbal
communication completely, depending on the situation.
Most people feel uncomfortable with this, because they think they are not being themselves
if they adapt their body language to every situation.
Like they are fooling people or something.
This happens because there is a misconception that body language is tied to personality.
When it is not.
So you could mistakenly believe that your body language expression is part of you, when
it's just another way of communicating with people.
So, in the same way you adapt your vocabulary depending on the setting, wether it's at work
or at the beach, you should use body language tools depending on the message you want to
convey.
In art, there is no 'right' or 'wrong' way to do things.
You make artistic decisions depending on what you want to convey with your piece.
And it becomes even more delicate when it's a portrait.
Because if you blend your model into a dark background, with absolutely no separation,
or sense of space, or depth, or even silohuette, it's gonna look like a ghost.
If you put your model up front, staring straight into the camera, be aware that it's one of
the most blunt, if not boring, postures you can use for portraits.
If you are going to use a picture as a reference, make sure that the picture actually represents
the personality of the model you're going to depict.
Because no level of skill will overcome choosing a bad reference for your painting.
This is why it's so useful to know how to read both photographs and paintings of people.
Because even if you're not looking at a person in real time, there are signals and clues
that communicate something.
SuBLIminal signals that spark feelings in you.
And at first, you don't know how to describe what you feel.
But as you learn these tools, and practice them every time you can, you'll see that you'll
understand instantly why any work of art makes you feel in a certain way.
And it will help you when analyzing people in real life.
If you want to refine your observation skills, all you have to do is download my 100+ body
language tips, right in the description of this video.
My name is Jesús Enrique Rosas and it will always be a pleasure, my body language buddies!
Much Love, and Bliss.