Dolce : A Portrait of a Young Boy

Dolce: A Portrait of a Young Boy

The Sketch Session

Collecting Reference Material

It is always a challenge to get great reference material for a portrait. With younger children it is also great fun.

The subject of this portrait is an energetic, charming three-year-old boy. This portrait session started out with my subject in a collared shirt sitting on a proper chair with his tongue sticking out of his mouth.

In the next group of photos he retracted his head into his shirt, like a turtle in his shell. This was going to be a bit more challenging then I anticipated.

With patience, distraction, plenty of time and a sense of humor I was able to gather all the needed reference material for this portrait. I took a few photos and then rested for a while. He was more relaxed when not being photographed, as are most people. I spent time just listening and observing while my young subject played. It was a great way to learn about him and help him just be himself.

At some point I asked mom if she had a non collared shirt to prevent the chin from hiding in the collar and to improve comfort. With a new shirt, a comfortable position and a few toys handy my young subject was ready to sit for the quick color sketch. This took about 15 minutes. I did not expect him to sit still and he did not disappoint. The sketch documents color the camera missed. I periodically took photos during the sketch session to capture a more relaxed, natural expression. The photograph that mom felt truly captured his personality was taken during the sketch session.