It would be nice if understanding the inner workings of the brain would make us better artists, wouldn't it?

When sketching portrait from sitting years ago, I used one eye to view, the other one closed. Owl I was! My eyes were soring, veins near one eye swelled and forever, an occupytional desease. Paughtrait!

See Goya's eyes from his self-portrait, one eye is smaller. Do you know why?

Ha!

I've been off line for about four months, and this is the first thread I read!

Christopher Tyler actually e-mailed me right after my article in Artist's Magazine came out last February. I had a short sentence in there about centering the eyes in the middle of the head and shoulders portrait, and he wanted to see where I came up with the idea. Did I read it somewhere?

Like, in an old book, or, say, Nature Magazine in 1998?

I told him I was looking at a room full of portraits in one of my classes, and those with the eyes in the middle of the canvas looked "right," and those with the eyes elsewhere....looked.....wrong. (The skies didn't part then either.)

BTW, the eyes (or dominate eye...) goes in the middle in profile (both left and right), in three quarter, and in full front. It just works. Don't put the head in the middle of the canvas, put the eye in the middle of the canvas. End of lecture...

Sounds like a method for those who start their drawing with the eyes, not a practice which I would ascribe to. Of course, painting is different, as it may or may not include drawing or any layout order. I have never used this particular consideration, but then, who am I? I have seen many famous portraits which do not fit this pattern. It seems to me the the overall layout of the form which is included in the portrait is the primary consideration, not whether one of the eyes in centered or not. No offense, but it seems to me to be another weird psycho-bable rule which I would file right there with all the other right-brain stuff.

No offense taken.

I do the antithesis of drawing the eyes first, I draw the silhouette of the head, but base the placement of the silhouette on a spot between the eye brows at the center of the head (bindi). I state that the eyes are usually found on either side of the bindi (true for most species except the flounder)....so if the bindi is centered...the eyes will be too.

The eyes go in dead last, (...much to the consternation of my students who grow impatient with waiting to place the features.)

I do have my share of theories, very left brained of me, I know, but I was trained as a scientist, and find no discrepancy between being creative, and figuring out why something works, and using that information to make it work a second (and third....) time.