Characterisation -- How to Read a Face

While we were in the seductive book village of Cuisery (see my previous post) we wandered into the little church of Notre Dame, originally begun in the 11th century and completed in 1504.

I was stopped dead in my tracks by some beautiful frescoes in a side chapel.

.
Although some of the paint is in lamentably poor condition, the character of the man portrayed here is by no means obliterated.  Standing gazing at his solemn, preoccupied face, it struck me how  rules which apply in one creative form can be easily transposed to another.

Try studying the painting and analysing what you see, because it will tell you so much about the person you're looking at.

• Clothing: he is wearing a hat that is well-fitting and has some kind of shape/design that goes beyond the merely functional.  We can see the collar of his tunic, which has some ornamentation on it, so he is probably reasonably prosperous.  The fact that he is dressed in co-ordinating shades of blue perhaps suggests that he has some sense of style and self-esteem.
• Age: he looks like a man in his prime, sporting a full beard with no apparent flecks of grey in it, nor are there any lines upon his face.
• Build: he seems thickset and well fed, again suggesting that he is well-to-do.
• Features: he has a strong nose and a full mouth, though his head is held at a slightly tentative angle, and his eyes....

Ah, his eyes, the windows of the soul, particularly in this man's case.  All his experience - sorrow?  grief?  loss?  uncertainty?  regret? - is expressed in the look askance, the slight frown, yet none of these emotions over drawn; they are subtly synthesised.

If you look at a face for long enough, you learn its secrets, you discover its landscape -- so much of the early stages of falling in love consist of gazing with unwavering absorption at the face of your beloved and it's this kind of intensity you need to bring to portraying the characters you are writing about. It might be a helpful exercise to try and bring to life on paper the picture in this post.

When it comes to your own work, imagine you're standing gazing at a mediaeval fresco, look long and hard at your hero or heroine, don't be afraid to stare!