Dialogue by Mark:

Let's take a break from drawing Hercules' helmet and visit the Master's Gallery, where our fashion editor of art history, Kim Solga at KidsArt, has found us a wonderful painting of another famous hat.

This painting is called "Preparing for the Matinee," by the American artist Edmund Charles Tarbell. Our young woman is getting all dressed up to go out to a show...a matinee, which means some sort of a performance that happens in the daytime. Since this picture was painted in 1907, she's probably going to go to a play or a band concert. The hat she's arranging so carefully is even fancier than Hercules' helmet, although lots softer and fuzzier.

A face drawn from the side like this is called a profile. You only see half of her face...one eye, one ear, the shape of her nose and lips. The features of a face take up very little room in a profile. Most of the head is cheekbone and forehead and ear and hair. The eye is right about on the lever of the ear and very close to the nose. An eye doesn't look at all round from the side. It's more like a triangle with the eyelashes curled up and down in the front.

A good way to practice drawing profiles is to have your friends and your family model for you. They'll have to sit still for about 10 minutes while you draw. Have them look out the window or read a book or watch TV. Maybe they'll even fall asleep...then you can sketch and draw all you want! Super thanks to the Indianapolis Museum of Art for sending this Imagination Station Masters' Gallery image.