Variation and Likeness in Ambient Artistic Portraiture

Authors

Susan Hayes, University of WollongongFollow
Nick Rheinberger, Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Meagan Powley, Red Point Artists Association
Tricia Rawnsley, Red Point Artists Association
Linda Brown, Red Point Artists Association
Malcolm Brown, Red Point Artists Association
Karen Butler, Red Point Artists Association
Ann Clarke, Red Point Artists Association
Stephen Crichton, Red Point Artists Association
Maggie Henderson, Red Point Artists Association
Helen McCosker, Red Point Artists Association
Ann Musgrave, Red Point Artists Association
Joyce Wilcock, Red Point Artists Association
Darren Williams, Red Point Artists Association
Karin Yeaman, Red Point Artists Association
T Zaracostas, Red Point Artists Association
Adam Taylor, University of WollongongFollow
Gordon G. Wallace, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

127811

Publication Details

Hayes, S., Rheinberger, N., Powley, M., Rawnsley, T., Brown, L., Brown, M., Butler, K., Clarke, A., Crichton, S., Henderson, M., McCosker, H., Musgrave, A., Wilcock, J., Williams, D., Yeaman, K., Zaracostas, T. S., Taylor, A. C. & Wallace, G. (2018). Variation and Likeness in Ambient Artistic Portraiture. Perception, 47 (6), 585-607.

Abstract

An artist-led exploration of portrait accuracy and likeness involved 12 Artists producing 12 portraits referencing a life-size 3D print of the same Sitter. The works were assessed during a public exhibition, and the resulting likeness assessments were compared to portrait accuracy as measured using geometric morphometrics (statistical shape analysis). Our results are that, independently of the assessors' prior familiarity with the Sitter's face, the likeness judgements tended to be higher for less morphologically accurate portraits. The two highest rated were the portrait that most exaggerated the Sitter's distinctive features, and a portrait that was a more accurate (but not the most accurate) depiction. In keeping with research showing photograph likeness assessments involve recognition, we found familiar assessors rated the two highest ranked portraits even higher than those with some or no familiarity. In contrast, those lacking prior familiarity with the Sitter's face showed greater favour for the portrait with the highest morphological accuracy, and therefore most likely engaged in face-matching with the exhibited 3D print. Furthermore, our research indicates that abstraction in portraiture may not enhance likeness, and we found that when our 12 highly diverse portraits were statistically averaged, this resulted in a portrait that is more morphologically accurate than any of the individual artworks comprising the average.