Defining Beauty: Jon Whitcomb- Beauty in Non-Symmetry

American artist Jon Whitcomb (1906-1988) was one of the last celebrity illustrators during the heyday of magazine publication. In nearly every major periodical of the day, Whitcomb's story illustrations and advertising art could be found, as could pictures of the artist himself, as Whitcomb was also a spokesperson for products including everything from cigarettes to women's nylon stockings. He even became a regular contributing writer for Cosmopolitan magazine having his own feature, Jon Whitcomb's Page, which later expanded, allowing the artist several pages to explore his own subjects. Whitcomb was so sought after, it is rumored that his income then, during the 1950's, regularly exceeded $100,000 per year.

What made Whitcomb so popular was his romantic representations of glamorous women, and his ability to predict and represent fashion trends. He did not think of himself as an artist, but as a "manufacturer"¹ with a very practical approach for giving his editors and the public what they wanted. His ideas may have seemed very clinical, but he was not an artist who painted for future generations, but an illustrator who continually re-invented himself in order to usher in the new and ever-changing popular tastes, and to remain employed by the companies who thrived on America's need for the latest fads.

Whitcomb, during his time of accurately predicting trends, altered his stylization of beautiful women's faces very little, however. The understanding he had of the aspects which made a woman attractive were among the first lessons he offered students through The Famous Artists School, a business of which Whitcomb was co-founder. In an effort to attract more students to the course, Whitcomb published a portion of his lesson on "On How to Draw a Beautiful Face" in the August 1954 edition of Cosmopolitan (excerpted below).

Sadly, though his information is still sound (if not verbatim, at least as a guideline for making one's own critical assessments), his artwork has fallen into disregard. But as an artist who lived by representing the latest inclinations in style, it is not surprising his last painting was forgotten as soon as hemlines and hairstyles grew or shortened. Timelessness is not often the goal of an illustrator's art.

EYES

The most important feature of the eye is the iris. For some reason, girls with irises a little larger than usual look prettier. This is a critical measurement. When I draw a pretty girl, I sometimes spend a long time making the irises smaller and larger until they look just right. The current fashion in eyelashes is to emphasize the top row from about the center of the iris to the outside corner, and to minimize the lower lashes. The lashes should be somewhat uneven and of varying lengths. This is critical. If too long, they look false. If too short, the eyes look too plain. If too dark, the girl looks too heavily made up. Depending on the lighting, they cast their own shadows, and I usually try to indicate that. In the movies, eyelashes take a faintly Oriental curve upward at the outside corners. While seldom found in nature as standard equipment, this touch is a valuable device for widening small eyes or eyes placed too close together. In addition, it gives a cheerful look. Never draw eyes that match. They are not found in real life and don't look quite right drawn that way. There can be subtle differences between the two eyes of any one person, either in size, iris, slant of lids, or the indication of skin folds above and below. This especially important in indicating certain expressions, such as sadness, quizzicality, or delight. This is the reason the practically symmetrical faces occasionally encountered in real life fail to be entirely satisfying.

EYEBROWS

The eyebrows should never be identical either. They're the easiest things on the face to manipulate for expression. For a pretty girl, the brows are usually a generous distance above the eye. If they aren't, she may look sinister or hillbillyish or scowling. They should never be plucked into a thin line. Hairline eyebrows aren't hot stuff just now. Unless the girl is an exotic brunette, with coal-black eyes, I prefer eyebrows fairly light in tone, never as dark as the lashes or hair. (If you lighten your hair, remember this.) They can be arched, or peaked, or just slightly curved, but in general they are wider toward the nose and taper toward the ear. Raising one at a time is a handy trick for a whole gamut of expressions, from simple inquiry to stern indignation. Generally speaking, the slightly uneven brow makes a pretty face interesting.

NOSES

The nose does not contribute much to a change of expression, but it is the simple most important item in a pretty face. If the nose is ugly, little can be done with mouth and eyes to improve the score. Not many people notice when a nose is good, but everyone senses the effect of a bad nose without quite knowing why. The nose of a pretty girl must not be extremely long, short, or wide. It can turn up a little but not down. It should be right in the middle and not lean to port or starboard. Some very pretty girls look fine from the front but not from the side. Or they have what's called a "good side." This is usually due to the nose. This is fortunate, in a way, for illustrators. A slight twist to a nose, or a bit of extra length at the tip, and you have a character study rather than a straight face drawing. A chiseled nose with sharp angles adds age; the young have rounded planes, with a slight tilt at the end. In general, the shorter the nose the younger the effect.

MOUTHS

The mouth of a pretty girl is practically never visible without make-up. For a number of years, the generous mouth has won out over the thin-lipped variety, and lipstick makes it easy for the girl with either type to paint on a standard mouth. Cupid's bows are out, and mouths are painted in a full circle, depending on the size, right around the corners. Fashins in color run from dark wine to pale cerise, but the most becoming shades lie somewhere in the clear-red part of the spectrum. My own preference is for no shine. I seldom like the wet-lipped appearance achieved with highlights. This means that the mouth is usually painted in a flat, over-all tone, with a suède-like finish.

CHINS, EARS

The chin is a negative feature, like the nose. Lack of a chin makes a face look weak and moronic. If the chin is firm and adequate, nobody will notice it. When too prominent, it makes a girl look witchlike. In young girls, the chin is rounded in profile; the more pointed it gets, the more the apparent age increases. Some chins are divided vertically down the middle with a faint cleft; this can be attractive in women if not overdone. In men, of course, it is a major attractive feature.

The classical measurement for ears is the length of the nose, when measured around the head on a great-circle route. On girls, I usually draw ears a little smaller than they should be, and pinker. They shouldn't stick out very far, of course, unless you are trying to show a tomboy.

Foreheads are supposed to denote intelligence when high, a lack of I.Q. when low. Unless a girl's forehead is obscured by bangs or a hat, the higher the forehead the younger the face looks. In profile, the forehead should show a softly rounded line, not too slanted.

Necks also indicate age. The width of the neck, from all angles, is a quick index to age. The very young have tiny, smooth necks. Increase the width slightly, and watch the years pile up.

HANDS

Next to faces, people seem to notice hands most in illustrations. Some quarters hold that hands are a better indication of character than faces. Even if they aren't, hands come in for considerable attention from illustrators because they appear frequently for close-ups in both editorial and advertising pictures. Cosmetics, cigarettes, soft drinks, liquor, and jewelry are some of the products that demand expertly drawn hands.

A woman's nails are drawn in a fat oval, broader at the base than at the tip. Nail polish gives an accent you can't rely on if the nails are to be rendered au naturel. Me, I hope red lacquer stays in style indefinitely. A woman's nails are always stretched a bit in drawings. Of course, they look silly if they're too long. Here again, clear reds are preferred: but one of the new tricks is an opalescent silver very becoming to long, thin fingers.²

¹ Peng, Leif (December 12, 2008). Jon Whitcomb: "I don't think of myself as an artist. I'm a manufacturer." Retrieved February 23, 2010 from {http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2008/12/jon-whitcomb-i-dont-think-of-myself-as.html}

² Jon Whitcomb, "How to Draw a Beautiful Face," Cosmopolitan August, 1954: pp. 90-92.

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Artist Leif Peng, who produces an excellent blog called Today's Inspiration, has posted several pieces on Whitcomb, including the one referenced for part of this article. Peng also has an amazing Flickr set of images of Whitcomb's illustrations, as well as additional sets on other famous illustrators. Be sure to check them out.