MY CREATIVE PROCESS
Inspiration
I've always had a fear of drawing people and especially of creating self portraits. In high school, I slowly grew out of this fear because my art teachers eased me into portrait drawing with tutorials, encouragement, and ambitious projects. In a time when my self esteem and sense of identity was still forming, I built confidence in my own abilities by surprising myself with the creation of a beautiful product. Oftentimes our minds only view ourselves through a single perspective which can limit our potential. I never imagined I could create a "good" self portrait. I became inspired to create a series of five self portraits, each mimicking a famous portrait, for the viewers to see the power of perspective. Hopefully, the viewers also strengthen their self esteem and improve their self-image as they learn to value aspects they had not seen in themselves before.
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To the left is the self portrait I created in high school.
THE EVOLUTION OF MY WORK IN PROGRESS
My early planning process, reference photos, and sketches
MY RESEARCH TAKEAWAYS
Before actually creating the piece, I researched the context and meaning behind the portrait works I was mimicking. Below are my findings and how they influenced my work.
GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (1665)
Johannes Vermeer
This oil painting is known as a "tronie" which focuses on the expression or dress of the subject. It is not about who the subject is, but rather what they represent. The girl with the pearl in this case could be representing a beautiful young woman. For my rendition of this painting, I decided to also use oil paints, pose similarly, and dress up to represent a more polished version of myself.
VAN GOGH SELF PORTRAIT (1889)
Vincent Van Gogh
This oil painting is one of many of Van Gogh's self portraits. Most of his portraits reflect his own mental state hence the swirls throughout his painting. I decided to use oil pastels to re-create this swirling effect and chose a limited color palette to represent a time when I lived on campus in efforts to reflect my mental state.
GIRL WITH A MANDOLIN (1910)
Pablo Picasso
This oil painting was done in a cubist style which is why the person in the portrait is made up of geometric shapes and is somewhat abstract. The realistic physical beauty of the subject is not the point, but rather what she represents and her passions, hence the clarity in the fact she is holding an instrument. I've chosen to use a limited selection of colored pencils with a cubist style of me holding a ukulele, a representation of my passion for music.
MARILYN MONROE (1967)
Andy Warhol
This screen print of the famous Marilyn Monroe is one of the most iconic pieces from the Pop art movement. Warhol wanted to point out the superficiality of society at the time, but it's persistence in popularity gives it a newer meaning that what is beheld as beauty does not rely on hyperrealistic portrayals. I used acrylic paint and purposefully chose a color scheme that was not realistic to the color of my skin or hair for a compelling portrait.
SUCCESS IN MEDIUMS
PHOTOGRAPHY
This was a vital element in preparing for each of my pieces. I needed to find or take a new selfie for a good reference photos that would fit each portrait composition. I would make sure to take multiple in the position I thought fit best, adjusting the camera slightly, so that I could pick my favorites.
PAINTING
Using acryllic paints proved more simple and quick than the other mediums. It worked well for my pop art piece because it was fast drying and opaque. Since it went down so solidly, the colors really popped against each other.
The oil paints was the best choice for the pearl earring painting because it blended easily for that painterly effect.
CHARCOAL/COLORED PENCILS
I am very familiar with these mediums and allowed me to focus more on the composition rather than building up skills in using them. They worked well in my own style for a simple portrait and in the cubist portrait which focused more on shapes.
OIL PASTEL
While the oil pastels I used sometimes ended up blending together, I found that the hatching technique I implemented was successful in recreating a similar style to Van Gogh's collection of lines appearance.