Self-Portrait 2

This project we finally got the chance to add some meaning to our piece. It was fun and at the same time difficult coming up with what I wanted to say about myself as well as then figuring out how to physically portray that idea. My composition though fairly simple was something that I was excited about doing. Though it may not have challenged me in all areas of technical development of painting, like my use of color, it brought with it other sets of challenges and maybe more mind work prior to beginning the painting. From the reference I was working from I scaled up quite a bit, so when developing the basic outlines of the forms it was fine, but when it came to developing the different facial features it took a lot of looking back and forth to my reference and dealing with  proportions to make sure everything was the right size and shape. The nose was one feature in particular that caused me some trouble. After working with it and trying to identify the problems of shape, size and value changes I feel I was able to improve it over time. The eyes were another feature that I spent a lot of time on. The eyes were a very big part in my piece and were one of the few parts that were in color so I felt pressure to get them right. I wanted them to stand out as in being emphasized but not stand out in a way that they were distracting and incoherent with the rest of the painting. The eyelashes were particularly difficult. It was strange for one to paint on eyelashes not using your smallest brush but rather still using a fairly thick brush due to the close zoomed in scale. The eyes also had a lot of subtle details but when creating a large portrait I had to often remember to step back from the painting because this piece gave pressures to look at it from further back rather than close and intimately. By doing this I found that in some cases I could be bolder with the subtleties than I initially expected when looking at the picture. This was something strange to me, because at least when drawing I often like working real small and focusing in on the gradual, very delicate details.

I really liked how we ran critique this time through. It was really neat hearing what others saw and took from the paintings as well as hearing if the responses matched up with what the artist was trying to convey. It was good to hear that people were pulling out the main ideas that I was thinking about when planing and developing the painting. It was also interesting to hear about other ideas that my painting made some people think about which I may not have consciously done. I think those extra bits are neat to hear because it gives me the chance to see how others can relate to the piece. Ideas that the class pulled out of the portrait was the importance of the eyes, as well as the significance of the bracelets. It was good to hear that others may have had similar associations with the bracelets as what they represented to me. The idea of experiences helping identify who I am, was a message that both the class picked out and a main message I was trying to convey. Approachable and sharing were some other words that were brought up during the critique which I also was happy about, because wanting to be approachable was something I thought about in respects to my posture during the very beginning of this project. However,  I actually forgot about this idea until the class brought it up again since I began thinking about other things during the development of the painting. Overall I enjoyed working on this project, as well as watch others work to see what they had to say about them self.

Stage 1: Initial placement of main composition and
 began adding in value changes--highlights, lowlights and
the mid-ground

My work easel and image I am working from

Stage2: Continued to work on the change of value
 of the skin tone, bringing the arm up to date with the rest
 of the painting and beginning to work around the eyes.
Also began to blend values so there is a smoother transition.

Stage3: Starting to bring in the hair and continuing
 to make adjustments to the skin

Stage 4: Worked more on the hair bringing in the few
strands on the right, details of the eyebrows, as well as finally
working on the eyes so I look less like a mask, there is
life to this person!

Stage 5: Finally added the colored bracelets,
which seemed to add balance to the piece as well