Self-Portrait Project

This week I went to the Albright-Knox and viewed three self-portraits, as inspiration for my own. I chose Agus Suwage’s Tembok Toleransi #2 (Tolerance Wall #2), (2013), Frida Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Monkey, (1938), and Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait, (1887). I chose these pieces partly because they were the only self-portraits I could find at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, but also because they each have a different style: Suwage’s Tembok Toleransi #2 (Tolerance Wall #2), (2013) is an abstract representational self-portrait that is comprised of screen-printed cans, Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Monkey (1938) is a realistic representation of her, and Van Gogh’s Self Portrait (1887) is somewhere in between, since it is a realistic self-portrait with thick brushstrokes that begin to abstract the painting slightly. I found the differences in the paintings to be quite interesting and I was inspired to create my self-portrait with a style somewhere in between Kahlo’s Self-portrait with Monkey (1938) and Van Gogh’s Self Portrait (1887). Here are my three inspirational self-portraits:

I chose pencil and colored pencil as my media because I have never used this combination of media in any drawing, which was surprising to me when I realized it. Also, my concept for my self-portrait requires both a monochromatic grayscale area and a vibrant, colorful area, which the combination of pencil and colored pencil allows. Here is my photograph of myself, along with my self-portrait:

The most challenging part of creating my self-portrait was loosening up my style and not obsessing over every realistic detail that I either missed or was unable to capture faithfully, like the exact look of the reflection on my glasses, for example. It was during these times that I remembered Van Gogh’s Self Portrait (1887) and I was able to loosen up my linework more and feel good about doing so. I am learning in my other art education classes at Buffalo State College that children have an obsession with realism and when they draw a picture, if it does not look realistic to them, they immediately reject it as “a bad drawing;” however, Picasso told us that once the camera was invented, there was no longer any point in drawing or painting realistically by saying “Why should the artist persist in treating subjects that can be established so clearly with the lens of a camera?” (Getlein, 2016). I must continually remind myself of Picasso’s quote when I draw, because I tend to have the same obsession with realism that children do. Picasso also said in response to the advent of photography “Now we know at least everything that painting isn’t,” (Getlein, 2016) which is also true for drawing.

My self-portrait represents me because it is a portrait of me, but more importantly, the colors that I used in certain areas represent my personality; I oscillate between being pessimistic and optimistic, so I chose to render myself mostly in a monochromatic grayscale—representing my pessimism—and I used vibrant colors in my glasses to represent the optimistic perspective that I try to have.

I have applied the following elements and principles in my self-portrait: value in my self-portrait to create the sense of depth of field and to portray contours; color in the lens area of my glasses; balance is created because the strong colors occupy a smaller area than the predominant monochromatic grayscale, which creates an equal visual emphasis; contrast is shown by the use of value and also through using color; emphasis has been created by choosing to use color within my glasses to focus the viewer’s attention there; and proportion is used because of how this self-portrait depicts human features that are realistic in scale and in their relationship to each other.

I really enjoyed working on this project because it challenged me to do something that I never do: create a self-portrait. I have only created three self-portraits prior to this, and they were all created over 13 years ago when they were assigned to me in high school and my undergraduate years at UB. I have never used this combination of media, which I found exciting, and I also felt that my concept expressed what I wanted to say about myself: while I struggle with being pessimistic, my optimism usually overcomes my pessimism and guides my perspective in a positive direction. I am satisfied with my self-portrait and I found this project to be the most interesting one in the course. I am glad that it happened at the end of the semester, however, because now I can articulate what elements and principles of design were used, as well as better understand the self-portraits from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery that inspired me.

Until next time!

    

References:

Getlein, M. (2016). Living with art (Eleventh edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Kahlo, Frida. Self-portrait with Monkey. 1938.
Oil on Masonite.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo

Suwage, Agus. Tembok Toleransi #2 (Tolerance Wall #2). 2013.
Screen print and paint on recycled cans, car audio system, and sound.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo

Van Gogh, Vincent. Self Portrait. 1887.
Oil on artist board, mounted to wood panel.
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo