SELF-PORTRAIT |
"UNTITLED PORTRAIT"
ACRYLIC PAINT ON CANVAS 91.44x91.44CM DECEMBER 2017 EXHIBITION TEXT: My self portrait is supposed to express a feeling of fatigue, and confusion in a world where sometimes it's best for us to stop and take a break. I chose to demonstrate these emotions through dull tones, a chaotic and unruly background and by utilizing watered down paint to show how the fatigue and lack of motivation can figuratively break someone down. |
planning and inspiration
My self portrait was inspired by the twisted works of Francis Bacon. His use of deformed, grotesque figures was intriguing to me and was something I wanted to try and work with. I had originally planned to work with "Study for portrait II". However I ran into trouble when it came to getting my expression to look like the inspiration. I made attempts to erase the side of my sketch like in "Study for portrait of Peter Beard", however, that didn't turn out all the best either. I ended up settling on using "Sketch for portrait of Lisa" as it was a much more humanoid shape, but it however kept some of the more twisted ideas and style of Bacon's other works.
Another problem arose when trying to settle on a sketch for my final piece; there aren't many well done photos of myself so I opted to use one that allowed me to generally see my face but then I had to work in how everything would look and ended up basing everything about my sketch on the actual inspiration but instead drawing in details that would fit myself. |
Sketch for portrait of Lisa, 1955, Francis Bacon
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process
Throughout making the portrait I had the most trouble with creating a sketch that I really liked and wanted to paint. I sketched out a basic head, and worked from there to slowly make the image more and more grotesque. I worked with first making the image look like "Study for portrait II" by adding a neck and leaving it like that. However, I came to learn that just drawing out a Bacon piece is a lot harder than it looks and most of the things that come together to make the form of his work turn out odd comes from actually painting. After trying to work with potentially blurring out the mouth or the eyes like in pieces such as "Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X" where the eyes of the figure are blurred and darkened out. This turned out in a cool way that I personally enjoyed however I also felt as if the complete form of a portrait was lost be purposefully removing parts of my face. After settling on "Study for portrait of Lisa" I got to work making a new sketch that I would use as my portrait.
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After finishing my final sketch I then used the grid method to work out how I'd transfer my piece to my canvas. I did try to grid it however I had never used that method before for art so I chose instead to use a projector to display my image onto my canvas so I could trace my sketch for my final portrait.
painting and canvas makingTo make my canvas I took 4 3ft (91.44cm) frame pieces and fit them together. After doing that I stapled them on each corner and then worked on fitting the actual canvas material over it. After cutting it out to fit I stapled the canvas to my frame. I then added a gesso layer to prepare for adding my sketch and my paint.
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When beginning the painting process I worked with making the skin tones for my portrait before the background, something advised against however because of the more chaotic nature of my inspiration I felt that if I were to get the background over my actual piece it wouldn't be that huge of a problem. To make the skin tone I used lots of blues, reds, greens, browns and whites. I needed to layer a lot in order to get the texture that's shown in my inspiration. After working with the skin tones I went to working with the details like the eyes, nose and mouth. Many of these took very few colours and didn't require a lot of layering. I then took to working with the torso and the background.
I began work on the background first, not really getting in final layers but instead working on getting in a colour I liked and then filling it what I could. After getting down a base colour I then began working on the torso to get it finished and coloured; I started with using browns and whites in order to make the torso. Many times I had to use a rag to remove paint in order to rework it. However, after reworking the torso many times over I got the right consistency and colour for the torso. After finishing up the torso I started work on filling in the rest of the background and the hair. I carefully painted around the lines of my portrait and used a black paint to fill in my hair and to add more movement to the surrounding background.
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experimentation
In "Sketch for portrait of Lisa" there's this great effect Bacon uses where it looks as if the subject is melting almost and I wanted so badly to get that same effect. I had originally thought I could just paint in that effect but with my limited skill with painting and after consoling a friend about it I realized that there could be a much easier way to go about achieving this effect. In order to get the melting effect in my portrait I took one of my painting containers and poured in black acrylic paint. I then poured in water and mixed it with my biggest brush. I then wet the brush and pressed against the canvas with it until water began to pour out onto my portrait. This experiment was very helpful and as far as I believe aided in the completion of the portrait.
reflection
Overall I am not the happiest with this piece nor am I disappointed. Painting isn't my strong suit and I feel that there is a lot that could be improved on in this piece. Facial features could be moved and improved on, more colours could be layered even if they're not what stands out in the palette. However for being a painting I feel lie I did do a competent job with mixing colours and with creating a human looking figure. I am also proud of my experimentation and how that ended up finalizing the piece into the image I wanted it to be. However, other than those positives I believe this piece could be improved on tremendously, and it may be something I work on improving over the course of the year. Painting is something I find interest in even though it's not something I'm comfortable in and if I dedicate myself to it, over the school year I might be able to greatly improve my piece.
act questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its affect upon your artwork?
My portrait connects with my inspiration through my colour choice, positioning, and technique. The expression on my portrait is also connected directly to my inspiration and was able to aid in my expression of my theme and ideas.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My approach to my self portrait was not focused on the direct theme my inspiration gave off. However, it was focused on the feelings that the piece gave me and my own connection with my theme.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Many of my conclusions I came to with my theme were through my own feelings and how I connected with the feelings of fatigue and confusion.
What was the central idea of theme around your inspirational research?
My theme was the feeling of fatigue and a lack of motivation in a world where sometimes it's needed to just stop and take a break.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had originally approached this project thinking that finding a piece that was directly connected to my theme would have been a difficult task. However, after finding pieces that expressed my theme and didn't directly tie to my piece I was able to go deeper into the process of finding pieces that connected to not just my theme but myself personally.
My portrait connects with my inspiration through my colour choice, positioning, and technique. The expression on my portrait is also connected directly to my inspiration and was able to aid in my expression of my theme and ideas.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
My approach to my self portrait was not focused on the direct theme my inspiration gave off. However, it was focused on the feelings that the piece gave me and my own connection with my theme.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
Many of my conclusions I came to with my theme were through my own feelings and how I connected with the feelings of fatigue and confusion.
What was the central idea of theme around your inspirational research?
My theme was the feeling of fatigue and a lack of motivation in a world where sometimes it's needed to just stop and take a break.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I had originally approached this project thinking that finding a piece that was directly connected to my theme would have been a difficult task. However, after finding pieces that expressed my theme and didn't directly tie to my piece I was able to go deeper into the process of finding pieces that connected to not just my theme but myself personally.
image sources
Tate. “'Study for Portrait II (after the Life Mask of William Blake)', Francis Bacon, 1955.”Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bacon-study-for-portrait-ii-after-the-life-mask-of-william-blake-t02414.
“Sketch for 'Lisa'.” Sketch for 'Lisa' | Art UK, artuk.org/discover/artworks/sketch-for-lisa-1740.
Bacon, Francis. “STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF PETER BEARD by FrancisBacon.” STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF PETER BEARD by Francis Bacon on Artnet, Christie's London, 1 Jan. 1975, www.artnet.com/artists/francis-bacon/study-for-portrait-of-peter-beard-2srjT8cMuWi50PT4D11upQ2.
“Sketch for 'Lisa'.” Sketch for 'Lisa' | Art UK, artuk.org/discover/artworks/sketch-for-lisa-1740.
Bacon, Francis. “STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF PETER BEARD by FrancisBacon.” STUDY FOR PORTRAIT OF PETER BEARD by Francis Bacon on Artnet, Christie's London, 1 Jan. 1975, www.artnet.com/artists/francis-bacon/study-for-portrait-of-peter-beard-2srjT8cMuWi50PT4D11upQ2.