Artist Statement
For this assignment I was initially undecided which of my two favourite subjects to choose - buildings or portraiture, but as Part 4 reinforced my interest in portraiture the final decision was easy. I had always been interested in portraiture though I had never thought of doing a self-portrait before, but I really enjoyed doing self-portraits for Part 4 – about fifteen in all including quick sketches – admittedly not always ending up with a good likeness.
I therefore decided on a self-portrait for the assignment, with the intention of exploring the concepts of identity and freedom, recalling the comments of the Maria Morata documentary mentioned in Part-four that when a woman makes a self portrait she is taking the power to create her own image, and becomes master of her own image - there is a kind of freedom for the woman.
My first thoughts were to do something along the lines of the experimental work I did in part 4 Life Drawing (below), as I liked the idea of the three poses of the model blending into each other.
I also recalled Christian Hook’s portrait of Alan Cummins – a three head-and-shoulder portrait which I like very much (see research for Assignment 5)
With this in mind I decided on a landscape format, but was undecided on whether my support should be Canford, pastel or watercolour paper. I wanted to use pastel pencil and sticks, but left open the possibility of introducing also watercolour until I had a clear idea of the final composition
I also wanted to explore the combination of tone and line in my self-portrait, and to try to introduce some of the features that so interested me in the various works I had reviewed in my research for Part 4 –
The expression in the eyes, and the elegance of Boldini’s portrait of Giuseppe Verdi – my favourite portrait since childhood
The energy and movement in Van Gogh’s self-portraits
the simplicity in Tony (November) by Elizabeth Peyton
and the mystery in Rembrandt's self-portraits
I wanted to try to find interesting ways to do this, though my pieces always develop as they go along and the result depends on the decisions I take at each stage as to what will or will not work, which makes the piece less predictable and therefore more interesting I think.
In term of composition, I wanted my self-portrait to be a combination of the traditional and the experimental, keeping in mind the concepts of identity and freedom, and retaining the three head-and-shoulder format.
I also wanted to explore the use of traditional methods of sketching with photography sketching to create compositions as Mucha did to create some of his art deco posters.
My style tends towards realism but I wanted to give this work an unusual twist, which I have to say doesn’t always work, and in terms of lighting I enjoyed working with arranged artificial light in Parts 1 and 2 to make really strong light and shadow, so I wanted to introduce the element of interesting lighting into the work also.
In terms of size, considering that it would be basically three self-portraits in one I decided to use A1 paper.
That was the plan before I started therefore, retaining the flexibility to deviate from it as I normally do - to start with an idea and let it develop, I try to keep to the essence of the plan but allow the details to change as I respond to the result.
“In search of identity”: Three heads self-portrait - combining line and tone
The Process
I firstly researched artists who had produced multiple-head works and found several, from Jan van Dyke to Christian Hook (see research for assignment 5).
Then as preparation for this final assignment I did various rough sketches of faces in different positions without reference to each other, just to get an idea of the main elements and to explore possible compositions of what would work best, keeping in mind the ideas of identity and the freedom to portray myself as I choose.
I then produced two rough three-head sketches in willow charcoal, thinking initially of themes revolving around my life; who I am and what I do in an average week, something related to my home country Peru, and to ballroom dancing and horse riding. I thought I could represent this in a portrait wearing relevant costumes; a face in profile wearing a horse riding helmet, a face looking forward and a face wearing a traditional Peruvian hat.
This first composition didn’t look right - too staged, and I wanted something much more natural, though I did like the idea of the head on the left at the back looking straight at the viewer.
My second three-head sketch had one of the heads looking forward, another in profile and the third a three quarter face looking upwards, and for this head I had a photo of myself dancing which I used as a reference.
This sketch reminded me of the Allegory of Prudence by Titian, and I think that was mainly because of the position of the heads.
Once again I liked the idea of a face looking straight at the viewer, though as an imaginary face it looks a bit sad, and I liked the idea of the face on the right looking upwards.
Based on these two sketches I decided that important features of the composition would be a head looking upwards and a head looking straight at the viewer, and I also liked very much Christian Hook’s dramatic composition of Alan Cumming so I wanted to do something dramatic using artificial light to create defined light and shadow.
At this point I looked back at the work I did earlier in the course when exploring self-portraits for Assignment 4, and my experimental self-portraits at different times of the day looking in mirrors, and gave up the idea of using costumes, deciding instead to do something more natural.
I set my camera on a tripod in the room where I normally work, placed a yellow lamp on a stool, and closed the blinds so I could create as much drama as possible. I then connected my camera to my phone via Wi-Fi so I could take photos of myself from a distance, and during that day took sixty-two photos in total in three photo-shoot sessions, changing the position of my head, my body and the light position many times. Of these -
. Fifteen were taken early in the morning soon after I got up, in my pyjamas, my hair untended, and without make-up
. Thirty-two were taken around midday
. Fifteen in the afternoon/early evening, having as it happens had my hair cut and by then looking a little more glam
(See photos on https://cndartstudio.wixsite.com/cecilia516830/experimental-work)
I then worked with these photos and a number of computer applications; Adobe Photoshop, PowerPoint, Sketchbook, Colour Effects, to rearrange and merge them, changing colours and angles to create a number of possible compositions, and eventually I decided to use the following photos -
I chose this one because it looks very honest to me, in my pyjamas, looking straight at the viewer, vulnerable, but ready to face the challenges of the day.
I chose this one because I like the pose; my head looks upwards - displaying optimism for the future.
I chose this one because though glammed up after my fresh haircut, I look vulnerable yet straightforward as in the first photo, almost challenging the viewer, something I wanted to express in the completed work.
Having decided my source photos I made a number of sketches of the faces to get used to the shapes.
In order to make the work more dramatic I decided to use blue Canford paper because it was smoother, and drew a grid to give a reference for the proportions and position of the heads.
I started my drawing with a white pastel outline, then I blocked part of the face with pastel chalk, using as a reference some of the negative space as an under-painting before I started with the hatching technique.
When I was more or less happy with the drawing and initial work I started thinking of the background, which proved quite difficult.
I couldn’t use the actual background of the photos because it wasn’t suitable for a dramatic composition, so I started looking for ideas in magazines, portrait books and old newspaper cuttings I had kept, and found in an old scrap book a photo of Leonardo di Caprio which I cut from a newspaper some years ago.
The di Caprio photo has interesting background lights which remind me of the lights in a theatre or a ballroom dancing competition, and that gave me the idea I was looking for. I uploaded on the Sketchbook App on my computer a photo of my partially finished work and added a number of coloured background shapes, changing the colours and the shapes until I got more or less what I thought would work, as below.
With this as a reference I added colours and shapes into my work as background, blended them as necessary, and completed my final piece -
After my tutorial my tutor gave some valuable feedback on how to improve the piece, so I reworked it and this did improve it vastly, though I think I lost some of the light that I had before.
Updated 28.05.2018
Self-assessment
• Demonstration of technical and visual skills – materials, techniques, observational skills, visual awareness, design and compositional skills
I believe that the assignment shows a better understanding of technical and visual skills, and my choice of medium and support is fine. I feel more comfortable working on a bigger scale, which was on my wish-list at the beginning of the course.
I'm happy with the combination of line, tone and hatching technique, which I would like to pursue in the future, and think my composition looks fine, though there are a few things I would like to have done differently.
I think the head on the right looks a bit big; it should have been smaller, to give a better sense of perspective. I am however happy with the expression on the face; it’s not a pretty expression but I think it’s a realistic one, looking challengingly at the viewer.
I’m also happy with the central head; looking upwards with a kind of hopeful expression. And I like some elements of the head on the left, particularly the depiction of the hair, though the face needs more work; the eyes lack realistic expression and it looks a bit sad and cartoonish. It doesn’t look straight at the viewer as I intended, but I will do more work on it later.
I’m happy with the depiction of the shirts; I think you can see the difference in the materials, especially the difference between the red, which was actually my soft flannel pyjamas and the blue, which was a cotton shirt. And I’m also reasonably happy with the background, which I think pulls the composition together. I know the background can be improved further but I’m not quite sure how yet. I will however keep thinking about it and will get the picture framed properly when (if) I am satisfied with the final result.
• Quality of outcome – content, application of knowledge, presentation of work in a coherent manner, discernment, conceptualisation of thoughts, communication of ideas
As I said right at the beginning, it’s difficult to assess my own work - I can only compare it with my previous work, and on that basis I feel sure the quality of outcome of my work has improved vastly. I think my presentation skills are better but that my communication of ideas and conceptualization of thought need improvement.
• Demonstration of creativity – imagination, experimentation, invention, development of a personal voice
I believe my work has improved in terms of creativity and imagination. As I said before, I like unusual subjects, and am trying not to think so much of whether others like my work, concentrating instead on things that I personally find challenging and that I myself like. I still need to do a lot more experimental work and am trying to get into the discipline of doing more experiments, so hopefully this will become more routine for me.
During the course I realised that once I have an idea for a piece of work I typically spend a lot of time thinking about how to create and develop my compositions, and on developing a methodology to work more efficiently, though I prefer working from life if possible as the result is more organic, fresh and rewarding.
The process of using technology takes me a lot of time but I enjoy it almost as much as the process of drawing or painting. For this assignment my methodology was to start with a series of sketches to determine the main elements of my composition, then I used photography and computer applications such as Adobe Photoshop, PowerPoint, Sketchbook and Colour Effects to merge the figures and change the colours and angles etc. until I was happy with the composition. I realise this methodology may not work with every subject but I believe it is valid
• Context reflection – research, critical thinking (learning logs and, at second and third level, critical reviews and essays)
I spend a lot of time researching, and my knowledge of artists and the art world has improved vastly, and this is one of the course elements I enjoy most, though I don’t always have enough time to write it down in my learning log/blog.
I think I’m also improving my critical thinking, and learning to be more disciplined with the help of the OCA briefings from my tutor, which I refer to all the time when I research something or go to galleries.
My conclusions of this first OCA course is that it has been very hard work, and juggling with my daily commitments has been challenging, and although I still have a long way to go I have improved vastly and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The experience has been very successful therefore, and I'm looking forward very much to my next course.
Reference
Robert Kuapelis, 1980, Experimental Drawing.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-an-allegory-of-prudence
http://www.artinsociety.com/titian-prudence-and-the-three-headed-beast.html
http://www.alancumming.com/blog/2015/1/3/exeeyzyagjwu1dq63wcj6dlw9d5n0d