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Title: Artist Reference: Vincent Willem van Gogh (1853-1890)
Nationality: Dutch (Netherlands)
Title of work: Self Portrait with a Straw Hat
Year:1887
Medium: Oil on Cardboard
Dimensions: 41cm x 33cm
Current Location: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436532
SEE
(Describe what you see)
THINK
(Analyse & Interpret)
WONDER
(Develop Curiosity)
What do you see?
I see an artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. The artworks are made with only a few colours. I also see lots of swirls that make up the painting.
What are the subjects in the Artwork?
The subject is a portrait of Vincent Van Gogh wearing a straw hat.
What are the Elements of Art used in the Artwork?
The elements are colours, textures, and lines
What are some subjects in the foreground, middleground and background of the Artwork?
In the foreground , it is his shirt. In the middleground, its his face and lastly, in the background, its his straw hat and the colourful background of the cardboard that he painted on.
How are the subject matters arranged?
It is a close up portrait of Vincent Van Gogh.
Why did you think the artist arranged the subjects in this manner?
I think he did this because he wanted a close up portrait of himself
What do you think the Artist is trying to communicate in the artwork? How does the artwork make you feel?
I think he is trying to say that maybe he was at a farm wearing a straw hat and some garderner clothing. It makes me feel curious because I wonder if he really went to a farm.
How do you think the elements of art were used to convey the Artist's intentions?
The swirls around the painting brought out the details of the portrait and helps the person looking at the artwork to get more curious about it.
How was principles of design used to communicate and idea/ emotion?
The colours brought out the mood of the portrait.
Why do you think the Artist emphasised certain element in the work?
I think it is because he thought that if he emphasised those elements, people would understand his artwork better.
What are you curious about the Artwork?
I am curious to know why he draw himself in a gardener type of clothing and a straw hat as if he was in a farm.
What are you wonder about the Artist's thought processes?
I wonder why he thought to use swirls to make the artwork.
What is interesting to you about this Artwork? And why?
I think that this artwork is interesting because the background is simple yet it looks great.
Are there any areas such as the title, style, or medium of the artwork that you are unsure and would like to know more?
I would like to know why and what the swirls represent.
What do you like to keep, destroy or replace? Why?
I would like to keep the whole painting because I think that the painting is very original and creative and few people would have thought about making their artwork in this style
MY WORKS IN PROGRESS
1st double faced self portrait
Progress: It was my first time drawing a double faced portrait and it looked a bit weird and out of shape
2nd double faced self portrait
Progress: It was my second time trying to do this again and I think it look slightly better than the previous one
carbon copy of contour outline
Progress: I thought that it was really enjoyable to do this carbon copy and it was also quite easy as it was just tracing out the picture of me.
Positive, negative design self potrait
Progress: I found this very fun too however some challenges were that I was not really sure which part of my hair to colour and which part to leave it white.
Mix colours to find colour nearest to skin tone
Progress: It was fun and helped me to learn more about how to make different colours
Mix colours to find colour nearest to skin tone
Progress: After getting the lightest colour on the right, I was a little unsure how to get skin tone colour but I managed to do it.
Paint on hand to find skin colour
Progress: I made other shades of colours and treid to find a shade that matched with my skintone but it was pretty difficult.
Silkscreen printmaking
Progress: It was fun doing this and I enjoyed it. One challenge was that it was a bit difficult to wash off some parts of the silkscreen printmaking and I took quite a bit of time to wash it all off.
Self Portrait painting pop art
Progress: I think it does not look so pleasant and looks a bit awkward because I used the wrong colours at the start.
Self Portrait painting pop art
Progress: I painted the background and tried to cover the weird parts with other colours but I think it still looks a bit weird.
Final Self Portrait painting pop art
Progress: I darkened the hair colour and made it more black so that the pencil lines underneath the paint will not be seen.
Preparing to ink
Progress: I taped the sides of the thing and prepared to ink
Inking(Black)
Progress: It was a quick and easy process and it was really enjoyable too.
Inking(Blue)
Progress: I repeated the steps for the black inking except that this time I used blue instead
Inking(Red)
Progress: Same steps for blue and black except that this time I used red instead. It was quite fun and nice doing inking in different colours
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRINTMAKING (SILKSCREEN PRINTING) AND PAINTING? WHICH DO YOU PREFER AND WHY?
My Reflections: The process for printmaking is longer and there are a lot more steps compared to painting. Printmaking is also a process for producing a few of the same artwork in different colours whereas painting only produces a single original piece of artwork. I prefer printmaking because I think that it is very interesting and it is also enjoyable. I like the process of burning the frame and washing it away and I also like the printing process because it is fast and smooth and the paint goes on very easily. This is also the first time that I am doing printmaking and given a chance, I would like to try it again. Thus, I prefer printmaking over painting.
HOW WOULD I LIKE TO IMPROVE MY WORK IF I WERE DO MY SILKSCREEN OR PAINTING AGAIN? PLS SPECIFY ONE TYPE.
My Reflections: Given a chance, I would like to make the lines in the hair and the shadows more realistic. I think that right now, the shadow just looks like weird dark spots that are randomly found on the face. If I could do this again, I would try to observe more and see where I can put the shadow so that it does not look weird. I would also like to make the lines in the hair clearer as I kind of messed it up during the process and I think it makes the whole silkscreen look a bit worse. If I can do this again and improve on these two things, I think that the silkscreen would look more realistic and a lot better compared to now.
Thank you
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