Self Portrait

The subject of this is me. This is a self portrait. This was made using primarily graphite but the background is charcoal. I chose to create this because the assignment was to draw a self portrait. I used the light room to take a picture and then cropped it to have myself in the center. This is a fairly simple work of art. It is just me, centered, with a dark charcoal background.

In the original drawing, I used framing because you can tell that there is a large border. I also used soft focus. The graphite makes everything including the shadows and facial features seem smoother and not very sharp giving the piece a more relaxed vibe. After I chose the photo, I used the grid method to outline my drawing with a 1-1 ratio. After I had the basic silhouette with some features like the shirt and jaw outlined, I began shading and blending. After I had finished my head and shoulders, I started coloring the background with graphite. However I made a poor decision and switched to charcoal which made the background much too dark which takes away from my hair.

The story behind this piece is quite simple, this piece is purely a "photo-realistic" replication of an actual picture taken. I think the most interesting part is the slight smirk. I could be smiling for the purpose of the photograph or i could be smiling at something or someone behind the camera that the viewer can't see. This relates to my life because the photo and the art is of me and I put a lot of time and effort into making this. The thing that bothers me the most is the background, I wish i could redo it in graphite and have it be much much much lighter. I suppose I would also redo the shadows on the neck. They are okay but the values seem to sharp. Also the hair needs more highlights.