Sustained investigation #5

The fifth piece in my sustained investigation was a self portrait. I again used an old shingle as a backing to connect it to the recycled, reclaimed, or upcycled theme that was outlined in my question. This project is a portrait of myself so it has a direct connection to me in the subject matter. This image also relates to where I am in my life as it was a photo that was taken as a potential senior portrait.

I created this portrait using oil pastels on a shingle. I chose to divide the portrait into three sections which I colored differently. I chose how to divide the portrait by splitting the shingle into three pieces. I started the split with a box knife and then broke the shingle along the line I had started.

Color and value were used to create the portrait. The colors were used to split the image up into three distinct sections. The purple section is the largest section where there was the most change in value. The nose section had many changes in value to give the nose its shape. On the black and gray side value was also used to create depth and detail on that side of the face. Once I chose to split the shingle, I knew I wanted to do each strip of shingle in a different color to further push the difference between the three. Rom then I sketched out the face and filled in with pastels. My next step would be to mount it on something. I could also play with how far apart I space the pieces on whatever I mount it on. I also think I will add some space around the face because it is currently just floating.