Gridded Value Self Portrait
Self Portrait in Graphite
12 X 18
This assignment was quite possibly the most challenging artistic endeavor I have undertaken, and one I think helped me grow as an artist. I was tasked to create a self portrait using a grid, and by placing a grid over both the reference image and the paper on which to draw, I could effectively copy the values within each square onto the page. Or at least that was the idea that was behind this whole thing. So that's how I started out, using B, 2B and 6B pencils to copy the values from the reference photo onto the paper. Here is where I made a bad decision, I decided to copy the values from the photograph on my laptop rather than the values from the printed photograph, which the printer had made much darker. Not only was this a bad decision, it made the process of filling a box much longer, because I would go back and forth between the printed and digital photo to try to find the value of the spot I was looking at. Despite that, this project was going very, very well, I like the how the sweatshirt turned, the ears (never my strong suit) and the hair (also very tricky). But when it came to the eyes I hit a brick wall, spending three days drawing, erasing, and then drawing again. I let it sit on my art table for almost two weeks after that. I needed to just finish it, and throw perfection in the garbage, so that's what I did.
I made a claim at the beginning, that this made me a better artist, and that is true because I realized something. In the creation of this piece I was so frustrated I wanted to destroy and just take the bad grade. Now, seeing it complete, I've realized that the process is what I see, not the imperfect eyes and dirty-looking face. The process I went through to make this.
Self Portrait in Graphite
18 X 12
The background of my self portrait was inspired by the street artist and activist Keith Haring. In this piece I tried to emulate the energy within his artworks, while intentionally creating less-crisp lines, making the composition all the more bizarre. To create this energized brain-dump of a doodle, I used Sharpie and Posca paint markers, after sketching the piece out with a 2B graphite pencil. I had experimented with the markers prior to commencing the work on the background, but I was aware that I would make mistakes and tried to accept them as part of the work.
By accident, and as a result of using a lot of small marks, the work assumes a pointillism feel, all the dots almost meld together in a way I wasn't intending but enjoy. If anything were to be repeated I would nix the dots on the blue character in the upper right, and draw the parthenon with more precise lines.
Looking at the artwork now, it is almost as this piece is what is going on in my mind, my head is in the clouds, and I've got a man on my shoulder blowing noise into my ear. The red man with the crown represents me, running around in my own ideas.
