8'x12'

8'x12'

The story behind this self-portrait, is, in a sense a representation of life as a high school student myself. My idea behind this is the need for constant external reassurance that I see from many of my friends, as well as myself being a teenage high school girl. I constantly observe my friends checking their appearance quickly in their phone’s reflection in between classes, for example, and I think that that is such a common action by kids within the school. Between getting ready in the morning, and meeting your friends in each class, I think many people stress on their appearance in school as a need for validation externally. I chose to make this portrait detailed and accurate to my own face as it is something that I obviously look at during the day and check as the school day progresses on.

The materials I used for this sketch of myself are specifically 2b pencils and b pencils so I could shade and make certain parts of the sketch were made more gently in terms of the amount of pressure I put on the sketch paper. This is because each feature on my face has different shades and therefore dimensions. I used different pencils to create my natural features and enhance the details of these features.

It first, I was a bit nervous (as most people are to draw themselves), but I then began looking in a mirror at a downward angle and started simle–I sketched out the main forms on my face an of my head. I saved the details for after so I could perfect the details on my face for, for example, my eyes. Obviously, my sketch evolved as I erased, and re-drew certain features on my face that I thought I had drawn unrealistically. I took my time and made sure my portrait did not look cartoonish or rushed, as I wanted it to, again, look as realistic as possible to portray the real idea of the human appearance seen by oneself.