Value Portrait

Essential Question: How do value and shape play important roles in painting a realistic portrait?

• Purpose:

  • To determine where values change when light moves over an uneven surface by using a range of gray values to paint a realistic self-portrait;

  • To become familiar with the structure and shapes of the face by painting a realistic self-portrait.

  • To effectively communicate an image that looks like you through careful examination of the values of your face

• Medium: Acrylic Paint on Acetate

Size: 8.5” x 11”

Reflection

I think that shape and value play an important role in showing depth in paintings. In my painting I would use lighter shades for the parts of my face that more light was hitting. In dark areas with more shadow I would use darker shades. This created depth and showed a single light source. The shape of these different shades was also important to pull it off, different shapes helped differentiate the features on my face. I think it went well, I can tell that it is me just by looking at it and it mostly matches the image of my face. I think to pull it off I had to make the features on my face accurate and make sure they were in the right place. The hardest part for me was making the strokes even so that it looked smooth.I learned that value is very important to show different shapes and depths to make it look realistic. Comparing it to drawing a still life, I would say it is very similar. Both use different shades to show depth and shape across the art piece. Both are also in black and white. For my background I chose a light pink, because I thought it would draw attention to my piece while also making my face pop out. The color relates to me because I like colors that are extreme and unexpected, and I think pink is both those things.