Imaginative Self Portrait

Purpose:

• To examine your own identity and create a self-portrait that identifies the things that make you, “you”.

• Lighthouse - I have had a weird fascination with lighthouses ever since my family and I went to visit the Portland head light. One time for my birthday we went to a bunch of different lighthouses. I just think they are really pretty and the function they have is interesting to me.

• Beach - every summer since I can remember I have spent my time in Cape Cod across from the beach in my grandparents house. I used to swim every day it wasn't raining from when I could swim until a couple years ago. The rocks that I included on the beach look just like the ones at the beach I went to.

• Hot air balloon - my grandmother always said how much she wanted to go in a hot air balloon and whenever I see one I think of her. My grandmother is such an important person in my life so I wanted to do something that was an ode to her.

• Moon phases - I love astronomy so much and the moon is just a really cool thing to me. I also thought it was cool to include all of them to further the idea that that is one of my interests.

• Moths - like lighthouses, moths have also captured my interest. I think they are really pretty and don’t get enough appreciation so I wanted to include them in here so others can appreciate their beauty.

• Fish - my grandfather used to take my grandmother and I fishing so I also wanted to give a little ode to him.

• Pirate ship - one of my favorite movies is pirates of the caribbean so this was supposed to be a little hint to that.

• House - another one of my favorite movies is Coraline and this is the house from the movie. This movie holds a really important place in my heart as my best friend who lives in Missouri used to watch this movie as kids in Cape Cod.

• Tree - really, I just like trees. As a kid I was also really jealous of kids who could climb them because I was alway too scared so this could be an ode to my childhood.

• Books - I love reading so much so I wanted to include as many books as I could on the desk.

• Plants - I really like plants especially an aloe vera plant or a snake plant which look pretty similar from afar so that plant kind of doubles as both.

• Papers - I also like to write which is why I have some papers on the desk.

• Desk - My whole idea for this was that the desk would open up into the fictional world that I am writing about which is why I drew the desk. I also spend probably too much time at my desk in my room reading, writing, and doing my work.

• Constellations - One of my favorite things to do is star gaze so I included my two most favorite constellations, Cassiopeia and Ursa Major (the big dipper.)

I think the biggest challenge I had was being confident with the ink. I usually draw with pencil and don’t ink over it so this was difficult for me. I had to completely finish my sketch to be able to start going over it which took me longer than if I had been a little more confident. A strength I think I had was ideas. I really liked the brainstorming process and how I incorporated each of the things I had listed. I think that this piece really reflects me which was what I think was the overall goal.