𝔏𝔢𝔞𝔥 𝔅𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔫

𝕷𝖘𝖆𝖉 1𝖘𝖙 𝖞𝖊𝖆𝖗 𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖘𝖙𝖚𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖙 | Painting |

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Project : Portrait

Wall Presentation

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Project : Portrait

Week : 29th April - 1st May

Faceless Self Portrait

I completed another faceless portrait to depict solely my fashion sense and the way I present myself. The idea of excluded my face is to portray the fact that my clothing and accessories can present my personality alone, rather than my unchangeable features.

I’ve included my typical outfit- black, cropped shirt and cardigan, patterned skirt, leather bag, belt, and jewellery.

Below are the photos of the progress of the painting. I did this painting in acrylic paints.

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Project : Portrait

Artist Presentation - Kerry James Marshall

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Project : Portrait

Week : 22nd April - 26th April

Bookmaking

Below is a video of my completed book from the previous post, bound together by wire.

I really enjoyed making the book, as it’s something I never really tried before. I like how it functions at an autobiography of my physical appearance in relation to how I dress. I think bookmaking is definitely a technique I’ll use in the future to produce work.

What I find interesting about my book is it’s elements of sculpture and fashion. Due to the thick pages and heavy duty materials, it almost looks like a sculpture piece. I like how even in the painting discipline, I can still delve into other areas of art to inform my paintings.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 22nd April - 26th April

Bookmaking

After making a glue-bound book, I was motivated to make another book - but with more edge. I wanted to make the pages more bold, by combined more fashion samples and sculptural elements that hint at my personal style.

Below are the pages, which I laid out in order to decide my composition of the book.

I used different metal items, such as pins, bolts, chains, wire and nails to reflect the predominantly silver jewellery items I wear. I incorporated fabrics such as denim, lace and tights to give samples of garments that I wear.

I printed some images of myself, places that inspire me and my accessories onto black and red paper in black ink (my two favourite colours).

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Project : Portrait

Week : 22nd April - 26th April

Artist Research : Barbara Kruger

Barbara Kruger is an American graphic designer, known for her style of using black and white imagery, with brief phrases in red and white fonts in Futura Bold Oblique, or Helvetica Ultra Condensed.

Within her work, she challenged societal issues and conventions. Her dark imagery is undercut by the short sayings that accompany it. It allows the viewer to reflect on the image, but also analyse the meaning of the text in relation to the image.

I’m influenced by Kruger, as the colour palette of black, red and white run through all of my pieces. In particular, the book that I made from my previous post is influenced by her, as I’ve combined quick phrases, with black and white images of myself, in a simplistic form.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 15th April - 20th April

Bookmaking

With Eoin, I created a book of quick sketches/collages to visual some ideas to relate to my theme for ‘Portrait’

In the book, I’ve shown a mix of images of things and places that influence my style and physical samples of my fashion tastes.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 15th April - 19th April

Process Painting

As a continuation of an animated style and process painting, I created another painting/collage.

For this piece, I decided to include more texture/sculpture elements - with relief paintings, fabric and wire.

I painted myself in an animated style, using my favourite tv shows as inspiration. I included paintings of my jewellery, also using wire to make replicas of my accessories. Using collage, I stuck pictures of my childhood self, drawing my current fashion over top. I used my own ripped tights for collage also, to showcase a physical piece of what I wear.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 15th April - 19th April

Artist Research : Chris Prynoski

Chris Prynoski is an animator and director, particularly known for designing the characters for MTV show ‘Downtown’.

The way the figures look really influenced my approach to attempt to work in a less realistic style. I like their urban appearance, and the 90s style of fashion.

The TV show is my favourite animated show, which I think will suit the theme of ‘portrait’ well. As I’m displaying my interests within the style of my painting.

Above is a painting of myself inspired by the character design of ‘Downtown’.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 8th April - 10th April

Process painting

The week I felt like experimenting. I had the idea of presenting myself in a more animated style, to break out of my cycle of structural realism. Rather than going in with a precise idea, I wanted to take on the method of process painting, working out how it will look visually in the moment.

To portray myself, I included imagery which suggested my hobbies, favourite colours and my personal style.

I used a mix of paint and collage.

Although this way of painting is very foreign to me, I enjoyed the productivity in creating something faster. I think process painting could be a positive thing to become familiar with.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 8th April - 10th April

Life Drawing

Below are some drawings I did in the life drawing workshop. I used a mix of pen and charcoal to create these.

The 20 minute posed drawings are helping me to increase my pace, and also learn what materials work best for quick sketching.

I attempted to focus in on certain body parts, to produce more sketches and understand anatomy in gesture drawing.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 8th April - 10th April

Mood board

I asked some friends to send pre-existing pictures online to describe how I appear and present myself. I then collaged a mood board of the pictures.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 19th March - 22nd March

Faceless Self Portrait

I painted a back-facing portrait of myself using acrylic paints.

I used a neutral colour palette for this painting, with black, white, yellow, brown and blue tones. I made the background black to illuminate my pale figure, and to emphasise the shine on the accessories.

Below is my photograph reference.

To take the photo I used a flash, to capture my shadow on the wall and to highlight the silver jewellery. There was also motion to the camera, creating a blurred effect.

For the image, I wanted to document myself for my clothes and accessories. Showing how the way I dress can inform personality and identity, rather than my facial features and body.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 19th March - 22nd March

Artist Research : Michael Borremans

Michael Borremans is a Belgian painter and film-maker, who is influenced by the techniques of impressionist painters such as Degas, Manet, and Goya. But also mirrors the psychological, enigmatic subject matter of surrealism. His melancholic, staged portraits are what captured my attention, particularly the faceless paintings.

Due to the lack of identity that these figures have, they are almost objectified. They feel very lonely and claustrophobic, as they stare aimlessly at the wall, in which they are stood right up against. Almost as if they've been punished and are facing guilt.

I'm influenced by Borremans' range of back paintings, as they allow the viewer to only perceive the body. We can't make out the expression or feelings of the girls. We can only judge based off of their stance, the neutral colour palette and the composition. I'm looking at a similar idea for my concept for 'portrait', by focusing on how what I put on my body can shape a perception of me, allowing for pre-judgement.

Another appealing aspect to Borremans' work is his ability to transform his painting into film.

Based on a series of paintings and sketches from 2002-2005, he produced a film - 'Weight', in 2006. His absurdity in his subject matter translates from paper to camera with ease.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 19th March - 22nd March

Painting - Life Drawing

I went back to do some more figure drawing, but using Indian ink this time rather than paint. From my previous post, I found that Indian ink helps me work faster and to not focus too heavily on detail.

We were given 20 minutes to capture each pose.

I found that the shadow for each pose was just as interesting to document as the pose itself. It’s almost like a second figure. The freedom of Indian ink helped me to note the depth of this shadow.

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Project : Portrait

Week : 19th March - 22nd March

Painting (Visual Brainstorm)

To start off the week we were advised to work large scale and face paced, both of which are out of my comfort zone, to brainstorm our concepts for ‘portrait’.

Working in this way made me learn that detail isn’t required when trying to conjure up ideas. It’s about focusing on the context rather than the finished product.

I began by visualising my concept of how my style can inform another person’s perception of me. How my accessories and image can contrast with my personality and the importance of self expression.

I then used Indian ink to paint a self portrait. I think using the Indian ink helps me work faster, as the application is so bold. As my face is turning away in the picture, it helps to focus on my clothing and jewellery.

In the end, I actually enjoyed working fast paced as I felt fulfilled in the amount of work that I produced.

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Project : Portrait

Painting (Brainstorm)

Week : 11th March - 15th March

After getting the brief on Monday, I thought it would be a good idea to flesh out some ideas I have for this project in the first week.

I made a quick mindmap to explore some concepts. in relation to portrait, I quite like the idea of looking into my fashion and accessories, the objects that I carry and use on a daily basis, and perceptions of others of myself vs. my own perception.