week 2 Portrait Project

On week 2 after the picture identities lecture i really started thinking about my portrait and what i need to produce for it ,i started off my preparation by just noting a few ideas on a page and then decided I'm going to work from there and begin the development.

Here's the first quick sketch i done in my sketchbook which is a study of my face using a mirror trying to capture the main details of my face structure in its normal form ,at the time of this portrait my face was very still and motionless my mind was just concentrating on the image i was drawing ,i think sometimes i feel that whatever is on your mind can impact your drawing , for example with some portraits only the painter knows what the meaning is whether it is sad or happy like the famous Mona Lisa is it a frown or a smile?

Optical illusion of the Mona Lisa taken from
Mona Lisa Smile June 04, 2006 by Vurdlak
http://www.moillusions.com/2006/06/mona-lisa-smile.html

Claerwen James (Research)
I've located an artist Claerwen James via the Internet, you can see how she is dealing with the issue of identity in the work these two portraits showing the same girl are very detailed in there description of what the young girl is about, my first impression is that she is very lonely, perhaps she has lost someone close in her family, the colours look quite dull giving me the impression that Claerwen James wanted to show depth in the paintings however it is clear the portrait lies as a mystery, hence why i could not find an answer for the true meaning of the young girls identity.



'At first glance, these portraits of children and adolescents offer their subjects up in a direct, even vibrant way. A longer look reveals withdrawal; there is a disconcerting watchfulness about the figures as they stare out of the picture into a future they cannot comprehend. However hard we look at them, we cannot hope to match their questioning gaze.'

quote taken form - Allison Pearson
http://www.clivejames.com/gallery/painting/claerwen-james/pearson





Egon Schiele (Research)

I like the way Schiele shows himself in his art work, in a way i think it is very dramatic, he stares at the viewer of the portrait as if to say 'what are you looking at? this is my true identity also he is not scared of showing himself to the world during the 1900's period ,compared to this day n age it is very different in comparison everybody cares about self-image and the way they displayed (including me) which is why Egon's style of portraits link in well with my idea of self-portrait as I'm trying to show myself.

Another way of hiding my true self (identity) is shown here this face of me is capturing the motion of closure and secrets in a way, as there is no mouth you cant totally tell wot the image is about.I also think you can tell what a person is like by there mouth shape size like if they are smiling they are a very happy person and so you assume there life and identity is good however for me the image is like a mystery nobody quite knows but you can make an assumption about them and this is what i fink this portrait idea is portraying.

Rembrandt (Research)

Some say that Rembrandt was the best self portrait painter of his time in fact even all time.just by looking at his art work you see why people would say this. i like the way he deals with identity in his art work particularly the oil paintings of when he was a young lad looking healthy and confident.however the older self portraits look as if they have lost these features to ageing leaving his past behind which i think gives a real impact to the viewer.This aspect of youth and old ages is a very strong area of identity which i might have to look into.

quote taken from national museum Liverpool
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/picture-of-month/displaypicture.asp?venue=2&id=300

'He used his painted self-portraits to explore the effect on the overall mood of an image of the fall of light and shade over the face, before embarking on commissioned portraits.'

The next stage of the portrait projects was to examine my face and so i picked out this self image amongst a few others and found that this image is the best that reflects me 'my best side' ,the three images are the same the reason i chose this image is because it reflects who i am right now caring about the way i look.

As you can see my mobile is part of my final idea as it is the centre of me, i carry it everywhere i go and use it also, i first came up with this idea as i was walking to the university in the morning i saw around 10 people using a mobile phone for example in there cars, this was a sign to carry out my idea, so i drew my mobile in my sketch book and added my idea into it.

Statics showing seriousness of how technology is taking over the world.

'The number of mobile phone users world soared to over 3.3 billion by the end of 2007'

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23755088-5001028,00.html

My mobile phone is a significant part of who i am and so trapping my portrait in the screen has in a way taking my identity away from the outside world in real life. Similar to Dorian greys in the way his sees his soul is in his portrait ,i see my portrait is in my phone(the phone has taken my identity)watching the Dorian Greys film inspired my main idea, in some cases i hate it when pictures are taken of me as i don't like the fact i might look like an idiot, however so this is all self identity a judgement i make about myself and i feel others share the similar opinion.

http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/rembrandt_life_and_work.htm
http://www.veritus.org/rembrandt/book.php
http://www.channel4.com/culture/microsites/S/selfportraituk14to19/