Art Visit #3 - Self Portrait

My Self

A self portrait by: Carly Dryden Szczygiel

Step #1:

Watch the PowerPoint.

Step #2

Visit an Art Gallery and document three inspiration Self-Portrait artworks.

• I visited Albright Knox on Sunday, May 1, 2016. The only self portrait in the whole museum was the one pictured below of Frida Kahlo. The other inspirational self portraits are sourced from An Eye For Art, a book presented by the National Gallery of Art, sold in the Albright Knox gift shop.

Step #3

Take a photograph of yourself.

Step #4

Create your self-portrait in media of your choice.

Step #5

Upload the three inspiration images, the original photograph of yourself, and image of your completed self-portrait to your Blog (or Photobucket and then embed to your Blog).

Step #6

Create a reflection journal on your Blog and answer the following questions:

1. Why did you select the inspiration pieces?

• I selected these self portraits for inspiration because they each portray something that I wlike.
• Davinci’s self portrait is striking to me in that it almost seems unfinished, and though he is an old man it almost makes it seem like he is not finished developing as a person. Also I knew I wanted a similar medium for the base of my portrait.
• Frida Kahlo’s self portrait spoke to me because she plays up the traits that she does not like about herself. It seems like she is facing her fears in a way by calling attention to her insecurities.
• VanGogh’s self portrait was inspirational to me because of its abstract nature. I liked that he was not traditional in his portrayal. It seemed indicative of him telling everyone that he was not as he appears.

2. Why did you select the media to create your self-portrait?

• I selected the combination of pencil and collage because the truth is I'm not a strong artist. I am highly creative and I was a anxious to incorporate elements of my life that I do not have the skills to depict. Also I wanted to experiment with collage as my final medium for the class, because I hadn’t yet, and I thought it would be something I would enjoy.

3. What challenges did you face in creating your self-portrait and how did you overcome them?

• The challenges that I faced in creating my self portrait is that I do not have art skills honed enough to depict myself in a way that I see myself. I overcame this by using pencil, which is by far my better art medium, and collage to accurately depict and incorporate all of the parts of myself that I wanted to present in my self portrait.

4. How does this piece represent you?

• This piece represents where I am in life right now. I am getting ready to graduate, and though the left side looks professional and presentable, the right side is still a little less defined, and slightly cluttered. The components of the right side are mostly food, and wine, as I am a dietetics major, and a wine lover. The two are not mutually exclusive. There is also Champagne component that is indicative of the coming graduation that warrants celebration. In addition to the dualism I wanted to represent in my current self the portrait is meaningfully split in two more broad ways. I am a Gemini and so I relate to the twin part of a whole, and in general I feel like what is presented to the outside is not always the same as what is going on on the inside, the right side.

5. What elements and principles of art did you apply in this work?

• I applied the principle of contrast pretty heavily in this piece, with the line directly dividing the portrait. I also used a lot of color on the right side and light on the left side. Light is prevalent in the picture that the portrait is based on, but only really translated on the left side with the shading.

6. Did you enjoy working on this project?

• Yes, I always enjoy an excuse to be creative, but it was stressful to try to represent myself in a medium (art) that I feel I have such a limited skill set. The sketch (left side) came out much better than I thought it would. The right side was just fun, looking through food magazines trying to figure out how to incorporate them into the portrait. It is not very evident in the finished product, but I utilized shape a lot in making the collage image.

7. What do you think of your final artwork?

• I really like the final product, and I am shocked that I do. I had resolved myself that this would not be one to hang on the fridge, but in truth I probably will. I was able to make the collage half of the portrait in my likeness using food and wine images, which I am oddly proud of.