Self Portrait
Overview:
Title: This Generation Size: 91.44 cm x 91.44 cm Medium: Acrylic Paint Date of Completion: April 2023 Exhibition text: This self portrait that I created is inspired by the piece Nadeen by Dan Witz and the baroque movement. This piece serves to represent the people in this generation, some more than others, being glued to phones and shutting out the world around them. I created this piece using layers of acrylic paint to build up shadows, highlights, and to make it look like the light is coming off the phone. |
Inspiration: Dan Witz
For this piece I was inspired by the piece Nadeen by Dan Witz. I was first introduced to the piece sophomore year when we had to recreate a Baroque painting. I did not use this piece to recreate for that project but I was very interested in it. When I thought of this painting I knew right away that I wanted to use this piece as my inspiration. I really like how realistic this piece looks along with the simplistic background. I wanted to challenge myself with this self portrait so I thought that I would be able to if I used a Baroque inspired painting as my inspiration. Dan Witz created this painting in 2010, so it is a fairly new piece, but it is still heavily inspired by the Baroque movement, which happens to be one of my favorite movements.
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Planning
Process
The first step was to lay down the basic sketch on the canvas. I decided that I didn't want to lay the whole sketch down at one time because all the lines being on there at one time would end up confusing me. I decided that I want to lay the outline of the figure down but not any details within it. This would allow me to get the background down first.
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The next step was to paint the background on the canvas. I mixed black paint with a cream color and a hint of blue. I didn't want the background to be purely black so that's why I mixed the cream and blue into the black. It created a kind of hazy color. Once I had my color made, I used a large squared brush to paint the color onto the canvas. I needed to be very precise when it came to painting this color around the outline of my figure. There were a couple of spots where the color went too far, so I used a little bit of white to correct the marks.
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Once I had the background painted on, I began to sketch out the facial features and hair. I did just a general outline of where these pieces will be placed. I then went ahead and sketched out my arm and the phone that will be held. Once again, I just did a simple placement of the pieces so that I could go ahead and add the details after the base layer is painted.
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I then began to paint over the components of the piece that I had just previously sketched out. The facial features were probably the hardest part of the whole painting because of the shading. It was a little difficult to get the placement right and the shading right. Once I had the facial features painted I began to work on the hair. This part was also difficult because I had barely painted hair before. I used a larger flat brush and did some large strokes. Then I went in with a thinner brush and did the same long strokes. Next I used a darker shade of the brown and a fine brush to give the hair more depth and to create thinner strands. Next I used the skin tone color and painted over the arm and hands. I used a darker shade to create the shadows. Lastly for this area, I painted a dark purple color onto the phone. I wanted to use the purple color because my phone case is purple.
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The last section of the painting to work on was the shirt. I took the purple shade that I had for the phone case and added a lot of white to it. This gave me a very light purple color to use for the shirt. Once I had the base of the shirt done, I went in with a darker shade to add some shadow. FInally, I just cleaned everything up and added some paint to spots that were thin. Then the painting was all done.
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Experimentation
For experimentation, the main thing was choosing the color palette I was going to use for the different components. It took a lot of mixing and testing to determine which colors and which shades I wanted to use for the different components. The biggest thing was the skin tone. I had to mix a few different shades of my skin tone in order to create the highlights and the shadows. Also for the hair color, it was difficult to get it close. My hair is a really dark brown to the point of almost being black but since the background was black I didn't want to make my hair blend in with the background. Therefore I made it a dark brown that stands out from the background. To the left are the swatches of the paint that I ended up using.
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Critique
There are many similarities and differences between the self portrait that I created and the inspiration that I had, which was Nadeen by Dan Witz. Firstly, the mediums of the pieces are different. Dan Witz used oil paint to create this piece, while I used acrylic paint, since I am more familiar with how to mork it. Another difference is that the work of Dan Witz appears way more realistic than mine does. I did my best attempt to make it realistic but I struggled. The color palette that I had used for my self portrait is somewhat different and somewhat similar to the color palette of Witz. The backgrounds are very similar with the black and then the gray haze around the figure. I did try to recreate this because it’s the light that is coming off of the phone. The lower half of the painting is where we can see the most notable differences between my work and the inspirational piece. Overall, there is a clear relationship between my painting and the inspirational painting that I had used.
Reflection
Overall, the process of creating this self portrait was a stressful one. Acrylic painting is nothing new to me so I thought that creating this piece would be an easy process for me, but I was wrong. The hardest part of this whole thing was making it look realistic. From the hand, to the hair, and the facial features, I struggled with the realism of the painting. I think there are some parts of the painting that look somewhat good but this is definitely not my favorite piece that I have made this year. If I were to redo this painting I think I would maybe choose a different medium. I think I would want to try to use oil paint instead of acrylic to step out of my comfort zone. Also the oil paint would give the painting the shiny finish instead of the flat finish that the acrylic paint gave it. I think that this painting could have gone a lot better than it actually did but I am still happy with how it turned out.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause and effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
In my piece and the inspiration piece ther are many differences and many similarities. We are able to clearly see those similarities and differences through the medium, the colors that were used, and the figures themselves. The similarities and differences are visible when looking at them.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Dan Witz created a painting that depicts how a person is in their daily life. The painting overall has an extreme reality.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I think the main conclusion I made is that people, especially in this genneration, are glues to their phones on a daily basis. This is something that I already knew but it was heavily assured through researching.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is personal identity and the lifestyle of people.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The main conclusion that I made through my research was that this painting would be easy. The main researchc I did besides coming up with a theme was looking up how to paint certain elements. Through this I thought the painting process would be easy, but it was not.
In my piece and the inspiration piece ther are many differences and many similarities. We are able to clearly see those similarities and differences through the medium, the colors that were used, and the figures themselves. The similarities and differences are visible when looking at them.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Dan Witz created a painting that depicts how a person is in their daily life. The painting overall has an extreme reality.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I think the main conclusion I made is that people, especially in this genneration, are glues to their phones on a daily basis. This is something that I already knew but it was heavily assured through researching.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central theme around my research is personal identity and the lifestyle of people.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
The main conclusion that I made through my research was that this painting would be easy. The main researchc I did besides coming up with a theme was looking up how to paint certain elements. Through this I thought the painting process would be easy, but it was not.
Citations
“Nadeen. 2010. 26 x 20. Oil and Mixed Media on Canvas.” Dan Witz, 13 July 2022, https://danwitz.com/nadeen-2010-26-x-20-oil-and-mixed-media-on-canvas/.