Task 7: To prepare for this task you will need a black and white tonal photograph. Have a look at the following slides to get some ideas THEN Make a charcoal self portrait using your black and white photograph
Self Portraits Some portraits will be of just the face of the artist, and other portraits will be of the whole body. The artist decides how he wants to portray himself.
What is a self-portrait? A self-portrait is a work of art that depicts an image of an artist, made by the artist. When you create a self-portrait, you are creating a likeness of yourself and conveying a message to people about yourself.
You know yourself better than anyone, and it s that deep level of knowing detail that makes your presence a challenge to capture. You re a million things at once, which is why it s difficult to describe yourself. You see yourself constantly, in all your musing glory, but only from a single angle, which is why your voice sounds strange when you hear it played back. Translating your visual essence, through, your face specifically, which you ve technically never seen with your own eyes (through reflections and technology only), must therefore be a daunting task; that is unless you re Pablo Picasso, of course.
15 Years old 1896 18 Years old 1900 25 Years old 1907 Picasso always portrayed himself with big eyes that seem to swallow up the beholder, insisting, even as he turns himself into a painted object, that it is he, not you, who does the looking 89 Years old 1971 90 Years old 1972
What is Andy Warhol trying to say here about himself? His self portrait is covered in camouflage! Andy Warhol, darling of the 1960s New York art scene and prince of pop art, was a self-styled enigma who hid himself away in the full glare of the worlds media. Ultimately he was an intensely private person. In manipulating the media he was a master of misdirection and playing dumb, always claiming that all anyone needed to know about him and his works was already there, on the surface. It s not surprising then that what I see in this self-portrait is an artist who, even while saying to the world hey this is me, still attempts to camouflage and obscure the reality.
Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colours. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form
Think of the things that express your identity. Mind map/list some ideas using these question to help you; What are the clothes you wear? What music do you listen to? What feelings do you have? What are the things you love and the things you hate? Planning your own self portrait KEY QUESTION: What will your self-portrait say about you? What are the places you like? Think of more questions that will help you Look through your answers and think about what is important to you In your self-portrait, you need to be the real you!
Some portraits will be of just the face of the artist, and other portraits will be of the whole body. The artist decides how he wants to portray himself. What will you do with your self portrait?
Start by testing out each of your equipment, seeing what it can do and what effects you can create- do this before even applying it to an observation. Try the kneaded eraser technique of removing the charcoal from the page, as well as sketching with the various edges of your charcoal. There are so many things you can do that a graphite pencil doesn t
Trial areas of your selfportrait before you begin the Final art work.
Now you need a great tonal photograph to work from for the actual portrait. Taking a photo by the window to get natural light and great shadows is ideal. Think about what we have discussed up to this point- what will your self-portrait say about you? You can have a foreground or background, or, maybe your photo includes certain clothes or accessories to enhance the meaning of your drawing. Making it personal is fun and connects you further to your art. Great tonal photos are key Use the following images as either inspiration for your own photographs, or to sketch from to trial the techniques. Look at the images to see which charcoal drawing technique would suit each of them. Kneaded eraser might suit some, others the use of white would make it really stand out, some would be best with just a black charcoal stick sketchy style or focused blending?? You decide and have a go! Let s do some really technical work with our charcoal to build up this key skill
Light and Shadow Photography is all about light. Let s see if we can see the beauty in that little thing called shadows. It can be a very creative tool and used for creating meaning, or just great photos
Rembrandt was without a doubt an early master of this technique. Many of his paintings play with shadows, for example this self-portrait of 1629
Georges de la Tour uses candle light for his atmospheric paintings. His most famous one: La Madeleine à la flamme filante (1640).
Ofir Abe, Heart of a drifter (2009) transforms the techniques of painting into photography. Like Edd Carlile by whom he was inspired, he studied the old masters very well. It is not only because of the clothes the model is wearing but because of a very special lighting that we perceive the portrait as an old painting.
There are many brilliant examples on Flickr for the use of shadows to create drama in portrait. One that stood out for me was Shadows of the past. The strong shadow defines the person with a few lines and simple geometrical forms
Very dark is the staging of this expressive photo by Miquel Gil, Dia 365 (2014)
Defined tone is a crucial part of your charcoal self portrait. Take photos and play around with the adjustments on your digital camera to make the tones extreme.
How will you show an element of your personality or make your artwork personal?
Doesn t have to be an obvious angle. Trial different poses to see what works best.
Trying to get the detail you have perfected in earlier lessons is not always necessary. Charcoal can adopt a range of different styles. As long as your aim is to show tonal work-good highlights and shadows- then you don t need to worry about being so precise. This artist said: I started at a rapid pace just sketching the angles and major masses that I was seeing in front of me. My academic training would have urged me to take measurements and plot points
After I roughed in some general shapes I now have enough information to start refining the contours and planes of the drawing. The beauty of charcoal is that it is easy to push around and shape. I find that if I keep things loose in the beginning I'm less attached and I don't think twice if have to erase something that is wrong.
It took the artist about 3 and a half hours to complete this work. This is one of many styles to try. So think about: 1) The quality of your photo-it is SO IMPORTANT 2) Treat it like the new media it is, CHARCOAL be expressive and don t worry about over-realistic and tight control like graphite 3) Watch some tutorials to gain some tips and confidence when using charcoal 4) You can always experiment first and do small areas of your portrait, creating a lovely creative sketchbook page for your portfolio.
Okay so it s over to you When you have a self portrait composition you are happy with, use your knowledge of the charcoal media to create your final self portrait. Being able to turn your photo upside down to support your observation skills is also helpful. Use the previous task of using accurate proportions on a face to ensure you are observing your portrait correctly. We are now combining several drawing techniques to create this art work so explore my previous resources to give you extra support.