Self Portrait
Portrait 183cm x 183cm Acrylic on Canvas March-April 2021 This impressionistic self portrait takes inspiration from Renoir's Portrait of Jeanne Samary 1877. This portrait utilizes color and brush technique to form the shapes. This work displays my personality with the style and hue choices. This acrylic paining uses impressionism and some abstract techniques to illustrate those ideas. |
Inspiration
Portrait of Jeanne Samary 1877
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My inspiration was Pierre-Auguste Renoir and his use of color and brush technique in his works. His use of impressionistic styles on his portrait of Samary captured her essence from his view. She is captured in hues and many brush strokes. Her bubbly and kind personality is reflected in the colors used for her dress and in the background; pink and light blue. This use of hue as a way to describe emotions and her personality spoke to me and allowed me to formulate ideas about how I could use that in my own work.
When looking at this portrait it is clear the emphasis of detail is placed on her face, while other parts like her arms and torso are less clear. This draws the eye to the face |
La Loge 1874
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Planning
At first I was just planning on putting myself in place of Jeanne Samary, using the portraits back ground, and the same clothes. I decided against this because the original portrait was meant to reflect Samary and her personality. So I did just that and created a painting That I think fits me well. I did not want to put a bubble gum pink behind me, so I was thinking a blueish-purple would work well, being that it is a toned down hue that is still feminine, but is darker and less bright. This shows me as a person, nice, but not sickly sweet. I also chose to put myself is modern clothes, as this is a adaptation of the old painting. This chose also makes the portrait more "me", as it does not have me wearing something I never would. |
Experimentation
I was really out of my comfort zone with this portrait painting. I am not familiar with creating people with an impressionistic style, but also with paint. I am more familiar with using paint for inanimate objects and landscapes. So this whole work was a learning curve for me. Some of my experimenting is shown to the left with my shading of my arm, also with the background. I used impressionism as inspiration for the technique I used for panting myself. Then for the background I used more abstract techniques to represent me as a person. |
Process
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I first started off with pictures in my inspiration's pose. I then stated sketching with very light grid lines to get the basic proportions correct. I then sketched the head shape, with line of reference from my picture references (shown to the right). I then free handed for the rest of the body and also the hand. After that I finished with sketching the face. This was difficult for me because I was trying to get a sold sketch that looked like me. In the end I let go to focus on paint the details.
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I started off painting the face, and I was beginning to blend too much of the colors together. This made the work have less in common with my inspiration. So I re-painted over the blended part of the face I started. After finishing the skin on the face I moved onto the body; constantly changing hues to incorporate my inspiration and frequent strokes. Most often I added blue and green in the shaded areas and then white and pink in the highlighted areas.
My first go around with painting the arms I personally think I too heavily shadowed, and also made it extremely streaky, to the point where it looked like excessive amount of hair... So I went back and added more lighter hues over the shadows to reduce the then, but also the decrease the streaky look. I then started on my hair, slightly layering were I wanted the highlights and shadows to be. I was going to complete that hair but decided against it until after I finished the background. |
I enjoyed the background on my inspiration, but I don't think it fitted me personally, It seems like it was precision work created with brushes. So I went in another direction, I used a spatula to smear my mixed hue all around the portrait. I then used the spatula to add smears of other hues over the wet paint; layering pink, blue, purple, and white all on top of each other. This created a chaotic and lively background that shows my own lively personality with colors I would associate my vibes with.
After completing the background I finished the hair with a dry brush technique to add more hairs and detail. I then added the first outline to mu first attempt at my eyes, as well as eyebrows with the same technique as my hair. I then moved on to the hand, using a streaky impressionistic method to shade the digits. Then I moved onto the lips and eyes, which I blended much more then other details in the work, making it smoother. After I was "finished" I decided to go back and re-do the eyes. This is because I thought that the portrait had no resemblance to me. So I went back and painted over them to get them closer to resemble my eyes. |
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Reflection
I am not familiar with painting portraits, so this was a new experience for me. With learning more from the impressionistic portrait of Jeanne Samary I have gained technical skills, but also personal skills. I had some difficulty with scale as this is the largest painting I have ever done. Also after many trials and errors with attempting to get the facial features to be exact and to look just like me, I learned that I should let it go. It was weighing on me that my self portrait did not look exactly like me. Even thought it is not a perfect replica of me I believe I captured my personality and my general looks with this work. Although I might have wished to create a more exact work, I am still proud of what I created. I learned a new skill and have expanded my portfolio with a new style and type of work that I have not done before. When others view this I want them to see me, but also who I am projected to be in the work.
Critique
Similarities
-Both use impressionistic techniques. -Both attempt to capture personalities of the subjects. -Both put emphasis on facial features of the subjects. Differences -There is a contrast in the hue choices, with Renoir's painting being more warm with lots of pink, while my portrait has more cool tones with blues. -Renoir uses smaller brush strokes to create Samary, while I use larger and more blended strokes. -Samary is presented in a brighter and bubbly light, while I show myself in a contrasting way. |
ACT Responses
1) Clearly explain and describe how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
My inspiration was Pierre-Auguste Renoir, his work influenced my art and how I approached it. His art and techniques to portray Samary and her personality allowed me to make new ideas for this work. 2) What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? The authors have a positive look on the works, informational ideas about them. 3) What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration? Art is appreciated all around the world, and is valued at high standards. 4) What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? Education of others about impressionism. 5) What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research? I inferred that all the information is correct and factual. |
Bibliography
The Art Story Staff. (2015, January 25). Renoir artworks & famous paintings. Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://www.theartstory.org/artist/renoir-pierre-auguste/artworks/
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (Ed.). (n.d.). Pierre-Auguste Renoir portrait of Jeanne Samary. 1877. Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://pushkinmuseum.art/data/fonds/europe_and_america/j/2001_3000/zh_3405/index.php?lang=en |