Self Portrait
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Hidden StrengthAcrylic on Canvas
122cm x 122cm April 2020 Exhibition Text My piece "Hidden Strength" represents myself at a time when I had just picked myself up from a deep internal darkness. As dragons represent power, wisdom, strength, and hidden knowledge, I greatly related to this since I had finally achieved these things. Because of past trauma I had been mentally fragile and had been making bad decisions because of it. At the moment I am stronger than I have ever been because of all the hard work I put into myself as well as my life. This painting might seem narcissistic but I feel as though I deserve it this one time. |
Planning
Inspiration
Most of my inspiration comes from my own past experiences, but stylistically I took in a lot of inspiration from Henri Matisse and eastern style dragons. I started painting this portrait in a semi- realistic style, but as I progressed I realized that a clean style doesn't reflect myself well. I decided to use a palette knife to paint the rest to really communicate that i'm still a little rough around the edges. I was inspired by the painting Henri Matisse by André Derain to do this style.
I was also inspired by Girl with a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer, not only the style I started with, but the head scarf as well. Since i'm Italian and am really involved with that culture at home I wanted to include it in some way. I learned from my Sicilian grandmother how to put a headscarf on the traditional way since she wears one at home all the time. I didn't want the dragons to be exclusively in an eastern style, so I took the wing components from a lovebird and made the dragons movement more catlike. I also had originally envisioned them with beaks, but decided against it last minute. Planning Sketches
In the first planning sketch
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Process
Process
Experimentation
I experimented with mostly texture while panting the final piece. As i've said before I went from a realistic style to a rough color-block style with my palette knife. I experimented with the colors as well, exaggerating tones and such. This was actually my first time using a palette knife to paint with, I feel as though I did pretty well with it. It was also easier to keep clean and took less time to paint. I also went out of my comfort zone painting myself, I think it's weird to display myself in a painting, especially at this size (4x4ft).
Critique
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(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
(Click on pictures for larger viewing)
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Reflection
ACT Responses
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork:
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
What is the overall approach (pov) the author (from research) has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?