INSPIRATION
I took inspiration from the German Expressionism movement as a whole, but more specifically Kathe Kollwitz. German Expressionism was a movement that heavily focused on the artist's feelings and inner emotions over the work itself. It was characterized by its emotional intensity and artwork that you could feel. Kathe Kollwitz is well known for her block prints, but I was drawn into these illustrations by their composition and overall simplicity. Her use of hands to frame a subject inspired me to frame myself in a position of emotional vulnerability. Her lines are purposeful, and create two powerful images that intrigue the viewer to want to learn more. There is an obvious dramatization in each composition, Exhibit 4 shows a person in a distressed emotional state surrounded by the hands of others, while Exhibit 5 is one pensive character on their own with heavy shadows to characterize the piece. I wanted my piece to hold the same strong facial expression while utilizing the hands for a strong composition.
PLANNING
Before working with color, I was required to create a life size self portrait only in charcoal. The use of one tone allowed me to take my time to understand the shadow and layout of my face. I needed to concentrate on every light and dark I could see to create the most accurate representation of myself. It also got me used to my proportions and helped me understand how to line up my features. |
To become familiar with elements of my face, I created two feature studies of myself. The first being of my lips. I worked on a tan paper which gave me a bit of an advantage as it took less work to create my skin tone. This up close study allowed me to recognize the exact shapes that make up my mouth and to get a grasp of the medium as well. |
The second feature study was of my nose and surrounding skin. This was done on a gray sheet of paper, and took more time than the first figure study as I had to build skin tones from the ground up. It helped me understand the shape and shadows of my nose, and how the shadows stretch out and connect to the rest of my face. |
PROCESS
Even though I wanted to work from the mirror for the entirety of the project, I knew it would be nearly impossible to draw the awkward hand positions from life. With the assistance of a friend, I took a few reference photos to ensure my hands would stay in the same position the entire drawing process. My set up also included a large overhead lamp to create a dramatic and consistent light source. Starting on the tan paper I had chosen, I created a rough outline of all the large shapes that made up my hands and face. With this base down, I could begin by laying down the base colors of my face. I went in with very basic tans and yellows that way I could build up on it easily later. Once the base tones were laid, I started outlining the darkest shadows of my face. I learned through trial and error that with oil pastels, it is much easier to blend from dark to light. It creates the smoothest end result.
Once all of the fleshy tones were down, I went in with my pinks and reds to brighten up my face. My cheeks are naturally pretty rosy, so it took a while to figure out what a natural pink tint would look like. Then came the lips, once again going from darkest reds to pink to build up the tones on my mouth. A very dark brown was used for the outer corners and lines of my lips and to finish the mouth off an off white was used to highlight and detail.
It was then time for the most intimidating part of the entire process: my eyes. We had been advised by our instructor to never use a bright white for our eyes as it would not look natural, but I was not sure where else to start. I layered over the white with a very light blue-ish gray to ease up the brightness. I went back and forth with myself over easing up the brightness even more, but eventually stuck with my bright eyes as I felt it complimented the German Expressionistic style that I was going for. With the eyes complete, I quickly wrapped up the face and moved on to the rest of the drawing. |
The hands and arms came easy as I had been figure drawing for the past few weeks and I started the process of layering dark to light. Quickly filling in my arms and hands, the details on my fingers had taken the most time. Using very light pinks and tans to create detail on my knuckles and sculpt out my fingernails. My shirt was kept black as to not distract from the main focus of my piece. The final part of my piece was my hair which proved to be quite a challenge due to the highlights, but came together in the end.
EXPERIMENTATION
When adding red to my skin, I needed to be very particular as not all shades worked with my skin tone. The darker reds were too overbearing and would not blend at all, while the light pinks would wash me out and not add any rosiness at all. It took a while to figure out which tones to layer to create this effect, and after trial and error I discovered that a mid tone red layered with a very light brown would give me the desired effect. |
Oil pastels can easily build up to be too thick on the paper and lose its blend-ability. This caused the colors to not layer properly and eventually not transfer onto the page at all. When I needed a fresh start, I would take my needed eraser and aggressively erase the paper. This led to tearing, uneven color, and overall was not very productive. Over time I learned that the best way to lift color from the paper is to take a dry paintbrush and slightly scrub at the paper. The color flaked off easily and left the cleanest paper.l
CRITIQUE
Similarities:
- The overall composition of the pieces. The use of hands to frame a subject. - The focal point of each piece being a person and the emotions on their face. |
Differences:
- There is no color at all in Longo's original series, while my recreation utilizes color to emphasize the important details. - The pose of my inspiration is more closed off, completely covering her face while I have my emotion on display. - Strong focus on my face, with makeup and extra details to show my discomfort |
REFLECTION
Overall I am extremely proud of myself for this piece. I had never used oil pastels before and had gone into this project expecting the worst. I ended up completely surprising myself with how motivated and inspired I was to complete this piece. The end result is something I am extremely satisfied with and I've left the pre-college course with an amazing new set of skills to use moving forward in my art career. The most difficult part of this project was getting started. I had almost accepted defeat at the beginning because I believed there was no way I could create something I'd be content with using oil pastels (a brand new medium for me). But once I began, I learned how forgiving oil pastels can be and thrived throughout the process. The end result is a recognizable, full color, proportional portrait of myself and that is all I could have asked for.
CONNECTING TO THE ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
There is a clear connection between composition and use of hands to frame a figure.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding your topic of your inspiration?
I have used my own hands to frame myself and put time into creating my composition, similar to how my inspirations chose a focal point and surrounded it.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered the many symbolic meanings behind hands and gestures and what it means to different communities.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Dramatic imagery and what it means to frame a person.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that meow meow meow meow meow meow.
There is a clear connection between composition and use of hands to frame a figure.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding your topic of your inspiration?
I have used my own hands to frame myself and put time into creating my composition, similar to how my inspirations chose a focal point and surrounded it.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I have discovered the many symbolic meanings behind hands and gestures and what it means to different communities.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
Dramatic imagery and what it means to frame a person.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I inferred that meow meow meow meow meow meow.
CITATIONS (MLA)
“Käthe Kollwitz: Graphics from the Jean Stein Collection.” New Orleans Museum of Art, 9 Sept. 2015, noma.org/exhibitions/kathe-kollwitz-graphics-from-the-jean-stein-collection/#exhibition-works.