Self Portrait
Exhibition Text
This piece represents me accepting myself for who I am, and self love. There was a time in my life when I hated everything about myself, and I tried to change who I was to fit in. Through art I am able to grow and built my confidence, this has added greatly to my self esteem and I am able to accept myself and love myself for who I am and who I am going to be,and what I'm going to accomplish in the future. I also wanted to express my inner beauty and present my personality. I was inspired by Eduard Veith and his use of color and texture. I also loved the position of the body In "The Kings Daughter" Its almost as if shes staring into your eyes. I was also Inspired by Berenice Almaraz and her use of the halo in "Enlightenment."
Inspiration
The King's Daughter
by Eduard Veith 1858-1925 (detailed) |
The King's Daughter
by Eduard Veith 1858-1925 Eduard Vieth was an Austrian painter he was born in 1858, and died in 1925. This painting was of The march king's daughter. he painted her with a Bright chest and dark eyes. Her crown on top of her head features three clear stones. The king's daughter is shown in front of an almost abstract rose bush, that seems to blend in with her dress. The gold detail on her dress and her necklace helps separate the green from her dress, and the green of the background. The hands are folded in such a way as to show her high rank and nobility. The blending of shadows in the face and hands are almost flawless, and I hope to create the same effect in my piece.
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Berenice Alvarez's use of the halo is to show her acceptance of herself and her culture. I am also using the halo to show self acceptance and self admiration. I pass through this painting everyday in the halls of my school, and I feel a sense of welcoming and strength when I look at this piece, I wanted people to see my strength and will power when the look at my piece. I also wanted them to see my inner beauty and kindness I'm presenting with my piece.
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Enlightenment
By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 |
Planning
For my planning sketches, I sketched out two designs for the crown featured on top of my head, I based them off of the 3 stones featured in The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith 1858-1925. I ended up going with the simpler look as i did not want it to take away from my face and the halo. I sketched out my face by looking in the mirror, I prefer this method rather that looking at at picture on my phone.
For the first crown, I went with a more extravagant look and emphasized the three stones featured in The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith 1858-1925. I went for a more exaggerated look for this crown.
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For the second crown I wanted to keep it simple but still emphasize the three stones. I went for a more medieval look, and added elements of the green background to add to the detail of the crown. I ended up choosing this design so it wasn't distracting and didn't take away from my face and halo.
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When sketching the face I looked in a mirror, I wanted to get used to my facial features and drawing them before I freehand my face on the canvas. I tried to use the projector but I couldn't get the right angle to where my face didn't look smashed by an anvil. So I decided to use my strengths and freehand it onto the canvas.
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Handwritten pages:
Process/Technique/Experimentation
Building the Canvas
The first step in building the canvas was taking four 3ft stretchers and stapling them together with a staple gun to create the frame. I then took the large roll of canvas and cut out a piece big enough to fit around the frame. I left about 6 inches of extra canvas on each side.
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Then I folded over the first side of canvas and stapled it to the frame. I put a staple in about every 2 inches. I then took the opposite side and made sure to stretch it tight to where there's a little give. I then repeated this process to the adjacent side. For the corners what I did was I pinched it at the base and folded it down so it was a nice crisp edge. I placed about four staples in each corner to secure it.
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After I was done stapling the canvas to the frame, I cut off the excess canvas and made sure to let the frame show so the edges don't cause a shadow. I then applied Gesso to the canvas. I had to paint on two layers to get the even look that I wanted. After it was dry I painted on a white acrylic wash for an easier application. I then proceeded to paint a dark green background to match my inspiration "The King's Daughter
by Eduard Veith." |
Placing Gold Leaf
I have never worked with gold leaf before, but I went to Blick because I thought it would be the perfect touch to my piece, and was inspired by the halo on "Enlightenment" by Berenice Almaraz . I watched various YouTube videos on how to apply the gold leaf but ultimately ended up experimenting with different techniques and glues. Surprisingly the glue that worked best that I had in my possession was Elmer's glue. It worked best when I waited for it to dry a little and get a little tacky, not completely dry but just enough for it to stick and carefully placed the gold leaf on top of the glue. I waited until it was completely dry and then I brushed the excess away with a large dry brush. I did this one square at a time because I was worried about what would happen if I did more than one at a time, the whole process took two days
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Creating the Face and Hair
When creating the face I looked in a mirror so I could see my skin tones and the shape of my face. I noticed that my forehead and nose had a more olive tone to them, compared to cheeks which was a more reddish tone. I also noticed that my nose is a little crooked when I look into a mirror. With the eyebrows I used a lighter version of my hair color and layered different shades until I got the lighter color and texture I desired. With the lips I used a redder shade of my skin tone, and layered It adding highlights where my lips hit the light. I started with a solid base for my hair color so I could add highlights and shadows to it later
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My hair was quite difficult to mimic and I spent a lot of time mixing the right colors to match all of the colors in my hair. I also looked into a Mirror when recreating my hair. I eventually found a technique that worked quite well, which was long brushstrokes and as each stroke ran out of paint, I would then dip the brush in another shade of the hair color without cleaning it, which created a very even look in the end.
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Studying the veins
I looked in the mirror and painted my most prominent veins on my chest. I used a turquoise for the vein color and then covered it with the lightest shade of my skin tone to create the illusion of my veins beneath my skin.
Before I put the lightest skin color over my veins, I mixed some of the turquoise color and the darker skin tone and placed it over the darkest parts of the veins. I also used this technique for the veins on my hands.
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This is what it looked like after I placed the lightest shade of skin tone over it. The veins are only visible from up close, but it adds to the detail of my skin, and I believe that it was necessary for the true representation of my chest. I also added my moles because they are Important when Identifying me.
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The Velvet Dress
When painting the dress, I looked at pictures of velvet on pinterest and I studied the different shadows and highlights it created when It was hit with different lighting. I used three different greens to achieve this look. I used long thick strokes of bright green, and then went over it with a darker forest green. For the highlights on the arms and mid chest I dry brushed white in order to create a three dimensional look.
The Crown
For the crown I didn't want the same one as in "The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith" but I wanted to go for a similar look especially in the stones. I created my own pattern for this crown based on medieval looking crowns that I've seen in films and history books. I tried to make simpler shapes and bolder colors, so the crown would not be washed out by the gold leaf halo.
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Finishing the Dress
for the top of the dress In the inspiration "The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith" it was a gold, but I didn't want to take away from the brightness of the gold leaf. I mimicked a flat gold material, and I added green detail to the bottom line of the gold top material. I thought that it really added to the deep green color of the velvet dress and complimented the brightness of the gold leaf halo.
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The background
For the background I wanted to add the stripe like texture in "The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith" to my painting. I took light green, turquoise, white, and I put them in three piles next to each other. I then took an old gift card and dipped it in the three piles. I ran the card with paint on it down the canvas to create vertical stripes.
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Some of the white was a little over whelming so I toned it down with the same color as the dark green background, and in therefore I got the effect that I was going for. I decided not to add the roses to the background because I felt It would make the painting too busy and take away from the vocal point.
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Compare and Contrast
Princess Leia
By Leia Skorlinski, 2019 |
My piece is most closely related to "The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith" because of the same pose and colors used, However my piece has a cherrier tone, and less shadow compared to
"The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith". I also decided to go without the rose bush featured in the background because I did not want it to take away from the focal point. Both paintings feature a gold halo on a dark background to express self love and Importance, For my gold halo I used Metal leaf-gold, and for Enlightenment
By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 she used gold oil paint. My painting was painted with Acrylic paint, where Enlightenment By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 was painted using oil paint. |
The King's Daughter
by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 Enlightenment
By Berenic e Almaraz, 2017 |
Reflection
This piece is made with acrylic paint, Metal leaf-gold, and Elmer's glue all coming together to express self love and acceptance. I chose Enlightenment By Berenice Almaraz, 2017, and The King's Daughter by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 as my inspirations because of the potential I saw in both pieces to create something great. I feel very emotional about this piece, because of its connection to who I am, and how I am able to love myself because of who I am. This piece took 3 weeks total to finish, and I am very proud to be putting fourth this end result. my favorite part of this whole process was the last brushstroke, I could not stop smiling at what I created. I never would have thought that I was responsible for this piece, I poured my heart and soul into it, and I love ho wit turned out. The most difficult part of this painting was the chest, I ended up Having to redo it at least 3 times. I would over emphasize my collar bone and neck muscles, and I would end up looking ill. But I finally found the right balance that I was happy with. The easiest part was the hands, They only took me about 20 minutes tops to create the desired look.
Act Questions
ACT
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
There are clear similarities regarding my painting and my inspiration. However my piece is most closely related to "The King's Daughter" by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 because of the pose and color pallet. "Enlightenment" By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 was used as inspiration for the Halo and the impact of the focal point.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach of this piece is to show my self love and self acceptance and to hopefully encourage others to look within themselves and value themselves the same way.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
When researching my inspiration I learned about the meaning of "Enlightenment" By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 and how it was so similarly related to my own meaning, therefore the same use of the halo would add to that same thought.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
I wanted to find a beautiful way to get a point across, I wanted to find inspiration that I could use to show my inner beauty on the outside.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that "The King's Daughter" by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 was a portrait of a princess, as it is stated in the title, which I found quite amusing when coming up with a name for my piece.
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
There are clear similarities regarding my painting and my inspiration. However my piece is most closely related to "The King's Daughter" by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 because of the pose and color pallet. "Enlightenment" By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 was used as inspiration for the Halo and the impact of the focal point.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The overall approach of this piece is to show my self love and self acceptance and to hopefully encourage others to look within themselves and value themselves the same way.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
When researching my inspiration I learned about the meaning of "Enlightenment" By Berenice Almaraz, 2017 and how it was so similarly related to my own meaning, therefore the same use of the halo would add to that same thought.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
I wanted to find a beautiful way to get a point across, I wanted to find inspiration that I could use to show my inner beauty on the outside.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
I was able to infer that "The King's Daughter" by Eduard Veith, 1858-1925 was a portrait of a princess, as it is stated in the title, which I found quite amusing when coming up with a name for my piece.
Bibliography
“Self Portrait.” BERENICE ALMARAZ, almarazberenice.weebly.com/self-portrait.html.
“The King's Daughter, before 1902 by Eduard Veith.” My Favorite Arts, theartstack.com/artist/eduard-veith/king-s-daughter-befor.
“The King's Daughter, before 1902 by Eduard Veith.” My Favorite Arts, theartstack.com/artist/eduard-veith/king-s-daughter-befor.