DESIGN PRINCIPLE PROJECT 1
Luisa Audrey / 0348741 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Design Principle
LECTURE
SELF-PORTRAIT
- How I see myself (physical traits and personality)
- How others see me (physical traits and personality)
- My experience
- My interest
- My thought
A self-portrait is a self-representation in the form of drawing/painting/sculpture/design. It is a visual depiction of the self.
A self-portrait artwork represents the designer/artist in other words, how he sees himself, what he's feeling, and how he wants to be seen by others. It's not necessarily about creating a realistic image of yourself, instead, it is often an exercise in self-exploration.
INSTRUCTION
Visual Research:
Before getting started, I gathered few pictures of self-portraits. Here are some pictures that I found from Dr. Jinchi's lecture:
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| Gustave Courbet 1844-1845 |
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| By Hoessin Enas 1954 |
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| By Frida Kahlo 1940 |
I did some researches regarding old artists' self-portraits. I personally found this self-portrait by Frida Kahlo is very appealing to the eye. this piece of art is called "Self Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird". The oil painting features several symbols and concepts prevalent throughout her portfolio, including foliage, wildlife, and suffering.
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| By Yayoi Kusama 2010 |
I also found this piece of art by Yayoi Kusama which I think is very unique and pretty. This painting is rendered in acrylic paint and it has captured Kusama's characteristically bright color palette, penchant for patterns, and playful style.
After looking at some old artists' self-portraits, I tried to look for more self-portrait designs from Pinterest.
After looking at several pictures, I realized that self-portrait doesn't exactly mean a portrait. It doesn't have to look like ourselves. We are free to draw ourselves in any style in order to represent our psychological or emotional features.
So the first thing that I did was asking my surrounding's opinions about myself. I asked them to describe my personality as well as my other features which they think are very relevant to me. I asked several friends and most of them answered that I am a soft person. There are some of them who said that I am also caring, affectionate, and open.
I also asked my family about my personality, and their answers are mostly the opposite of what my friends have said. They said that I am somewhat ignorant, lack confidence, honest
From these surveys, I could conclude that I act differently towards my friends and family. I managed to make a mindmap about myself to be able to understand my personality better.
I then wrote few personalities of mine that I consider to be true. Most of them are not mentioned by my friends but some are similar to my family's description. Meaning that I am more close to my real self at home compared to in society.
One thing that my mom mentioned that made me came to a realization is that I am a very shy person and I lack confidence. After hearing that, I realized that the personalities I show to my friends are somewhat called "Made-up" personalities.
I realized that I always try to appear the same as the rest, In other means, I dislike being the center of attention. Therefore, I unconsciously created these "made-up" personalities in order to be liked by others and appear safe.
I decided to go with a darker concept relating to myself. I then looked for several ideas on Pinterest.
I plan on making the color monotonous and dark to match the concept that I was planning.
At first, I thought I would make my hair long and then tie them to the tree branches to indicate that she is stuck in that condition. However, I changed that idea because I thought it doesn't really suit the meaning.
This is my second progress, I tried to change the background and narrow the frame. Instead of adding tree branches and long hair, I ended up going for crowds that are looking back and a neck chain that is wrapped around my head with a broken end.
This is the last progress that is very close to the final result. I add shadows in the back to emphasize the glow that she is holding. I also went for a monotonous color for the background people.
Here is the process video, You can see that I tried to change the design several times here to reach the final result.
Here is the end result:
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| CHAINED (Final Result) |
Title: Chained
Explanation:
In this piece of art, I was trying to express how I always live with anxieties. I hate being the center of attention and therefore I always try my best to be in disguise in the middle of the crowd to avoid attention. I always find it hard to be me and most of the time I have to fake my personality in order to look acceptable in the public. I am always afraid of people's judgment that some of them aren't even real but still haunt my mind.
Hidden meaning:
The flower that she is holding is a symbol of her real self. The color is supposed to be brighter and more eye-catching than the rest of the elements to show that her real personality is originally unique. However, she is always covering the flower's glow with both of her hands showing that she doesn't want the rest to realize her real self.
The flower glow also slowly dimmed as it reaches the outer part of her body creating darker colors which are the same colors I used for the crowds showing that she was trying to be in disguise in the middle of the crowd. She also has the same hairstyle and the same color for the clothing which is darker grey to show that she is trying her best to appear the same as the public.
The cracks in her face and the flower petals falling down showing that she has been pretending for too long that she is starting to lose her real self.
The crowd facing back shows that she is still trying to break free and run away from her current condition. The small glow also shows that there is still hope for her to change despite all of the mess. Lastly, her expression shows that she is tired, sad, exhausted and she is desperate to get out of this situation, but never managed.
FINAL RESULT
FEEDBACK
General Feedback:
From Mr. Charles's class, we are recommended to make a questionnaire in order to know ourselves from other points of view. We are told that self-portrait is not just a mere portrait of ourselves, we need to express our emotional features in it as well to create good artwork.
Specific Feedback:
From listening to others receiving feedback, I realized that I should pay attention to how I create the artwork and how it connects to the meaning behind it. I also found out that it is more interesting to create a piece that has a deep meaning behind it and each element represents the supporting ideas that we are trying to express.
REFLECTION
Experience:
I learned a lot about myself and about how others view me. I find this experience quite fascinating as there are few things I just realized about myself that I didn't know. Not only that, but I also managed to express myself along with my dark and emotional features into a piece of art.
Observation:
From this project, I knew that self-portrait is not something as simple as a portrait of ourselves, but it is also a big opportunity to express anything within ourselves. That is also the reason why we found so many different styles of self-portrait because it indicates themselves as the artist.
Finding:
I found that this project is very helpful in practicing my brainstorming skill as I personally think it is hard to think of the right concept and how the meaning would connect nicely to the artwork.
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