SELF PORTRAIT

The reason I chose this portrait as my first study was because I admired the originality of using the clothing as the essential subject of the piece. I was also drawn to the texture of the garment depicted as each of the creases were recorded in such a remarkable way- looking extremely 3 dimensional.

The use of scratchy/dry brush marks supported the textural characteristics of the coat, making the lines so sharp and angular to shape the coat and inform the viewer of the surface quality of the coat. What I love about this is that the coat seems relatively boxy and the colour of the coat reminds me of the hue of cardboard, posing the idea that the coat has enveloped the subject beneath. In comparison with other portraits that were exhibited, this piece had a more unusual composition- model looking down with her feet cut off at the bottom. The more unconventional composition and pose encouraged me to broaden my perceptions of what a self portrait could be – helping me envision more unusual concepts of portraiture.

For my study I mainly focused on capturing the highlights and shadows of the work using pencil, fine liner and white paint. To try and capture some of the transparency of some of the tones in the piece and replicate the layering of the oil paint, I watered down some of the painted sections- revealing some of the mark making underneath. I found this study very informative as it helped me to study in particular highlights and shadows in fabric to illustrate the creases and protruding fabric.

Interestingly, this work also featured fabric with remarkable use of tone to achieve a beautifully dramatic element to the work. However it was the comprehensive tonal range of the figure that mainly fascinated me about this work. The use of theatrical lighting within this work cast a statuesque shadow over the figure really emphasising the contours and shadows of the body. I found this contrasting element made the painting seem saintly- using a similar light to that of works of celestial figures through history; romanticising what really was a frozen moment of an everyday action (getting dressed). The particular form that I admired of the piece was how Christope Therrien built the models physique. Therrien built up the figure by using blocky strokes to mould the form. I explored this technique by marking with pencil the general shapes of the shadows and highlights. This technique was very useful and helped me to think about the anatomy of the model- I think this mind-set really impacted the way I work shown specifically through how I recorded the muscle and bones in the feet ( shown on the far right).

The BP Travel Award is given to an artist to enable them to experience working in a different environment on a portrait related project. Cazo won the 2015 award for her idea to travel to a community of bronze smelters in West Africa.

At the exhibition Cazo had a small section exhibiting her work including sketchbooks as well as final paintings. Her exhibition space was an abundance of colour and culture. A lot of the portrait work exhibited were quite gloomy and intense therefore the bright African inspired patterns were refreshing. I found it extremely interesting to look through how Cazo recorded scenes from when she was on location. Cazo had previously visited this area, her recordings of subjects that were inspiring to her (colours, local landscapes, clothes and architecture) were also on display.

Even though the painting I studied was at and extremely small scale-around 10cm radius (estimated)- it leapt out at me due to the vivid use of colour and the genuine luminosity that exuded from the piece. This specific work was on display as a quartet on the wall in Cazo’s section.

One of the aspects of the painting that built the overall intensity was the composition. Having the figure in a centralised composition, faced directly to the viewer, exposed, presents a sense of vulnerability-especially as the subject is a child.

This could reveal more about the subject highlighting an emotive story behind the portrait. The compositions of the quartet were inspired by the miniatures of sixteenth century Dutch artist Corneille de Lyon, which is shown through the up close crop as well as the use of a simplified colour palette.

Another feature of the work that I admire is the use of saturated vivid tones. The overall cast of red seems to reflect the extreme climate; however, as the red is so rich and intense I begin to think of some of the connotations of red such as warning and danger-possibly echoing the dangers of the area, as the location (Burkina Faso) is a predominantly rural country.

Due to the abundant use of intense colour I would say that Cazo has captured how the area may be poor economically, but rich in its people and culture.

To begin mapping out my own self portrait piece I experimented with compositional line drawings-changing the angles, background and the use of negative space. I started off in a more traditional manner, a head and shoulder crop. Whilst studying Magali Cazo’s work, I came across a project called “Behind the mirror” which was her own self portraits. Some of her pieces reminded me of some classical portraiture including the renowned “Girl with a Pearl Earring”- Johannes Vermeer. The use of backgrounds also made me specifically think of renaissance portrait artworks. In my compositional drawings I included backgrounds in others I focused primarily on my pose and the crop.

I found drawing really helped me to begin picture my final piece ideas and to think about how I would like the piece to be viewed. This made me think about compositional techniques and in one of my piece I used leading lines by including a geometric brick pattern in the background.

I wanted to vary my initial sketches to create a range of ideas that I could narrow down and develop until I found my favourite that represented me best.

From my compositional drawings I chose my favourite 4 which I would develop into study A5 paintings. To compose these paintings I looked back at Magali Cazo’s colour palettes and her overall painting technique. What I noticed was that she tended to take some of the vibrant tones from the background and use them to highlight and form shadows on her subjects. The first painted stidy I completed was using the tea cup composition. This piece looked at Cazo’s more muted colours used in her own self portraits. I found that the dullness of the colours made the piece quite gloomy and therefore I wanted to use more vibrant colours for the rest of my studies. I thought that they would seize more about my personality as I would say that I’m quite a positive person. To achieve constructed style that Cazo uses, I used acrylic paint to build the planes of colour.

These two paintings were my favourite and I liked different aspects about them. For the piece with the towel turban; it used my favourite colour scheme and I think this colour scheme worked well with the shadows and highlights of my skin. I also thought that this colour palette reflected Cazo’s style vibrant and energetic aesthetic. On the other hand I preferred the circular composition used in the purple and green piece as it represents Cazo’s inspiration from sixteenth century miniatures- with a modern twist. I also like the busier fabric background (inspired by Brian Sayers).

To reveal more about myself within my portrait I drew my fabric from a photograph I had taken in a vintage clothes store. This is because I love to find my clothes in vintage stores and charity shops. As I like both of these pieces equally, I decided to combine them when producing my final piece-taking the colour scheme from the left piece and the composition and use of fabric from the other. I think that I am also going to use the dark border because I think it creates depth as if the viewer is looking through a window or keyhole.

Throughout this project I have developed my drawing skills, from artist studies to applying what I’ve learnt to my own work. I also have discovered how useful it is to complete compositional sketches to jot down and plan the general idea of the work. However, I did find it even more useful to actually complete mini versions of the idea using acrylic as it helped me to see how the shadows and highlights fall, how the colours would complement/contrast with each other and the effect that is produced as well as it just helping me to visualize the final outcome clearer before I began painting. The main lesson I’ve learnt from this project was how my work changed so much due to working from observation. The combination of thinking about a subject as a 3 dimensional form and the anatomy (like Christophe Therrion) and then looking at how the light falls in observation made my work look more realistic than I have ever produced before.

I think that the combination of composition and colour scheme have been successful in my final piece and I think that I captured the shadows and highlights well. The only thing that I would change about the piece if I was to develop it further would be to leave the skin more blocky as I think I overworked it because I was trying to achieve more of a likeness but looking back I preferred the posturized planes earlier in the process.

REFLECTION

Most of the projects that I completed last year were responses to a brief-mainly creating something for display or to be sold by a company. I found that having a brief really helped me to envision my

initial ideas which I then developed into a final piece. It also was useful to begin to think how I could create work for commercial use.

Throughout the entire year I learnt and explored loads of new techniques. Last year worked in 3D creating a sculpture, learnt how to screen print as well as many fine art techniques including measured drawing and working with charcoal and chalk.I also developed my view on abstract style work as I have never ventured into that style before. This was really interesting as it involved studying colour theory and mark making.

Each project involved a focus around development-from observational studies on location, to painted studies, to experimentation and refinement/planning of final pieces (proposals). Going through all the development processes was an extremely useful vehicle to produce a well considered and refined final piece. I think because of going through so much development for each project, it has effected the way that I will approach up coming projects, resulting in thoughtful investigations.

During last year as part of unit 75 I undertook a life drawing course. This was a whole new experience for me as before I tended to avoid figurative work as I tended to get proportions wrong. After completing this course I became more aware of the importance of space, not only to focus on the subject but to think about the subject in a space. I think now I have more confidence when your drawing figures and it has helped me to look at any subject different-looking at the build up of tones as well thinking about the anatomy and how the body works.

Looking back across the year the most important learning experiences for me were the Kew project as well as the Tate project. The Kew project was important as it was based around me developing a whole new skill-screen printing. The Kew project also was when I experimented in the workshop to create my final sculpture. This involved learning how to plaster cast and metal work. The Tate project taught me to work to a brief and to interpret existing works in my own way. As well as practical work, the Tate project also lead me to develop my analytical skills as essentially it revolved around reacting to works in the gallery through our own artwork based on descriptive vocabulary- forcing myself to engage with the characteristics of art, for example textures.

Looking forward, I think that I need to work on creating concepts for my artwork, focussing more at the purpose and the restrictions of having a target audience. This is because in most industries your work will be interpreted for some sort of purpose-e.g. a poster or advert will have a specific information that it needs to display and an audience that they want to attract. I also want to try and develop my ideas further looking at more experimentation before I decide on a final design.

I think that it would be a good idea for me to do a foundation year before university as it would expose me to a range of different areas of art, which will determine the more subject specific area that I would like to progress into at degree level. I would say a diagnostic course would be more beneficial to me.

If after the Foundation course I am still as interested into Fashion Communication and Promotion as I am now, I would like to study it at degree level. The reason I would like to learn more before I go into the industry is because I think it is important to be able to experiment and to learn about the technical side as the advancement of technology is an important aspect of design in general and if I was to go into a design career I would like to be able to know how I can exploit the qualities and techniques of the current technology. It would also mean that I would have a greater understanding of the subject and industry.

After taking the area at degree level, I hopefully would begin to make my way in the industry. One way of doing this is to start as an intern for an established Fashion company/publication, and this would hopefully lead me to links and connections to other jobs and enable me to climb up the career ladder. As a lot of the time in design areas and competitive industries such as fashion it is extremely important to make connections as they could lead to job opportunities.

To develop and build towards this in year 2, I would like to experiment further using different mediums in technology to help build an appropriate portfolio. Part of this is my EPQ as I am going to study film making for Fashion, hoping to eventually make a fashion editorial film or advert. I also am going to combine some of my photography with my art and general aim for my projects to revolve around graphics and fashion to build my portfolio.