The self portrait somewhat of an adventure
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Adventure self portrait - what is the fascination in making and viewing ?
Why do people do self portraits ? Looking at my own self portraits delivers no answers to this question other than van Gogh did it and other famous artists too and none of my family members dares to sit for me ! NO that is not half of the truth ! Lets FACE it we are all in love with ourselves and not without interest in our own person. Self portraits have a function as subject for exercises, but also as means of self-reflection, sincere exploration and last not least as means of self promotion. Looking into the abyss of the own face has been of fascination for famous artists like Dürer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Picasso only to name the very famous ones.
This lens is dedicated to all those brave ones who dare to go on a trip of (self) discovery beyond controlled narcism and pleasing prettyness or superficial demonstrations of realism! If you want to know the truth about yourself you are right here. Let´s do a self portrait, it will show everything and nothing at the same time.
The viewers of self portraits have a special encounter with the depicted person. They experience a kind of double mirror effect. They not only can see how the person looks like, but also how the person sees herself or wants to be seen. Always there are questions what self portraits reveal or hide. Often the attempts to hide something or to pretend speak for themselves. This may be some of the reasons for the great interest that self portraits enjoy.
This lens is about the self portrait in the arts and self portraits in our post modern times of the new media that generate and overwhelming flood of self portraits. There are more than one million selfportrait related images on FLICKR already ! People love self portraits obviously.
For those who like to draw there is an easy self portrait project that can be done on 1-2 hours explained in this lens !
This lens is dedicated to all those brave ones who dare to go on a trip of (self) discovery beyond controlled narcism and pleasing prettyness or superficial demonstrations of realism! If you want to know the truth about yourself you are right here. Let´s do a self portrait, it will show everything and nothing at the same time.
The viewers of self portraits have a special encounter with the depicted person. They experience a kind of double mirror effect. They not only can see how the person looks like, but also how the person sees herself or wants to be seen. Always there are questions what self portraits reveal or hide. Often the attempts to hide something or to pretend speak for themselves. This may be some of the reasons for the great interest that self portraits enjoy.
This lens is about the self portrait in the arts and self portraits in our post modern times of the new media that generate and overwhelming flood of self portraits. There are more than one million selfportrait related images on FLICKR already ! People love self portraits obviously.
For those who like to draw there is an easy self portrait project that can be done on 1-2 hours explained in this lens !
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Self portrait - an exploration in charcoal
click on images for enlarged versions
This short series of self portraits in charcoal was done on paper in a size of ca. 16"X25". I placed an easel in the bath room in front of the mirror. In each session I tried to keep a certain expression of face, which sometimes was not that easy. Each session lasted about 30-45 minutes. Especially the shouting face was quite exhausting. After all it was a great experience to work concentrated on this project over a period of two weeks.
I learned a lot about the face anatomy and the patterns of light and shade on a face. Although there is only very limited similarity with a photographic portrait the set catches some characteristics of my person, which would not show up in a very controlled executed drawing. I always get strong reactions on these portraits as they are, the technical skill or lack of similarity seems not to be an issue at all. Quite opposite the viewers seem very interested in unfamiliar views.
I started this series of self portraits mainly because I had no other portrait models, when my family members had developed an almost atavistic fear I could depict something that should not be seen or not revealed or even steal something of their personality. I believe it also had to do with the fact that the artist has to look very hard at someone while drawing. Many people do not like to be stared at.
I was not aware that I had done numerous self portraits during past 20 years until I began working on this publication. I wish I had not destroyed most of them, especially the early ones, just because I thought they were not important. Lately I preferred more humorous and ironic self portraits, those which I used on "Clean spectacles" Finally I have to admit that the interest in my own face has never been very strong and seems to grow less and less.
Nevertheless I developed a little project of a self portrait, especially to be demonstrated here. Drawing a coherent portrait is rather difficult. Instead I drew certain parts of the face on separate pieces of paper and put them together to the full face later in a kind of collage.
Face expressions - a series of quick pen drawings
not so serious face sketches
Why do people do self portraits ?
It is great fun to read all those explanations or better to say reasoning why people like to do self portraits. Self portraits are alway more or less pretty lies :).
We like to act on stage a bit, we want to impress, or want to be loved or at least appreciated. Also we ant to promote ourselves..
We like to act on stage a bit, we want to impress, or want to be loved or at least appreciated. Also we ant to promote ourselves..
- Flickr: Discussing why we do this?? in Identity & self portraits
- A discussion on FLICKR: why do you take self portraits?
Read the endless explanations!
Even elephants can draw a self portrait
The urban self portrait - sketches on the urban sketchers weblog
The urban sketchers weblog is a great resource for drawing and sketching, may be the most interesting and vivid one on the net !
- Urban Sketchers: self-portrait
- Urban sketchers draw and sketch their self portraits
About self portraits - motives and desires
- HOW PEOPLE SEE THEMSELVES By Hubert Burda
- On Edge.org : "More than two thousand years after a ruler, Augustus, used for the very first time the minting technique to bring his face to the people, the possibilities for getting one's picture shown in public have increased many fold."
- Rough Type: Nicholas Carr's Blog: Self-portrait in a flat-panel display
- Nicolas Carr on Rough Type :"I'm not sure that I see, in today's self-portraits on MySpace or YouTube or Flickr, or in the fetishistic collecting of virtual tokens of attention, the desire to mark one's place in a professional or social stratum. What they seem to express, more than anything, is a desire to turn oneself into a product, a commodity to be consumed. And since, as I wrote earlier, "self-commoditization is in the end indistinguishable from self-consumption," the new portraiture seems at its core narcissistic. The portraits are advertisements for a commoditized self, though they're presented without Warhol's cruel and clarifying irony."
- ART; Documenting an Outbreak of Self-Presentation - New York Times
- Richard P. Woodward on the NYT:"No subject has held the attention of more types of photographers during the last 25 years than the self-portrait. A list of those artists who have looked at themselves seriously - not just glancingly -would include such disparate stylists as Andy Warhol, Lee Friedlander, Anselm Kiefer, Eleanor Antin, Lucas Samaras, William Wegman, John Coplans, Judy Dater, Robert Mapplethorpe, Arnulf Rainer, Cindy Sherman, Chuck Close, Duane Michals, Adrian Piper, Bruce Charlesworth, Christian Boltanski and Ann Noggle."
- Self-Portraits
- This is a great site about the self portrait in the arts from various perspectives.
"Since the fifteenth century and the advent of the mirror artists have modeled for
themselves in their own works of art. Whether it is an in-depth exploration of the artists own psyche or simply because as a model, the artist is clearly the heapest and most available. .."
Vincent van Gogh and his self portraits a special case
The person Van Gogh has become the best known artist stereotype in the world. His name stands for the romantic image of the artist as weird and starving genius,who fails badly in his life and gains only posthumous fame and recognition.
The perception and promotion of his selfportraits often serves the idea to over style van Gogh to the "Überkünstler" rather than analysing them in their context.
Jason WU makes an important remark in his essay about an alternative look on the self portraits by van Gogh "An intriguing alternative exists: van Gogh may not have painted the self-portraits as psychoanalytical evaluations of himself, but instead merely as experiments in technique..."
Van Gogh's self portraits are the best example for the multi purpose of artists self portraits or better the inextricable mixture of motivations behind a self portrait from mere technical exercise to self promotion, the attempt to write art history and finally to become importal as artefact.
Van Gogh with no doubt has achieved the ultimate recognition in his self portraits as they not only stand as immortal representations of himself, but of the artist in general. In a way the perpetuation of van Gogh's self portraits has taken the genre to an absurd final stage: death by immortality. Not a single self portrait can be viewed without the consciousness and awareness of van Gogh not to speak about the making.
The perception and promotion of his selfportraits often serves the idea to over style van Gogh to the "Überkünstler" rather than analysing them in their context.
Jason WU makes an important remark in his essay about an alternative look on the self portraits by van Gogh "An intriguing alternative exists: van Gogh may not have painted the self-portraits as psychoanalytical evaluations of himself, but instead merely as experiments in technique..."
Van Gogh's self portraits are the best example for the multi purpose of artists self portraits or better the inextricable mixture of motivations behind a self portrait from mere technical exercise to self promotion, the attempt to write art history and finally to become importal as artefact.
Van Gogh with no doubt has achieved the ultimate recognition in his self portraits as they not only stand as immortal representations of himself, but of the artist in general. In a way the perpetuation of van Gogh's self portraits has taken the genre to an absurd final stage: death by immortality. Not a single self portrait can be viewed without the consciousness and awareness of van Gogh not to speak about the making.
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- Van Gogh's Self Portraits
- Art criticism in Van Gogh's Paris Self-Portraits by Jason Wu, Princeton Class of 2009 - An essay on van Gogh's many self portraits
- WebMuseum: Gogh, Vincent van: Self-Portraits
- An online collection of van Gogh's self portraits
- About the self portrait in Vincent Van Gogh works.
- Interesting essay about the self portrait in Vincent Van Gogh works. van Gogh painted numerous self portraits. Excerpts from his letters explain his motivations from lack of money for models to self-exploration.
- VAN GOGH, Vincent: Self-Portrait by Meyer Shapiro
- "The compulsive, restless all-over ornament of the background, recalling the work of mental patients, is for some physicians an evidence that the painting was done in a psychotic state. But the self-image of the painter shows a masterly control and power of observation, a mind perfectly capable of integrating the elements of its chosen activity." This review of a self portrait by van Gogh fully describes the dilemma between the image of van Gogh as the crazy man painting and his command on technical means at the same time. However technical skills are no fiction they are visible in van Gogh's work.
Van Gogh self portraits in a slide movie
Jeg går en Tur - A self portrait by Lasse Gjertsen
A men walking and talking - funny and cool !
Self portrait studies
quick sketches in oil color
The self portrait literature and other selfish stuff !
Drawing a self portrait - a project for adults and children
draw a self portrait in 5 steps use a small cosmetic mirror
Materials needed :
sheets of thick paper preferrably > 170gr/sqm, A4 size,1 sheet of ca. A3 or bigger size, a drawing tool , at best an ink pen some india ink, a brush, a bit of water, some paper glue, some water colors or guache if you like.
Last not least a small cosmetic mirror !
By drawing only certain parts of the face a lot of stress is taken out and one can concentrate on distinct parts of the face. Using a small mirror also forces to focus on limited areas. The distortions by the funny perspective through the small mirror make the portraits quite stunning. I would think the smaller the mirror the more interesting in might get. Assembling the parts later is great fun. After that it is possible to connect the parts by further drawing ,adding shadows or colors !
Especially for children it is easier to draw mouth and nose etc. separately and put the face together later.
Step 1:
Look into the mirror and and draw parts of your face with the india ink pen or similar tool (could be also a simple ball pen) on sheets of paper to be cut out later : right and left eye,ears, hair, neck, chin and nose as you like.
Step2:
Cut the face fragments out from the sheet and assemble them on the bigger sheet to a complete face. If there is a big discrepancy in proportions just repeat Step 1 for that particular part. I had to enlarge the hair on top of my head, but the other parts were fine.
Step3:
glue the assembled parts onto the bigger sheet to get a complete portrait. Then rework this image by drawing missing connections between the parts, use the mirror to check how to do it.
Step4:
If you haven´t drawn any shadows yet, add areas of shadow by adding ink washes /thinned ink) to the face.
Step 5:
Finally you might want to add some color. Voila that´s it !
sheets of thick paper preferrably > 170gr/sqm, A4 size,1 sheet of ca. A3 or bigger size, a drawing tool , at best an ink pen some india ink, a brush, a bit of water, some paper glue, some water colors or guache if you like.
Last not least a small cosmetic mirror !
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By drawing only certain parts of the face a lot of stress is taken out and one can concentrate on distinct parts of the face. Using a small mirror also forces to focus on limited areas. The distortions by the funny perspective through the small mirror make the portraits quite stunning. I would think the smaller the mirror the more interesting in might get. Assembling the parts later is great fun. After that it is possible to connect the parts by further drawing ,adding shadows or colors !
Especially for children it is easier to draw mouth and nose etc. separately and put the face together later.
Step 1:
Look into the mirror and and draw parts of your face with the india ink pen or similar tool (could be also a simple ball pen) on sheets of paper to be cut out later : right and left eye,ears, hair, neck, chin and nose as you like.
Step2:
Cut the face fragments out from the sheet and assemble them on the bigger sheet to a complete face. If there is a big discrepancy in proportions just repeat Step 1 for that particular part. I had to enlarge the hair on top of my head, but the other parts were fine.
Step3:
glue the assembled parts onto the bigger sheet to get a complete portrait. Then rework this image by drawing missing connections between the parts, use the mirror to check how to do it.
Step4:
If you haven´t drawn any shadows yet, add areas of shadow by adding ink washes /thinned ink) to the face.
Step 5:
Finally you might want to add some color. Voila that´s it !
How to draw a self portrait
How other people do it - much better than me
- graphite self-portrait - a thread on Wetcanvas
- Tim Wilson has done a stuning selfportrait from photographic reference !
The self portrait - Link collection
Excamples of famous self portraits
- ArtLex on Self-Portraits
- Numerous Self-portraits defined with images of examples from art history, great quotations, and links to other resources.
- Paul Cezanne: The Self-portraits
- Self-PortraitsText from Steven Platzman, introduction to "Cezanne: The Self-Portraits""Look at a self-portrait by Cezanne. What do you see?
- Famous Self Portrait Paintings
- Famous self portrait paintings gallery online by master artists categorized by theme on the art quotes artist portal. (from Bacon to Warhol)
For each self portrait there are further links. - Famous self portraits
- A little test: Can you identify these FAMOUS ARTISTS from their self portraits?
Nelson Prairie School - Frida Kahlo
- Great gallery showing 40 beautiful self portraits by Frida Kahlo
- New Art: A Self-Portrait by Nam June Paik
- A modern installation via new-art.blogspot.com
- Anita Davies - self portraits
- Blogposts with selfportraits by Anita Davies
- The Portrait Party - A blog by Rama Hughes
- There is a self-portrait party going on on Feb 2009
- Urban Sketchers: Two self-portraits
- two great self-portraits by urban sketcher Joseph Lapostolle,France
- Teenage WildLife! Portrait and Selfportrait blog
- A weblog dedicated to portraits and selfportraits, very fresh work by young artists
Surrealistic portrait t- shirts on Zazzle
The human face is a never tiring inspiration. Here are some t shirts with a short series of some strange surrealistic human animal heads from rat over chicken to carp.
Rat head - surreal t shirt
by editionha
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t-shirt at zazzle
Chicken head
surrealistic T shirt
by editionha
View other Surreal T-Shirts
Carp head
surrealistic T shirt
by editionha
Browse other Carp T-Shirts
Andy Warhol the master of the POP self portrait
Other lenses by Edition Handdruck
Brave lensmasters who dare a close look at their face
Add your self-portrait lens here!
Adventure in the Mirror
I have been wanting to do this drawing exercise si more...0 points
Self portraits on FLICKR
Today,on Feb 2 2009, there are more than 1 Million returns on a query for "self portrait" on FliCKR and there are almost 10 000 groups related to self portrait. It seems that not only artist feel the urge to do self portraits.
- Flickr: Self-Portraits!!! - the biggest group
- Biggest Self portrait group on FLICKR:
"We encourage you to be creative and think outside of the normal self-portrait mold." - Flickr: Me With My Camera [Reflected Self-Portraits Only]
- A group for self portraits with the camera in the picture
- Flickr: SELF-PORTRAIT
- Another self portrait pool on FLICKR :
"For people who share the passion for self-portraiture. Did you know that shooting self-portraits regularly gives you inner strength and can help in the process of healing any illness, physical and psychological?"
Wow ... I didn´t know that - Flickr: Arm's Length Self Portrait Experience
- Self portraits from arm length !! "..no photos of you just holding something in your hand and no mirror shots! ..."
Portraits of the great masters in a slide show - must see
A stunning slide show of male selfportraits by Philip Scott Johnson
500 Years of Male Self Portraits in Western Art Artists in order of appearance: 0:08 - Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 0:15 - Francisco Goya 1746-1828 0:22 - Albrecht Dürer...
500 Years of Male Self Portraits in Western Art Artists in order of appearance: 0:08 - Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519 0:15 - Francisco Goya 1746-1828 0:22 - Albrecht Dürer...
How to draw portraits with the help of Jeff Bezos or so
Thank you for your visit!
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alex
May 29, 2012 @ 6:15 pm | delete
- I like the music by Bach- can you tell me which piece it is?
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EditionH
May 30, 2012 @ 1:51 am | delete
- Hi Alex, I like Bach very much too. I mostly listen to Glenn Gould and the piano works.
It sounds very familiar to me, but I do not know the title. There is Horn, organ and violins perhaps it is possible to narrow the search down that way??
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CreativeArtist Apr 29, 2012 @ 12:02 am | delete
- I've done a couple of self portraits so far. Thanks for sharing your approach.
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Anita Oliphant
Apr 10, 2012 @ 8:26 am | delete
- This was as good as a short visit to a museum while sitting right in the centre of South Africa!! Wonderful and thank you!
Anita Oliphant
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Steph_Tietjen
Mar 7, 2012 @ 10:47 pm | delete
- You describe a very interesting exercise I think I would like to try--I like that you did all sorts of expressions. The oil sketches are superb. Thanks
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