Day 15. 27/9/13

Photograph taken; 10:20am

I decided it would be interesting to try and show myself through objects rather than physically using myself in my art pieces. Even though this image shows my weight the numbers make up me. I find this take on self portraits rather intriguing.

Collaboration of photographs taken throughout the night, 8:00pm onwards

For my self portrait last night I decided to use a similar concept as I had early in the day by taking photographs of every drink I drank and the places I had visited, almost like a diary of my night. I put all these photographs together on photoshop and layered the images to create a flattened image. I really like the composition of this piece and all the busyness that is created from the different locations and lights, representing how my night was. 

Day 14. 26/9/13

Self portrait created; 2:15 pm

After creating this piece I decided I wasn't really happy with the outcome. It felt too bland and simple, I wanted to experiment creating something that was physically meant to be but you couldn't really tell what it was. I had the idea to destroy the piece by pulling it apart and then creating new work from the broken parts. 

These self portraits are a step up from the wire face I produced and I think the concept of them is much more inspiring. The loosely fitted compositions are much more interesting as rather than placing pieces in certain places I took away the controlled element of creating work and  just threw the parts onto the paper until I was happy with the different outcomes, which I then photographed. The contrast of the black wire(after it had been spray painted) works successfully with the simple white backgrounds as well as the angular backgrounds created using corners of paper and black spray paint cans.

Day 13. 25/9/13

Self portrait drawn in pencil; started at 1:50pm

For today's self portrait I thought it would be interesting to draw a collaboration of my mum and dad together, half of her and half of him, creating me. I like the surrealistic features of this piece and I honestly feel I can see myself in the drawing. I would like to work back into this piece later on as I feel it lacks in detail, however I like the intention behind the idea.

Marcel Duchamp- PEEPHOLE

'The secret of being boring is to say everything.'

Étant Donnés 1946-66

I came across Marcel Duchamp and I found his work inspiring because of the idea and context he used behind his pieces. I like his idea of perceiving human nature through curiosity, limits and control. The 'peephole illusion' is something I want to experiment with within my project by limiting what the viewer can  physically see. Controlling their view point whilst looking at my art pieces/ instillations I feel will give my self portraits a completely different meaning and feeling altogether.

Day 12. 24/9/13

 

I decided today it would be interesting to look at a different form of self portraiture by creating myself but through images that I'm not physically involved in. e.g. using numbers and objects. Even though this image above doesn't look like a self portrait all the numbers involved create me as an individual.

 

For todays drawing I decided to do something a little different. I placed a large piece of paper on the floor and drew with paint but from a high distance by dropping paint from the actual bottle rather than using stereotypical tools such as paint brushes and craft objects. I think all the pieces I created are successful and it was quite refreshing discovering a new way of producing work.

 

Self portrait created at 12:20 pm.

 

Day 11. 23/9/13

 

Self portrait created at 9:10am,

 

For todays self portrait I decided after researching into Hannah Hoch that I'm going to produce some montages of myself using photographs I've taken today, printing them out and collaging the images using magazine cut outs of other people. I like this idea as even though the images are of me you can't really tell and the pieces seem some what surreal.

 

 

I feel this image above is the most successful from today due to its composition and colouring. The piece seems quite abstract as it's been edited that much its hard to tell its even a human face anymore.

 

 

Hannah Höch- ONE OF THE ORIGINATORS OF PHOTOMONTAGE

Whilst searching for collage artists I came across Hannah Hoch, a photomontage artist, best known for her work from the Weimar period. She gave me the idea of using collage, which I haven't yet within my 74 days project, by taking photographs of myself and recreating them by either cutting up other photographs of me and combining them or even using magazine cut outs to create a new self portrait altogether. I like the surrealistic nature of her work and the editing skills she uses once her pieces are finished (the colours and contrast in tones).

Day 10. 20/9/13

I thought it would be interesting to draw on the actual food I was eating rather than creating my face out of food. The mouse in the box looks like its hiding away which represents what I did all day (stayed in my room eating)

Photograph taken at 8:30pm

Day 9. 19/9/13

I like this piece (above) as the media used wasn't planned and the piece itself was quite spontaneous which makes it feel more real. I decided to highly edit the photograph I took of the piece as I feel the high contrasting colours represent how I was feeling at the time. I like the surrealistic element it holds. The piece was created at 9:40pm.

Photograph taken at 9:30pm

Day 8. 18/9/13

For todays work I decided it would be interesting to use a different type of media altogether, clay. Rather than simply just looking into a mirror to produce the work I felt the different shapes on my face, closed my eyes and then tried my best to represent how I felt I looked into the clay. I don't feel the piece is very successful however I like the concept of the idea.

Photograph taken at 11:42pm

Day 7. 17/9/13

Photograph taken in the art studio. 11:10am

Self portrait taken in the art studio. 11:10am. Final photo shopped product produced by 12:00am.


 

Today I decided I wanted to practice more with the camera as previously I have just been taking photographs on my camera phone and wanted to experiment with a different photographic media of a higher quality. I placed the camera on a windowsill and took timed photographs of myself sitting in the same position of the room but with my face turned at different angles. Whilst looking through my photographs on photoshop I decied to mess around with the opacity of the portraits and soon realised that they all looked better together as one layered piece than as seperate shots.

Day 6. 16/9/13

Photo taken at 12:34pm

Drawing created using soft pastels.

I didn't spend a lot of time on my portrait today as I was feeling quite lethargic and lazy whilst producing the piece , which is what this drawing represents. I decided to keep the colours limited and simple and the background blank, representing a sense of space and loneliness. 



Day 5. 13/9/13

Self portrait drawn from memory. Coloured pastels.

I decided to use this as my self portrait for today as the picture represents the mood I was in. Taken at 9:30pm



Day 4. 12/9/13

Quick self portrait done in coloured pastels.

I think this piece works well due to the distinctive colours and pastel marks I have created. I'm not fully satisfied with this piece as I feel the proportions of the figure are quite weakly represented and it would have worked better if I'd used less detail and taken more time creating it.

Self portrait taken by timer on a camera phone; 12.30am




This time for my photograph self portrait I was inspired by my previous work based on location. I want to take more self portraits containing locations that surround me on an every day basis so that my work seems more real and personal.

Day 3. 11/3/13

Self portrait created outside from view(below). Gouache paints.

 

Self portrait. Taken at 6:10 am

This morning I decided to experiment more with my portraits and do something a little different. I looked up the time of sunrise in my local area and headed out early to find a quiet spot to produce a painting. I thought this piece would be interesting as it is at a completely different time of day compared to my two previous days of working. I enjoyed doing this part of the project as I felt quite scenic painting at such an early time and the vision of the sunrise really inspired the colours/textures I used within my painting. I decided this time that I would experiment with the angle and composition of my self portrait by doing something a little different and drawing myself from behind. What I found was that my attention was drawn to the sunset and landscape rather than me as a person and this context of the piece I found rather refreshing as an artist. I also like the fact that the location of this work is a key factor to why the piece is so successful as it gives the viewer a more clear vision of the kind of person I am even though they can see very little of me. It seems more real and spontaneous rather than staged, as my last two pieces seemed to be.

 

 

Location snaps:

Day 2. 10/9/13

Self portrait drawn from memory. Using charcoal and pastels; introducing colour.

Daily photograph, taken at 13:30pm



The main thing I have learnt from the work I have produced today, after comparing my 2 self portraits, is that when I draw myself from memory I seem to emphasise certain features and automatically draw myself more like the way I want to appear to people than the way I actually do. I have drawn my face shape a lot smaller than its proportions in real life and I have made certain features (such as my eyes) stand out a lot more. I think the colours I've used in my drawing are very effective as orange and blue tones in general work really well together.

Day 1. 9/9/13

Quick 2 minute charcoal drawing from mirror observation.

Daily photograph. Taken at 3:30pm


To start my first day I decided to keep things basic and experiment more in the following days. I think the simplicity of the drawing works well and I like how the face doesn't contain much detail. The loose pencil marks I have used in the piece, I feel, are very successful and I will continue with this way of working throughout the project. I have realised from analyzing the drawing and the photograph that the composition and sizing of my facial features are pretty similar, I think this has something to do with drawing directly from a mirror as it gives me more structure whilst drawing.

Andy Warhol- SERIES OF SELF PORTRAIT IMAGES

This collection of self portraits created by Andy Warhol, is in my opinion, some of the best work he produced. I am inspired by the bravery and the sense of vulnerabilty he used when creating these pieces. These photographs and drawings make a statement, I feel, showing that Warhol's life was confusing and distressing. The truth projected from this work reflects to modern society greatly and I feel will relate to many people. Not only the context and intention of these portraits is inspiring but also the physical pieces as a whole. I like the range of drawing techniques Warhol has used and it has reminded me that portraits don't have to simply be an un-edited photograph or a still life pencil drawing. When starting my '47 Days Of Me' project I now intend to experiment with many different medium to create my self portraits e.g. physical drawing tools, photographs, collage, and maybe even videos.