I finally gained access to my oss platform (about two weeks ago already, guilty) but only now I have finally decided to get some work done *proudly sipping my burning hot tea as I write this*.
This blog post is about the very first assignment given to us.
Self-portrait I decided to do has a mix of both art nouveau elements and a mix I took from references. I particulary liked the unskilled worker work. The colour palette, the way human body and face was made.
My art nouveau research wouldn’t be complete without this glorious article “The Only Guide You Will Ever Need To Art Nouveau” I have found, describing everything one needs to know about this movement: https://chibirhm.livejournal.com/519432.html
My inital sketch was done using iPad Pro, stylus pen and Adobe Sketch. I like this app because you have a choice of different brushes and colours. Later on I transferred the sketch to Adobe Illustrator. This task was hard for me in a way that I usually do not progress further than a sketch. I like doodles and I have this feeling that generally sketches have more life to them than the final vector art.
I knew quite well what I want to include in my piece. I am quite confident in saying that I know myself well therefore it’s easy to include «myself» in self-portrait. The final piece includes art nouveau elements – french curve, focal point is woman, pastel yellow-ish tones, flowers. I love this art movement in particular in my hometown Prague. The biggest influencer of this style was Alfons Mucha who was born in Prague in 1860.
Alfons Mucha, Daydream/Reverie (1896)
For my piece, I placed several circles in my hair that describe me and these are the things one would not know without getting to know me. I was born in August therefore I am a Leo and if you want to know more about me just go on and find Leo descriptions online, it’s a perfect match. Generally I don’t reelly believe in astrologhy but somehow mine just suits me. Next circle includes coffee bean since coffee is my everything. I like good coffee and I spend far more money on it. I used to work in Caffee Nero in the UK, so I have a barista course and after completing my training I get really fussy when I order latte and I am served something that is closer to cappuccino or flat white. Otherwise I’m quite normal. Next circle is symbol of a family. Three peple forming a heart shape. I am the only child and close to my parents, so needless to say family and family values mean a world to me. Last but not least is a compass that was used to indicate the position when moving it around. I associate it with travelling which is another of my passions. I am quite lucky with having parents that like to travel and I was able to see so many places thanks to them when I was younger and now I am travelling places myself.
Overall I am quite happy with the outcome. I had some difficulties like spending ages on tracing and Illustrator itself was quite a pain since I am a newbie. For the piece itself, firstly I thought if I had more time I would make it «better». However, now when I think about it I don’t think I would change anything in particular. Rather I would create an absolutely different piece, a different version of this assignment. I would include more movement (make the person more alive), I would try to use more colours and shades that would make it three dimensional, give it a depth in some sort.
That would be all from me for today, I’ll get back to my tea now.
