Category: Assignment 1 – Research & Process

Feedback after presentation and final self-portrait

Feedback and comments to better artwork:

  • the layer of glass was taking away the details and vibrancy of the interesting objects in the hair. Hence, there were suggestions to lower down the opacity of the outer layer and to choose a lighter color (eg: light blue or pink) to go above it.
  • The egg earring was too overpowering in proportion to the face. And it would be better to flip the egg around to avoid repetitiveness of the egg on the head.

Personal reflection after assignment 1

  • This was quite a fun assignment to work on as I had to think of what was really important in my daily life and constantly trying of ways to make the whole composition work together as one.
  • It was also a fun challenge to try to incorporate elements that i love and at the same time give the whole self portrait a more in depth meaning.

 

 

Process to creating my self potrait

Process of illustrating my self portrait  

A list of words that describe me/Things that I adore

-rice and eggs

-matcha latte

-soulful music

-journaling

-typography

-christmas

-nature (flower and greens)

-patterns

-bandana and high bun

-french fries

-sushi

-pizza


I chose to take a picture of my neutral looking face to show no emotion because I wanted the viewer to have their own interpretation and perception of what the whole portrait is trying to convey. So the first step that I did was to take pictures and finally chose an of angle that I can better work with and illustrate my face.

The main concept that I was trying to go for is to portray me as an” observant” person, always being aware of my surroundings. The first sketch above was me wearing many glasses, arranging them  from my chin to the back of my head to suggest that I have “many eyes”or “always on the look”.  The second sketch is me peeping through a glass window. And the flowers and leaves growing and creeping out gives an idea of wanting to be free or to “come out”. Composition wise, I feel that this is much stronger than the others as the tip of the hair balances out the chin and an earring at the ear gives character to the whole picture. It also shows movement and allows the reader’s eyes to flow through the portrait.

Although I do like the previous sketch and the message behind it. I still find that it still loses some edge and character to it. So rather than just having a garden over my head. I tried to incorporate some of the elements that best describe myself. I find it more visually intriguing and it allows the viewer to want to find out what is exactly IN the hair. However, I find the composition and arrangement was very still and gives off a feeling of solitude and I didn’t want that so I decided to use the composition of the previous sketch because it shows more dynamism .

These two are just sketches of the same concept. One trying to come out of a paper box and another trying to peek over the fence.

The last idea was to incorporate fireworks and hair curlers but I chose the previous idea at last because it had more narrative and visual interest.

Composition of final self portrait

At first I was just playing around with the composition. Trying to figure out how to better portray depth and combine all the objects together without making it look too messy and at the same time remain its elegance.

 

At this point, i wanted the french fries to mimic a crown. However the keyboard behind although added depth doesn’t look as cohesive as I wanted it to be with the self portrait.

Problems : Struggling to make objects look clear after placing a layer on top of it even after opacity is reduced.

Although this may seem clearer but it fails to use the glass window to give off the message because the objects (flowers) looks as if they are on top of the glass rather than behind it.

 

Assignment 1

grace

How did the activity made me feel? 

This activity made me feel a little nervous at first because I knew that it was timed and I had to stop drawing after a few minutes later.

Why do you think this was so? 

I think I felt a little nervous because I was afraid that it was unrecognizable by the person I drew and it would show no similarities. Part of me didn’t want to disappoint her and make her look less charming than she is.

What would you change about your illustration?

If I were to change my illustration, I would have drew her features more similar to her real ones and make her have a friendlier smile in the drawing! 🙂

Do you think your illustration is a good likeness of the person you drew?

I think that there are elements in the drawing that made her look recognizable like her winged eyeliner, rounded spectacles, clothes and accessories but her features like her nose, mouth and the distribution of her features could be improved!


Research on 3 portrait artist that inspires you 

  • what do you find inspiring?
  • How do they use color? How do they use line?
  • How do they use texture?
  • What medium/s do they use?
  1. ANA SANTOS ( INSTAGRAM ARTIST from Spain)

No automatic alt text available. Image may contain: 1 person

Image may contain: one or more people

Image may contain: one or more people

The reason I find her artworks inspiring is because the artist has composed her artwork in a very attention seeking way where she does not only draws beautiful portraits, but includes a narrative on the faces. She has used the fine lines of the pencil and soft watercolors to bring out the femininity of the girls. There is a feel of translucency when the watercolor is overlapping the face, giving off a feel of gentleness and a part of the girl’s identity.

2. TITO MERELLO VILAR ( INSTAGRAM ARTIST )

Tito Merello Vilar (@titomerello) on Instagram: “Portrait of @micarganaraz

weird girl (2).png

The work of this artist is bold and vibrant (bold strokes and colors). By using mediums such as pencil, pen, watercolor, papers etc, it brings character to the portrait by giving it a more edgy vibe to it.

3.  LIUDAS BARKAUSKAS

Rabbit Digital illustration 2015

Designers of tumblr

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TOTEM on Behance

By using contrasting colors of different pen lines. The artist is able to convey his message in a minimalistic way. The use of pastel colors also makes it soothing for the eyes to view and together with the fine pen lines, gives a delicate feeling to it.