I thought it would be interesting for you to look at these self-portraits I did in high school many years ago. The first two are expressionistic while the third sort of looks like me then, but is still moody (I look like I have a black eye). The one I've always been drawn to is the second portrait, I'm not sure why. Perhaps it foreshadowed my descent into madness. It's intense and strange. The technique was to take a piece of paper, lay down a wash of neutral color and maybe add another color, then take ink to outline the portrait and then, if you want, use pastels to further define the portrait. I should try to do that again. A teacher of mine in the late 1980s, Mary Beth McKenzie, used a similar technique using gouache first to make the general composition and then working over it with a variety of subtle pastel colors.
I'm very happy to have found About.Com-Painting because it keeps me in touch with other artists through the message boards, gives me instruction in various articles and allows me the chance to give feedback and get feedback on artwork. I especially like going to other artists' websites. It's a good learning tool. I found one website by an artist who paints animal portraits, which is something I've thought of doing too. I printed out his order form to get some ideas about how I should approach the business side of painting portraits of/for people.
I included a link to my website on two posts last night and the more I post, the more I will be promoting my work to others if they click the link. I would also like to promote Artid to the people there because I think it's an excellent and inexpensive way to share one's artwork and possibly make a sale. It's also an art community which I think is a plus and makes the experience more satisfying through the use of art blogs and commenting in guestbooks. A lot of artists have good websites, but they are out there in isolation. I prefer a group setting, which is ironic considering in my offline life I am quite a recluse. But, in truth, when it comes to making art, I wouldn't mind going to a regular class and being around others, I just don't have access to that right now.
Self promotion is hard and I've done practically none of it since last spring when I joined Artid. I should be posting my business cards locally, but I feel shy about it. Maybe, if I get more positive feedback online about my art and I get used to promoting myself, I will become ready to venture into my own community.
2 comments:
I feel another burst of energy coming out from you. This is agood time to post your self portrait cards ifthe energy is there. Once you have done that you know that it is done. You need to over ride your shyness. Pray for courage to do it infact I will pray.
As for the self portraits I absolutely love them. When you said pastels do you mean oil pastels? I would like to try this out. I have I think all the materials. Can you send me a step to step, please?
I also like how you always paint colour behind a picture. How do you do that? I tried last night. Diabolical.
J.P
Hi J.P.--Thanks so much. Pastels, well, you can use either dry pastel sticks or oil pastels for different effects. Try out different types of papers from plain drawing paper to watercolor paper. Pick a color, preferably a neutral color like a brown or olive green. Load your brush up with the watercolor and dip it in your tub of water--use a big brush. Then paint all of your paper with that color. That called a "wash". Let it dry completely. Then take some ink, use a fairly small brush and paint your basic outline portrait (also called contour drawing). Do it quickly and don't be too fussy. Let that dry completely. If you want to add a second watercolor, do so at this point. Then take your pastels and fool around with them, accentuated your features. Don't just do one, do at least three of these and try to take different approaches in each one. Experimentation with materials and styles is key.
One cool thing about oil pastels: After you do your drawing, try taking some turpentine on a brush and go over where you've drawn. It will turn into painting. Watercolor pencils are also good if you're more used to drawing than painting and want to ease your way into painting, just do a drawing, then take a brush and some water and gently go over your drawing, see how the colors mix. It's fun!
Hope this helps. Go for it J! Have some fun.
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