- Lec 6 Self-Portrait
According to the module assignment briefs, I have to apply the various design principles that I have learned before and create a portrait of myself.
After contemplating and observing my surroundings and life experience, choose the images that are pertinent to me and include them in the design piece to create my self-portrait.
1. RECAP LECTURE NOTES.
When we visualize ourselves, we may see from our experiences, interest, thoughts, how others perceive us, how we perceive ourselves based on physical characteristics and personality and many others in our life. Therefore, the goal of this project is to let us define ourselves based on the mentioned above.
A self-portrait is an artistic expression of oneself in the form of a drawing, painting, sculpture, or design. It's a visual representation of oneself. It's generally an exercise in self-exploration rather than creating a realistic image of yourself.
2. DESIGN PROCESS.
2.1 VISUAL REFERENCES.
A self-portrait can be showing the face you feel the world sees or capturing the part of yourself that often stays hidden. Besides, a self-portrait can also be an abstract painting or a realistic painting.
Below are the designs that inspired me.
 |
| Figure 1.1 Inspiration. (credits: Pinterest) |
Firstly, I did think about my life experience such as my family, friends, my favorite food, music, hobby, etc which 'made me'. After that, I did a mood board that includes the things and activities I love.
.jpg) |
| Figure 1.2 Mood board. |
I got some inspiration from Pinterest as shown above (Figure 1.1) and the mood board (Figure 1.2) that I did to create my self-portrait. Below are my sketches for it.
 |
| Figure 1.3.1 First sketch. |
This is my first sketch for self-portrait. I plan to use digital collage to include my hobby such as loving music, reading, traveling and taking photos in my self-portrait. I expect to use my picture as the center of the whole artwork. Using a camera to replace my head is to show my interest in photography and also show how powerful photography is in helping me to capture everything and it can always bring me right back to the feelings, sounds or even smells at that moment. The books will be the background of the rectangle to show I'm a book lover. A wave at the top right corner shows I love to listen to music. The sea waves and the background will be representing my other hobby, traveling.
I did another sketch for my self-portrait too.
 |
| Figure 1.3.2 Second sketch. |
This is my second design idea for self-portrait. The elements that I plan to use are the same as the first sketch (Figure 1.3.1) but the position is different.
 |
| Figure 1.4.1 Self-portrait 1. |
This is my first self-portrait outcome according to the ideas in my first sketch (Figure 1.3.1). I used my picture as the center of the artwork and a camera replaced my head. Sea waves at the bottom of the rectangle and the background of the rectangle are books. I changed the way of placing the books as I think this will more able to present the hobby of reading. The wave for music I did change from the right top corner to both sides which easier to let the viewer understand the meaning. I used solid color for the background of the artwork to let the artwork be neater.
 |
| Figure 1.4.2 Self-portrait 2. |
This is the second self-portrait according to my second sketch (Figure 1.3.2). I placed the books on the right side and matched the posture of my picture. The camera that replaced my head is facing the left side which gives a sense of looking for a nice view there for shooting.
 |
| Figure 1.4.3 Self-portrait 3. |
This is the third self-portrait design that I did. In this design, most of the elements' positions are the same but I changed the wave for music. The wave for music is drawn to be linked with the sea waves from the bottom.
I showed these there design of my self-portrait to Dr. Charles Sharma Naidu Achu Naidu in week 4 and he gave me some valuable suggestions. He felt that using a camera to replace the head is not the best way to show my interest in photography. He advised me to research more on how a photographer creates their self-portrait.
 |
| Figure 1.5 Photographers' self-portraits. (credits: Pinterest) |
I found that there are many creative ways that photographers used to create their self-portraits. For example, using mirrors, light and shadow, double exposure, etc. From this research, I found some new ideas and inspirations for my self-portrait.
Below are the designs that inspired me.
 |
| Figure 1.6 Inspirations. (credits: Pinterest & Videomaker) |
After I got inspiration as shown above, I start to create my own design. Below is my sketch.
 |
| Figure 1.7 Third sketch. |
I decide to use double exposure to create my self-portrait. I plan to take two photographs of myself, one of which is taking a camera and another is reading. My face in the photographs will be facing different sides which represent my two different hobbies. The background of the artwork will be the waves for the music.
 |
| Figure 1.8 Self-portrait 4. |
As shown above (Figure 1.8), that's my outcome based on the third sketch (Figure 1.7) I did. I feel like the space for this artwork is too blank. So, I did some improvements to it to produce my final outcome.
 |
| Figure 1.9 Final outcome // Self-portrait. |
This is my final outcome for the self-portrait. As mentioned above, this is an advanced version of Figure 1.8. I changed the wave for music into the shape fingerprint. This is due to the reason that, I think that fingerprint is the best way to present the concept of everyone is unique as each experience is different. I added some of my information such as name, age, hobby, personality, etc by following the flow of the fingerprint. Surprisingly, I found that the shape of the fingerprint is the wave that I expect to have for music. It just combines and presents two ideas perfectly. Lastly, the design principles that were included in my final outcome are movement, emphasis and balance. The position of the double exposure image in the middle draws the viewer's attention, the flow of the fingerprint gives a sense that the words are moving and the position of all elements is balanced.
On week 4, I showed my self-portrait 1,2 and 3 (Figures 1.4.1, 1.4.2, 1.4.3) to Dr. Charles Sharma Naidu Achu Naidu. He said that the design of using a camera to replace my head is not the best solution. It's not interesting. It's just a substitute of my head and for self-portrait, it looks like I'm hiding rather than showing my interest in photography.
3. REFLECTION.
This project started from week 3 which is the third day of the Chinese new year. I try to watch the lesson video when I have free time. After I watched the lesson video, I start with my blog first and then researched on the self-portrait that others did. My idea is to do a digital collage artwork. I spend a lot of time doing different versions of self-portraits to get a better digital collage. From that, I found that digital collage is not as easy as I expected, the position of each element is important as it will affect the whole artwork. So, I have learned the way to arrange the position of the elements.
Comments
Post a Comment