On The Road–

In the midst of working on my thesis, I am uprooting and moving to Ohio.  This has been a challenging period in my life to say the least, but it has also added adventure!  Keeping on track is the hardest part, well along with packing, clearing out old junk, deciding on what to take and leave behind, and also saying good bye to family and friends.  Eastward is the goal. 

The Trip:

Final Self-Portrait: Extreme Close-Up with Grid [Realism]

This is the final self-portrait in a series of four.  This proved the most challenging.  I decided to implement an alternate grid, rather than the standard evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines.  This grid was introduced to me during my undergraduate studies.  There are two diagonal lines that cross one another and meet in the middle of the image.  There are horizontal lines measured evenly from top to bottom.  This proves much easier when math computations are a challenge. 

Personal Feelings: I struggled with the idea of drawing a realistic portrayal of myself.  I chose to create a facial expression that best described this apprehension.  This facial expression became the subject matter of the extreme close-up self-portrait.  This allowed me to move beyond the apprehensions.  It was like my own personal joke or secret.  If I had started with this self-portrait at the first of my research, I think too much time would have been wasted on "personal" issues and less on the art of making the portrait.  This is key for classroom implications as well. Key Code: cloudy; cloudy; :-)

Classroom Implications: I would use this approach as a capstone to a long, involved Unit for learning. Self-portraiture should be developed over a lengthy period of time, to develop skills and confidence in students (Carroll, 2007).  For a lasting effect on self-identity, one lesson, even two lessons on self-portraiture are not going to yield sustained results.  In order to experience actualized, real identity changes, many factors must be challenged, increased, and developed.  Students must learn how to develop a visual narrative, increase in skill sets, discover inner courage to share with others, and develop other ideas about self that is not measured against or influenced by peers, possibly family, or even environmental factors.  This new knowledge has to come from within and extend outwardly.  Art, self-portraiture, active investigation into self, increased, informed personal awareness are essential elements that can effectuate a positive self identity. 

Grid:

Grid in Process with Initial Cartoon Drawing:

Final Drawing with Grid:

Final Composition:

Updates: Steps for Each Drawing Process

I have organized the varied self-portrait projects into final sheets.  This allows for a quick review.

 Self-Portrait #1– Superhero Animal Metaphor:

Self-Portrait #2 – Distorted/Altered:

Self-Portrait #3 – Folk/Outsider Art:

Final, Self-Portrait #4 – Extreme Close-up with Grid [Realism]:

Folk Art Self-Portrait

Below are the images for the folk art self-portrait, third in a set of four self-portraits to be completed for my thesis.  Notes on thoughts regarding this process can be found in previous postings.

The initial cartoon sketch:

Color application: Colored pencils, colored markers and black pen.

Completed Self-Portrait

The Visual and Written Personal Narrative

This is my artistic conceptual framework. Self in so many words.

Folk Art/Outsider Art - Self-Portrait

I have nearly completed the third self-portrait.  Photos will be posted in the near future.  This was an interesting experience.  My family does not really have any cultural or ethnic traditions.  So for this drawing, I decided to focus on my disabilities - unique characteristics.  The folk art 'style' allowed freedom of expression and less worry about accuracy.  However, I worked very hard at keeping human proportions as realistic as possible.  For this particular portrait, pen, markers, and colored pencils were used as well as a scanner, laptop, Adobe Photoshop design software, and smart phone digital camera.

Student implications:
Folk Art can allow students freedom of expression.  Frida Kahlo is an excellent resource (artist exemplar) for this kind of art problem.  For students that feel uneasy about their art skills, the primitive style can offer great freedom.  Students can learn to work with different media and also gain structural knowledge of the body.  This is a great way to lead into realism in later lessons.

Plus there are so many different approaches students can take when drawing their self-portraits, ethnicity, culture, interests, disabilities, strengths, struggles can all be incorporated into the narrative of their portraits. 

The whole body can be introduced or students can choose to draw just the face.  Color is an important aspect of folk art.  Students can work with complimentary and analogous colors. 

I didn't really experience much apprehension in the drawing or constructing my self-portrait.  I felt confident with my choices.  It felt good to share my personal struggles in a visual narrative.  My disabilities are 'disabling' at times, but in other ways have made me very strong.  Very positive experience. Key Code:  *,*, :-)