Concepts of self in art
Many famous artists created self-portraits during their lifetime. Whether to immortalize herself or to better understand herself, an artist often portrays a vivid self-concept in her art. A study of self through art naturally tends toward a self-portrait. However, a self-portrait may take many forms and contain many elements. Together, the elements contained in the self-portrait should convey a strong sense of the artist as a person at the time of the artwork's creation.
Norman Rockwell Style
In 1960, Norman Rockwell created what he titled a "Triple Self Portrait" lithograph of himself Study Rockwell's portrait, identifying the different ways in which he portrayed himself. In preparation for creating your self-portrait, gather several meaningful, wallet-sized photos, photocopies, sketches or miniature paintings of yourself.
Think of a place that speaks of your personality. Draw a quick sketch of yourself in this setting using colored or black and white media, similar to Rockwell's self-portrait. The sketch should be large enough to allow you to incorporate the small portraits you gathered in the preparation step. You may be facing front or sketch yourself from behind as Rockwell did. Once the sketch is complete, attach the smaller self-portraits to the sketch in collage fashion using a suitable adhesive such as scrapbooking adhesive.
Masterpiece Self-Portraits
Use the National Gallery of Art website to study the self-portraits of famous artists such as Van Gogh, Warhol and Gauguin. As you study the self-portraits, determine what you can ascertain about each artist from his portrait. Ask yourself how the artist wanted people to view him based on the self-portrait he created.
Study your reflection in a mirror. As you do so, reflect on what you would like people to know about you from a self-portrait. Ask yourself if things placed in the background would help people to know you better. Determine the mood and facial expression you want to portray. Ask yourself what colors, brush strokes and style will best portray the real you. Once you determine these objectives, create a self-portrait that truly depicts your personality.
Digital Art Advertisement
Use digital art to create an advertisement depicting all your best qualities. Create a slide show, brochure or digital video that introduces you to the public as the world's greatest student, parent, author, artist, sports figure, musician or friend. Choose which of your qualities you will feature in the ad. Use scanned art, digital picture or video to create images that best portray you.
In planning, you must decide on multi-media aspects such as color, music and background that best portray the real you. Determine which of your qualities you wish to feature in your advertisement. Write advertising copy text that you will record or have someone else record if creating a video. If creating a brochure or slide show, enter the text in the appropriate places.
