Malleability of Self
A Pretentious-Sounding Excuse for a Fun Project
A Pretentious-Sounding Excuse for a Fun Project
For my Advanced Painting class in this—my last—semester, we had to produce sixteen canvases, 16 by 20 inches, and allowing 15-20 minutes on average for each. Given the context, I thought it best to work on my weaknesses, in this case: expression, brushwork, modeling of form, and the ability to depict varying species. As these are uploaded in chronological order, one can easily see the progress I made.
These are all, by the way, self-portraits. Hence the title of this project: "Malleability of Self." In presenting the final collection of pieces, we were asked to discuss the work and our intent. I therefore described the project thusly:
"What is the self, and how much can it be changed? In this series I strove to depict varying aspects of myself, by changing my very essence: my species. I also altered expression and, by pairing each portrait with some glyph, texture, or graphic, attempted to create a sense of meaning beyond mere characterization. Composition and rendering of form were also key issues that I tackled, all while attempting to retain a sense of myself in each portrait, despite the alteration."
I may do more of these, as they were quite a lot of fun to create—not to mention an excellent way to improve my painting techniques!
These are all, by the way, self-portraits. Hence the title of this project: "Malleability of Self." In presenting the final collection of pieces, we were asked to discuss the work and our intent. I therefore described the project thusly:
"What is the self, and how much can it be changed? In this series I strove to depict varying aspects of myself, by changing my very essence: my species. I also altered expression and, by pairing each portrait with some glyph, texture, or graphic, attempted to create a sense of meaning beyond mere characterization. Composition and rendering of form were also key issues that I tackled, all while attempting to retain a sense of myself in each portrait, despite the alteration."
I may do more of these, as they were quite a lot of fun to create—not to mention an excellent way to improve my painting techniques!
The human original, who admittedly doesn't look quite so much like Tim Curry, but is nonetheless pleased with the comparison.
A camel, and a rather haughty one at that.
Jackal, jackal. It's a jackal!
What shark doesn't have a winning toothy grin?
An orca with facial hair? It is possible, I suppose. Anything is possible in painting; the trick is making it look believable.
Our otter friend here is a little uncertain if the salmon behind him is real, or just a sort of modern cave painting. Still, it does look rather tasty...
This roo sensed something frightening behind him, hence the bared teeth and drawn brows. The whirling background does little to calm his nerves.
A kudu in his native habitat: a painted canvas panel.
Water buffaloes rarely keep themselves so well-groomed, but this gentleman knew you were coming, and wanted to look presentable.
Yes, hummingbirds are rather haughty creatures. He knows you're envious of his little beak-goatee, and he knows you know he knows. So there.
A cassowary and an ampersand, easily my favorite.
This dragon lives in a steampunk world (as evidenced by the goggles and distant airship), where dragons are a little smaller and much more mild-mannered than they usually are in our own world.
Poor little deinonychus, he tries so hard to look fierce, but we all know he's a big softy.
My second favorite, this Falcon taught me a lot about the value of value changes, and what can happen if you let the subject emerge from his background, instead of merely sitting on top of it.
A marlin, caught in a spider's web of terror and uplighting!
The gemsbok is not amused by your lack of appreciation.
