Mixed Media Self Portrait

Our assignment for this project was a self portrait, pretty much the most intimidating thing for any art student to hear. I have to admit that I was pretty scared at first. Drawing self portraits has never really been my thing. We could choose any medium that we wanted to use and I decided to do something that I haven't done in a while- mixed media. I love working with different mediums and figuring out how to piece them together and make them work differently than the expected use. I thought that because I was tackling a tough project, I would try it in a medium that I was comfortable with. It sounded simple and I entered the project feeling confident despite my fear of drawing myself. That did not prove to be the case however...

I faced many challenges throughout working on this piece. One of the biggest obstacles I had to overcome was my dislike of planning. I figured that if I had all of the materials that I wanted to use, it would all work out in the end. I started out the background by placing random pieces of newspaper and scrapbooking paper down. I didn't really know if I was going to make the face out of the paper or if I was going to draw it on top of the background. Because of that, I ended up putting things on and taking things off like ten times. I finally blended watercolors on top of all of junk I had added on originally. I actually really like the effect that it created and fell in love all over again. I had a hard time deciding what medium to draw myself in.

 I contemplated using India Ink, however I have never really used it before and I decided to work with it on a smaller scale before I used it on this piece. I ended up using charcoal and learned a lot about it through this project. The quality of the charcoal gives my piece a really unique look and I am really happy with how it turned out!

My inspiration for this project was the bible passage of Proverbs 31. Within the chapter is listed many qualities of a Christian woman. As a Christian, this is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. It has taught me how to admirable in the eyes of God as well as faithful here on earth. I decided to replicate a Proverbs 31 woman this piece. There are many ways that this piece represents this woman hidden in this piece. First, I used calming colors because a Proverbs 31 woman is peaceful and does not react with anger. Secondly, the majestic looking stamps show how woman are supposed to be respectable, however, I purposely made them messy with some paint splatters to show how we are not designed to be perfect. I also showed the figure laughing to show joy. The final thing is the hidden 31 in the bottom left.

This has to be one of my favorite things that I have ever created because it has so much personal meaning to me. I am happy that I tackled the self portrait and I actually kind of want to do another one in a more risky medium for me!