Motivation to paint
Introduction
Explaining the unexplainable
Existence
I think therefore I am
Impressionalism
Visualise the feeling
Self-portraits
Who am I?
Art that I like
Australia
Beauty in the wasteland
Europe
The underbelly
Iconography
Picture writing
Chinese Art
Traditional and modern
Self-portraits of Artists
Brett Whitely –Self Portrait in the Studio
To an extent, anyone who has ever looked in a mirror knows the feeling of creating a self-portrait. Confronted with the reflection of their image, they mould that image by shaping their hair, putting on makeup, choosing clothes, having a shave or even doing nothing at all.
Self-portraits by artists have some similar elements except the use of paint allows them to reflect the impression in a way that a mirror can not. Instead of mere visual elements, the artist can infuse emotions, dreams, memories, idealism, and fear. This allows the artist to understand who they are or who they want to be.
In Self-Portrait in the studio, Bret Whitely depicted an impression of himself that was heavily intertwined with an identity as an artist. With one hand, he holds a mirror of his own reflection, while the other hand paints an impression of himself. To the side are his paints, and a naked woman. In front is a view of Sydney Harbour. For Whitely, the motivation to paint was quite simple:
“The fine art of painting, which is the bastard of alchemy, always has been and always will be, a game. The rules of the game are quite simple: in a given arena, on as many psychic fronts as the talent allows, one must visually describe, the centre of the meaning of existence.”
Vincent Van Gogh - Self-Portrait
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Vincent Van Gogh was prolific in the creation of self-portraits. In only two years, he created twenty. In the portraits, his expressions don't change a great deal despite significant changes in the surroundings. In some of his portraits, he painted himself with a bandage over his right ear, which is unusual considering it was his left ear that he cut off. Perhaps he was painting a mirror image and got confused. Perhaps he was making some kind of statement to himself.
In order to consider the reasons for his insanity, Van Gogh's portraits are interesting to combine with his personal story. Van Gough had felt a religious calling, and had tried to give himself to the world only to be rejected by the world. His self-portraits seem reminiscent of someone trying to find happiness by going on a shopping spree, only to still feel disappointed that the new clothes fail to bring that happiness.
Self-portrait (by Chad)
When painting my first self portrait, I neither looked at a mirror or a photograph. All I had was a canvas, paint, memories and a mind. The end result doesn’t look like me from a physical sense, but those who know me say it is very me. As for why it is me, that is still a mystery to me, which makes me feel at ease.
Self-portrait of an Artist (By Chad)
Judging Art