Final Post

Hey, this will be my last post. Overall I find this project productive. I say this because my end product is roughly 50 self portraits, and a newfound social media outlet where I can trade art. Who knows, if it wasn't for this project, maybe I would've painted Dan's (@da.ns on Instagram) portrait differently, and he would never have posted it. Therefore, my mini business wouldn't exist. Without this project I wouldn't have been able to explore this area of art and refine it. So  I consider this project extremely successful. I had my TED talk yesterday. that was... pretty big for me because I absolutely HATE public speaking. So to stand up there and talk about myself was extremely hard. Although I recall my actual speech being very short, I'm not going to tear myself apart because I'm very satisfied with the amount of questions I received. I'm looking forward to the future because this showed me that art is something that is basically second nature to me and now I learned that I can use this to my advantage. I'm also proud of the fact that I have pieces to add to my portfolio if I decide to go to an Art School in the next couple years. Therefore, this project was a VERY great thing for me. Thank you, 

-Matt

Post 5 (another painting master post)

                  

this portrait was done between two of my major paintings from last post. This was sort of a "chill' painting you could say because I was painted out at this point. Anyway this was done in India ink and water and it took about 10 minutes tops.

                                 
This drawing was done during a block day about a week ago. Everyone kept TALKING OVER ME and no one would listen to me so hence the scribbled out mouth. I used colored pencils and spent about 30-40 minutes on it. I was pretty upset this day I think.



                           
I was SUPER frustrated this day, therefore I splashed the ink over the whole thing because I didn't have the patience to deal with detail. I realize now that I no longer have the patience  for realistic portraits and that could be due to the fact that track started??? IDK just a thought.


Anyway that's all for today. I have another week's worth of portraits to post but as of right now I have to budget time better. ALSO!! This weekend I'l be doing about 5 instagram portraits so possibly I will have a realistic SELF portriat coming up

Vlog pt. 2

here is a link to the Instagram post: https://instagram.com/p/z5gL6jJDHh/
also, in the comments help me come up with a trade system for the portraits... as of right now I'm doing a painting for a shoutout. maybe in the future I could sell physical paintings for actual ca$$$h. anyway let me know it the comments or feel free to ask me a question.

Video Blog

Blog Post 4

This portrait took me about 2 days to complete. I started with a sketch in graphite pencil and I used watercolor paint to add detail. I found it bland and boring. So, on the second day I used the return stickers from a package I received in the mail to add dimension. I cut up the stickers into triangles and squares, and pasted them almost like a collage to frame the face. After this, I used colored hair spray from an old Halloween costume to create the dark background. I used the backs of the stickers after I peeled them to create a stencil over the artwork and then I used the spray. I wanted to use the name of the business, Hello Merch, to send some type of message. I also wanted to use the barcode as a symbol of uniformity and conformity. I stuck this over top of the back eye as a type of band-aid.  I want the numerous hello's to be some type of cry out from a world with no color or individuality.

This next portrait was done during my saturday sketchbook class. This day we went to the house of Edgar Allan Poe and we were to sketch the old decrepit walls and whatever came to mind. The portraits themselves were really quick sketches and were of my reflection. The house was really eerie to be in, especially the cellar. Most of these sketches were done on the top floor, where his wife Virginia suffered from tuberculosis for many years. It was extremely hot so it's easy to imagine what it was like to not be able to breathe up there, it's something I would never want to experience. I think this kind of feeling still stays in a place like this. Here are some shots of the building:

         

Lastly, the third portrait that I'd like to focus on is:

This was done on sunday, and It conveys my mood. The writing in the bottom right are the lyrics to a new song that was released this day. This is the most colorful piece so far, and I think that's because I was so overwhelmed with joy and happiness. I used the brightest colors in my palette as well as food coloring straight of the bottle, I listened to really happy music for a change and that combined with the fact that I became VERY organized, (I deep cleaned my room) It made me very motivated to do more. I spend maybe 4 hours total on this. First, I splattered plain old water on the page and then added the watercolor and food coloring. this made the color spread quickly. Next I got out my airbrush and this spread the color even further, creating the starburst like effects. I then used the airbrush to add some more color. Lastly, I used white paint to make a sort of negative sketch overtop, and this is what became the portrait itself.

Post 3 (Sort of)

2 // 21 // 15

This portrait is probably one of my favorites. Maybe because it is my first successful realistic one. Maybe because of why I made it. On Saturday mornings I take a sketchbook class at the Tyler School of Art on Temple's main campus in Philly. This past Saturday my teacher took my class on a trip to her studio. Her studio is in an old industrial building with an ancient elevator, long halls and big lights. She had us sit in different spots throughout the building and sketch what is around us.  Throughout this session I had such an interesting emotion. Maybe it was being in a beautiful old building, maybe it was the music I listened to. My drawings showed the way I was feeling this day and I am proud of this. 

After a couple minutes of sketching things, landscapes, still lives. I got bored. Me being me, I wanted to draw a figure, a portrait. I tried drawing my classmates one by one without being too much of a creep, but still this wasn't enough for me, I really wanted to make something beautiful that reflected myself and my feelings. It dawned on me that I had to do a self portrait and that's when I decided to draw one. I pulled up an old portrait I took on my camera and got to it.

I was proud after I finished It because it is a bridge between two classes, as well as an addition to my portfolio. It's also a great feeling to be connected to a place and time, through something creative, Having a product of this is a constant reminder of this connection and this is what art is all about.

Portrait Update (Blog post 2) *pics included

Hi everyone! So far my portraits have been (mostly) successful. What I mean by this, is that I  have 11 portraits completed. Some of them  I am not very proud of simply because of the quality of the work, or how recognizable my face is in each. I am proud, more like fond of some because I saw improvement in some areas already, such as patience, which is apparent in some pieces more than others.

This is my very first piece, done in graphite and windsor newton watercolors. The note reads: "Feeling very nostalgic lately. I am feeling like a ghost of the past, I am missing summer & oil memories & friends and the way things were." Listening to: Bon Iver
In this piece I wanted to show my feeling of longing and how I missed the past. I included a portrait of myself from 6 or seven months ago because that was the time I was happiest. When it was warm and I had an entirely different set of friends and I made art everyday. I miss this time.

My next portrait (Done in graphite pencil) is possibly my least favorite. I went for a realistic approach but didn't have the patience to perfect it. I cropped the photo because I became too impatient to even compete it.  I much prefer an abstract approach to a portrait and that's why I became so impatient when I left my comfort zone. 

My third portrait s done in charcoal pencil. I have no negative critiques for this piece because I think I found a good balance between realism and expressionism . I did this during study hall which meant I didn't have any work to do, meaning I was stress free and I was just very content during this piece.

 

For my fourth piece I tried going with another realistic approach again and failed. I don't like this piece  and I don't think it looks like me. The proportions were off and overall it irks me. I really wanted to crop this one actually. Overall I think I would be proud of it if it was a portrait of someone else because it doesn't resemble me. 

This next piece I particularly like because I wasn't following any rules and I kind of gave up on trying to be realistic. I actually spent the most amount of time on this one. The caption reads: "Today I am very anxious of going back to school. It's been a 4 day weekend & theres talk of more snow. I don't want to get my hopes up again. Listening to: Nothing. Appealing colors: none. i don't want to get my hopes up." This day I was very down just because I had a fun weekend and I needed to get myself together again.

The next day was pretty much a bad day overall. I overslept due to the snow day and I felt that I really needed to schedule better. I gave up on my drawing and I looked at it more like a doodle. I used a mirror for this and did very brief sketches. The caption reads: "I was anxious for much of the day (we had a snow day)

Next was the portrait I did the day we went back to school. I was feeling shellshocked but not as sad or upset as I predicted. I drew this in front of the TV with my family while drinking tea. This portrait is not very realistic but at least I was true to my emotions this day. The caption reads: "Listening to the history channel. Today I was actually not as stressed, I just had short periods of intense stress,,, feeling blue." 

The very next day I was longing for the past again. In this portrait I painted floating heads again representing the past me hanging over myself. This was done in watercolor and I think it represents the transition I took this week of me departing from realism. The muted and dull colors represent my mood. In the caption I wrote: " Really missing the past I feel really poetic but not sad."

Lastly, my most recent portrait is very simple, and this day I was just feeling tired. This represents that. I was empathetic with muted colors again. I listened to soft music while painting this. I didn't even sketch beforehand. The caption reads "Feb 21. Feb 22 in hardbound"

Thank you for following me and you can expect an update in a week.

-matt

Greetings (Blog post 1)

From an early age, art has always been an outlet for me to express my inner feelings and emotions. And when I say art, I mean many forms: music, painting, drawing, poetry. When it came to this assignment, I got to thinking. Could I really show a progression of skill in writing poetry? Within myself I prefer poetry that is not conforming to any rhyme or order, just pure, raw emotion put into words. So therefore, perfecting this skill seems impossible to me. If I were to try and perfect another kind of poetry with more structure, I would lose the creative interest. With music, I already learn songs on a weekly basis. I believe there is a creative process to learning music and if I were to try and schedule this, it would take the creativity out of this process, therefore taking my passion along with it. This leaves me with traditional art. Every toddler draws with crayons to a certain extent throughout their childhood. Pen/ marker/ crayon/ pencil on paper was always my number one choice whenever I had the option, (or the need) to be creative. I have taken countless art classes throughout the years in many different schools. Currently I am taking my second weekend workshop and sixth class overall at Tyler School of Art. In my opinion, portraits are the ultimate test in skill. Therefore, for the next 7 weeks I will drawing a self portrait everyday.My hopes are that throughout my self portraits I will see a clear progression from beginner to expert. I would also like to see a reflection of self image within each one. Meaning, that if I am feeling negative towards myself, I could possibly see a representation of this within my art. If a self portrait seems rushed or messy, this is better than a false sense of perfection . What I mean by this is that I want my portraits to be as true to my emotions as possible, for this is true art. A big part of my end product is to use new and different media to have a range of portraits in different media such as graphite, charcoal and watercolor. At the end of this project I will have a larger portfolio, greater skill, and a good grade.