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