SUMMER ASSIGNMENT

AND SELF REVIEW

Jemima Witt

Hugo by Benjamin Sullivan was the third prize award in the portrait awards. Immediatley the style of painting of this picture intrigued me, I like the colour tones specifically in the skin tones. I wanted to try out the techniques as I’d never seen anyone use such different colours and tones in skin, there was a mix of brown, pink, purples and green tints, which when I went to use this style I wanted to try and highlight. It’s not a huge piece as it’s only 46 x 36 cm, but immediatley you get a sense of pride and respect for this man through the composition of this piece and the way his hands are positioned on his lap. The slight hunching of the shoulders and the legs being crossed makes it slightly more relaxed but you do feel as though he is important. After doing research I found out he is a poet and this was painted in his flat in London, so being in his own home probably creates the more relaxed feel.

Summer Assignment: Portrait Project - Initial Research

The bruised and battered style on the face creates a a slightly more emotional feel which a lot of his work has quite detailed differing tones. Its slightly textured when you’re close you can see some brush strokes and some areas where the colours blend together. It looks as though the artist is trying to create him in a good light, making him look like a figure of importance. You can infer that the artist has quite a lot of respect for this man by the way he has portrayed him looking quite regal. Much like the three other pieces I studied this one again has little background focus and wants to ensure that the viewer is looking at the figure and that they are the centre of attention. When I do my painting I want to have little focus on the background and possibly have little or no background in the image.

Summer Assignment: Portrait Project - Initial Research

To create some initial ideas of how I could compose my painting to show some of different styles and expressions. Whether I was to focus on just the face or have more body in it as the focus. I tried lower angles, ones wear I’m looking to the side, up or including my hand in the picture. After doing eight line drawings I liked the positions where my hand was in it as it added some more expression to the image, specifically a look of boredom which could link a little bit to my personality in some ways. Composition two, three, four and eight. Two because I felt this created a distance and I really enjoyed drawing it as I think its one of the drawings that look most like me, possibly due to being a specific angle it was more measured. I also like the angle from below, the resting on the hands and close up to the face. So this helped me to make my drawings into four more developed paintings. From my four chosen compositions I developed these four paintings. For compositions two & four I made the sketches look like me but struggled with the painting. I tested different ways of doing the hair by using different colours and sizes of paintbrush, I decided from the four paintings my favourite position was the close up to the face leaning on the hand. I think it was quite personal and intimidating. From practicing these paintings it made me realise that I needed to focus more on creating the intense colours and tones in the skin more like Benjamin Sullivan.

Summer Assignment: Portrait Project - Experiments and Decisions

The painting I was using as inspiration used oils on canvas, so I decided to use acrylics as this was what I had available to me. This was the closest material I had available to replicate his style in the best way. I tried to develop my technique by creating several different tones that used greens, browns, reds and purples in it to create the more beaten up look to my skin like his style in the pictures. Looking at some of the other work of Benjamin Sullivan it helped me to develop the use of highlights and skin tones. With these pictures to reference I was slightly more brave with colours and started to make some colour differentiation. Possibly if I’d had more time or developed slightly further I could have practiced his style more in order to replicate it.

Summer Assignment: Portrait Project - Experiments and Decisions

Throughout this project I have learnt to break everything up in order to get the most developed outcome. Especially from experimenting with compositional drawings and then practicing four small paintings, definitely helped for a better outcome. I was struggling with making it look like or have any resemblance to me. Although in the final outcome there is definitely some improvement that could be made, however I felt I made it slightly more like me as I the measured drawing from the mirror first. I learnt that it is important to work from observation as you get a stronger, more advanced 3D image that drawing from a 2D photo. Also found that having a few mirrors helped with the initial drawing and shaping the face. It was difficult to portray an aspect of personality as I think self portraits can be very personal and quite exposing. Overall I think mine has little personality as I felt slightly uncomfortable with that aspect. The only thing you could really infer is that its quite intimidating and may represent some boredom and a loss of focus as it looks as though I’m not really focusing on anything. I found after experimenting that to create this style I needed to use layering as oppose to one layer of paint, it created more texture and style. This helped to replicate the style of Benjamin Sullivan better.

Summer Assignment: Portrait Project - Final Outcome

Reflecting on Year 1 Over the projects we didlast year I think the most important assignments I did for me would have been the equivalents project, life drawing lessons, the surface design and fine art summative project. The equivalents project was important as it was a large step up and I learnt a lot and achieved a lot in a short space of time. Through being taught measured drawing, analysis, speed and not needing every piece to be perfect really helped me to prepare for further projects. Life drawings were crucial, I learnt a lot about the shape of the body and how to create it in a measured realistic style in different medias. It advanced my drawing skills greatly. The surface design project was especially useful as it was working to a brief with areas of art I wouldn’t usually use for example screen printing. It enabled me to learn new skills and progress to create a more varied project. Finally the fine art summative project was really useful to me as again it was working toward a brief for the british museum and I did a huge amount of experimentation which helped me to progress and create a refined piece of abstract art created from many different sources.

Over the year my skills in art have advanced in many ways, my drawing from observation has improved massively and I can now sketch objects and people in a more advanced style. I have also widened my skills and can now use more medias and styles than I would have ever done before. I have learned I am quite strong when it comes to more fine art styles as oppose to working in the workshop or the textiles side.

Looking ForwardThis year I would like to develop my 3D and design skills, by hopefully creating something like small room models and technical planned drawings. I would like to do more work that could create a widened portfolio with some strong pieces. Hopefully I will be able to manage my time better and ensure I’m on top of the work, also that it doesn’t have to be perfect and redoing work is never a good idea. I also need to research into what is needed or works well to have in a portfolio and the likeliness of getting onto a university course if you don’t have a foundation qualification and whether the BTEC is a good representation of skills. Specifically I need to look into what kind of portfolio TV and Film Set Design courses are looking for and what I can do to increase the likelihood of being accepted.

Plans for the FutureI still am interested in TV and Film Set Design, if anything this course, researching and talking to people about it helped to solidify that this is what I want to do. Hopefully for my EPC this year I will create a mini set design project for myself which will add to my portfolio. My current progression aim is to get Distinction/ Distinction*s in art to ensure the best chance of getting accepted onto the courses I want to do. Throughout the next couple of months I need to put extra work in to create a stronger portfolio. This is my current aim as it will give me the best start for university. I will need a strong portfolio that aims toward the set design route, hopefully I will get to do some work experience before going to uni to also increase the strength of my application. I need to get a B or higher in Psychology and Distinction Merits in Art to get into the uni’s I have looked at . To increase the chance of this happening I need to develop my skills over the next year with work experience and my EPQ.