Art 230: Introduction to Painting
Self Portrait Assignment

Due dates to be announced

The cheapest model we have is ourselves. Many artists use themselves as models to better understand the human form and psyche. Rembrandt constantly used himself as subject matter. The artist is known for creating over 60 self portraits throughout his career. In some of his paintings he seems to be in costume and in others he portrays himself as a painter.

This assignment has two parts:

The first part will consist of three one-hour copies of portraits from the list below. You will not have to be as accurate as when we did the master copies, however I still want you to get close to the color and try to nail the value. The idea here is speed, find the essentials and the rest will fall into place. These paintings can be 5" x 7" or larger. Things to look for: How does the artist use brush strokes to delineate planes of the face? Notice that the whites of the eyes are not white. How does the artist push and pull space? How is light used? What formal qualities does the artist use in his or her design?

The second part of this assignment is to use what you've learned in the copies and apply it to your own self portrait. That means when you work on your painting you will want to have an artist that you copied in front of you so that their techniques and ideas flow through you and into your work. I would recommend using a strong light source to help define forms. This painting should be done from life so you'll need a mirror. Rendering and composition are also very important. Think about point of view, light, value and line, and everything else we've learned this semester. How can we use these elements to evoke a mood? Besides capturing a good likeness, does the viewer start to understand your psychological mind set? What about the possibilities of dressing up, or do you want to show yourself in the act of painting? How much of yourself do you want to paint? Do you want to show more than just a head and shoulders portrait?

Some artists to look at: Cezanne, Rembrandt, Beckman, Leslie, Freud, Nerdrum, Schiele, Bell, Mattehauter, Delacroix, Manet, Gros, Caillebotte, Eakins, Uglow, Liepke, Gericault, Sargent, Caillbotte, Corinth, Beck, Spencer, early Matisse and some Pissaro. You may also copy from some one else but must get my approval first. If you choose Matisse or Pissaro make sure that they are breaking the face down by depicting planes of the face. I will not count any work that doesn't meet the criteria discussed in the slide lecture.

You will need to bring a mirror to class on the 16th and the 17th. The 16th and 17th we will be painting in class so bring your materials. I will give a very short critique so please also bring the reproductions so we can make comparisons. We will have a longer critique upon completion of our self-portraits. Good luck and I hope you see yourself like you never have before.

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Kevin J. Muente
Assistant Professor of Art
Northern Kentucky University