Discovering Ourselves in Literature and Life #3 and #4

Number 3: Digital image of self, and discussion of potential self-portrait

(The above picture of me was taken at a wedding a couple of weeks ago.)

Obviously, the above picture of me was taken with a camera and uploaded in this blog for the purpose of this assignment. The above picture does not show much from the inside of my Paint portrait. It's just one of those generic pictures where you're smiling and you look like all is right with your world.

I think of fine art portraits (or photographic self-portraits) as indicating a subject's personal depth. If I actually had the artistic talent to create an actual self-portrait of myself either through photography or fine art, I would definitely want to communicate something for my inside which most people don't get to see. I would actually probably focus on my eyes. Since I believe that the eyes are the windows to one's soul, I think the most telling self-portraits are those which include close-ups of the eyes.

With such a portrait, I would like to communicate the love I have for my family, the sadness that I feel because of various life situations, and my passion for my studies and work.

Number 4: Artist self-portraits and discussion

The above artist is Andy Warhol. Mr. Warhol created his self-portrait by taking a close-up photograph of his face. The photograph is in red, perhaps indicating passion or anger, which is is what the color red traditionally stands for. He also looks confused, or dejected. Perhaps he was trying to say more with the coloring that with his face, and it succeeds in giving a mysterious and powerful aura to himself.

The above is Van Gogh. Mr. Van Gogh has painted himself using one of his trademark background colors, swirly blie. The textured, swirly blue color add a dose of melancholy to his surrounding world. Van Gogh has also drawn himself holding artist's equipment expressing perhaps the fact that he is first and foremost an artist. As sad artist, but an artist, nonethelss.

The above monstrosity is, who else, but Picasso. This seems to be a pencil drawing or the cubist variety. Picasso uses a lot of recognizable shapes to outlines some of his features. More prominately are the eyes, outlined with a diamond shape. Also, one of his eyes has a large pupil and one has a "normal" pupil. I'm not sure why he would have drawn only one of his pupils dialated, but the attention that he immediately draws to the eyes is indicative perhaps of the weight that he, himself, places on the eyes as being windows to the soul. There's also some red used and green. Overall, the image is one of confusion for me.

That's all for this week! :)