Task 3- Chuck Close

Chuck Close

On the 13th of January we started looking at Chuck Close.

 He was born in 1940, and is an American artist that mainly focuses on portraits, and photography.
He uses the grid method to create these portraits. Due to his Dyslexia, he struggles creating something as a whole, however breaking pictures down into small parts is very beneficial to him.

Close had been interested in art ever since a young child, and found it was a way of dealing with his dyslexia. His parents were also encouraging, and his  Mother used to take him to art galleries. 

In 1962 Chuck studied at Yale University, where he went from painting abstract art, to painting photorealist portraits. He had previously been inspired to create abstract art by Williem De Kooning, and Jackson Pollock, who were both abstract expressionists. 

In 1967, Chuck Close created a 22ft painting called "Big Nude." which Close had "wanted people to notice." It consisted of a naked woman, exposed 22ft wide, and 10ft high.
The "Big Nude", and the next self portrait he created in 68, seemed to be a big statement. It was almost as if he wanted people to realise he was more than an abstract painter, and that he wanted to be something different.
"Big Self Portrait" was created using an airbrush, which sprayed black acrylic paint mixed with water onto the canvas. The grid method was used, and the overall portrait has an overpowering feel to it.
It has a very James Dean punk vibe to it, which i really like. The detail in this self portrait is incredible.

In 1988 he was left in a wheelchair after suffering a spinal stroke, which left him paralysed. His hand-function came back, and now paints with brushes strapped to his wrist.
After this Close then started to make paintings using the grid method, but by using the style he is most famous for.

His Grandmother used to crochet, and he liked the idea of lots of small squares, of different shapes and colours, joined together to make one big piece. This is the concept that inspired him to make various self portraits in the style that he did.

 

After doing lots of research about Chuck Close, I began creating my own self portrait in his style. 

I first measured out my squares, and then had to put the picture to scale.

I then added the base colour to each square, and as it dried i started to add more shapes and detail on top.

  I really enjoyed painting in the style of Chuck Close. If I had more time I would add more contrast in the hair, and add more tone. 

It was also hard to paint on the eyelashes because they overpowered the rest of the painting. If I could, I would try and find a way to encorporate the eyelashes, which would complete the face.

Task 2 - Large Mixed Media Self Portrait

We first practiced drawing quick 20/30 second portraits. 

I like my drawings to have a sketchy/illustrated feel to them, so I experimented with 1 minute illustrated drawings. 

I also experimented with drawing faces, as I used to find it difficult to draw accurate faces, however over the course of this project I feel I have improved. 

I experimented drawing the faces in Biro, with ink, and with paint.

I then made my first portrait in pencil. I tried to draw it freehand without using the grid method. It was quite hard to get the proportions right, and I'm not too pleased with the outcome because of this. It was also hard because the photograph was taken at an angle.

I then recreated the same picture, but used the grid method instead. This one turned out much more successful. 

Mixed Media 

I then started a mixed media painting. I used decided to use watercolours to give a soft/dripping effect. 

As you can see from the picture, I first drew it in pencil, then added watercolour.  As the watercolours dried, I added fine liner detail. 

I found it quite challenging to draw this, and I wish I had used the grid method, however I was overall quite pleased with the final outcome. 

I thought too much of a background could have distracted from the face, so I decided to add a soft watercolour background around the face.

Task 1 - Artist Research

                                         Billy Childish.

 

 

Billy Childish is an Artist, Poet, Musician, and has many more talents too.

Though i'm not a huge fan of his work, it was interesting to visit him in his studio, in The Dockyards, to see what he had to say.

I was quite nervous to visit him, because the persona he puts on seemed to be very no-nonsense, however he seemed friendly.

He openly admitted that when he was very young, he used to copy Van Gogh's artwork, (which is noticable by looking at his paintings,) as at home, his Mother had a copy of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" on the wall. He also mentioned that him and his older brother (who was also into Art,) would use their Fathers paints and brushes when he went away.

I did see a  few pieces that he had been working on that day, and the day before, which was a painting of him and his Daughter, on a walk in the woods. I really liked these paintings, as they showed a softer side to his personality, and didn't have a "im such a rock and roll artist" vibe to them.

 

 

 

 

 

Gillian Wearing

Gillian Wearing is a British Conceptual Artist, born in 1963. I discovered Wearing whilst googling self portraits, and was really intrigued by her work. Wearing also seems to enjoy discovering things about other people, which then allows her to find out more about herself during the process.

She was also part of the "Young British Artist" movement, which happens to be one of my favourite movements in Art History. Gillian Wearing is married to the artist Michael Landy, whose exhibition of "Saints Alive" was one that I had seen at The National Gallery.

In 2003, one of her self-portrait pieces was a series of masks she had made of family members, which she then wore.

"Self Portrait as my sister Jane Wearing"

 

"I tried to make each member around the same age, late teens to early 20s, so we are equals in a way, regardless of the roles we had within the family."- http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2012/mar/27/gillian-wearing-takeover-mask#/?picture=387780735&index=2

 

I thought these were an interesting look on the words "self-portrait" and one of my favourites of the series, was a self portrait of her at 17.

Wearing is wearing a mask of her teenage self, with only her real eyes showing.

This image can be responded to in many different ways, but to me it represents Teen angst. It also reminds me of an 80's movie, where they have their pictures taken in a prom photobooth, although Wearing would much rather be at home listening to Elvis.

(Nope, just me that does that??)

Wearing's work really appeals to me. They have deep feeling to them, but they also seem quite weird and sinister too. They are also extremely realistic.

 

Andy Warhol

 

 

Andy Warhol is an American artist, most famous for his key part in the Pop-Art movement, in the mid 1950's. However he has also created many self portraits, and this is one of my favourites.
It was made in 1978, and is a screenprint on white paper. I love the illustrated look of this self portrait, and the fluid and jagged lines really make the picture for me.

I also like this photobooth strip of Warhol, which was one of his earliest photography experiments, in 1963. To me, these also represent self portraits, and Warhol has created images in the style of Actors he had idolized, as most people do.

"In these little curtained theaters, the sitter could adopt a succession of different roles, each captured in a single frame"

- http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1996.63a,b

Warhol has taken on the Persona of James Dean, "icons of the youth culture that he idolized."