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Description
Self Portrait drawing midterm piece for my figure class. This is the first self portrait I have done from life in a long time, it was quite refreshing. It has revitalized my love for drawing and makes me want to paint very much.

This semester I am taking two figure classes so I get a total of 12 hours a week of drawing from a live model. I've really enjoyed it but there is always the sense of being rushed because of the time limits I have with each model. Not to mention that I don't have much of a choice of the angle I see the model from or how close I can get. Nor do I have control over the light or pose. This self portrait was very liberating because I was able to work freely and intimately taking as long as needed (even though I did it the night before it was due.... >< ha)

I have recently become increasingly interested in Caravaggio, someone I have always admired. Last year I was fortunate enough to see his painting 'Supper at Emmaus' when it was on display at the Art Institute here in Chicago which ultimately sparked my love for him and his work. Recently I was explaining to my brother an aspect of the painting in which Caravaggio used isometric perspective, something that is the focus of one of my two figure classes. After that conversation he became interested in Caravaggio and now he's got me excited about him too ha. I've been reading a lot about him and his work and I hope very soon to do a copy of one of his works.

So needless to say when coming up with ideas for this piece I turned immediately to Caravaggio. This is just a 'study' in a sense, but I wanted to capture the kind of frozen movement you see in his work. He tends to have his figures frozen in time halfway through what appears to be a powerful gesture, something I one day hope to achieve in my work. I am excited about the idea of copying one of his works, I hope to begin very soon.

I owe my revitalized passion for Caravaggio's work to my brother, so thanks to him for the inspiration for this piece and to any related work from here on out.

Thinking back I wish I had gone with a black background, but I am pretty happy with how this turned out. It was interesting doing a profile of myself and I feel the likeness is, though not entirely accurate, satisfyingly close being that it is from life and completed in a few hours. I really enjoyed working on this and it was received very well by my professor and classmates.

more to come soon (hopefully)

approx 20x26 inches
charcoal and pastel on recycled brown paper

5-6 hours from life

Description
Self Portrait drawing midterm piece for my figure class. This is the first self portrait I have done from life in a long time, it was quite refreshing. It has revitalized my love for drawing and makes me want to paint very much.

This semester I am taking two figure classes so I get a total of 12 hours a week of drawing from a live model. I've really enjoyed it but there is always the sense of being rushed because of the time limits I have with each model. Not to mention that I don't have much of a choice of the angle I see the model from or how close I can get. Nor do I have control over the light or pose. This self portrait was very liberating because I was able to work freely and intimately taking as long as needed (even though I did it the night before it was due.... >< ha)

I have recently become increasingly interested in Caravaggio, someone I have always admired. Last year I was fortunate enough to see his painting 'Supper at Emmaus' when it was on display at the Art Institute here in Chicago which ultimately sparked my love for him and his work. Recently I was explaining to my brother an aspect of the painting in which Caravaggio used isometric perspective, something that is the focus of one of my two figure classes. After that conversation he became interested in Caravaggio and now he's got me excited about him too ha. I've been reading a lot about him and his work and I hope very soon to do a copy of one of his works.

So needless to say when coming up with ideas for this piece I turned immediately to Caravaggio. This is just a 'study' in a sense, but I wanted to capture the kind of frozen movement you see in his work. He tends to have his figures frozen in time halfway through what appears to be a powerful gesture, something I one day hope to achieve in my work. I am excited about the idea of copying one of his works, I hope to begin very soon.

I owe my revitalized passion for Caravaggio's work to my brother, so thanks to him for the inspiration for this piece and to any related work from here on out.

Thinking back I wish I had gone with a black background, but I am pretty happy with how this turned out. It was interesting doing a profile of myself and I feel the likeness is, though not entirely accurate, satisfyingly close being that it is from life and completed in a few hours. I really enjoyed working on this and it was received very well by my professor and classmates.

more to come soon (hopefully)

approx 20x26 inches
charcoal and pastel on recycled brown paper

5-6 hours from life