Self-Portrait: Stages of Creation

The process of the creation of my self-portrait was tedious and I had some difficulties along the way, however it also allowed me to develop new skills and learn to trust the process. The beginning was rough; the process of graphing stumped me and I had trouble getting used to focus on smaller parts of the drawing rather than as a whole. For my artist copy, I had a lot of trouble with graphing and making the figure proportional throughout and it became slightly distorted as I was going through each box of the graph. Another difficulty I had went through during this process was attempting to not draw the more important parts first such as my face. I began with the shading on my shirt and, at first, it was hard to replicate the artists' mark entirely but once I moved to my cat it became more apparent when to use which marks and how. I used hatching and cross hatching throughout the portrait as Raphael had done in his figure drawing.The likeness of the portrait took many tries within the nose and the eyes, it never looked quite right when I would look at it from above. However, I believe I overcame that in the end and the likeness is quite realistic and good. I had to truly think about the way I would go about doing my hair because in my reference photo, Raphael only drew short hair which did not have any resemblance to mine. I tried to incorporate his shading in my hair the best I could while also making it realistic and trying to have a likeness. I was quite happy with the end result, however if I could change anything I would attempt to create a larger contrast because it is quite light.

Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas is an artist from New Jersey and currently lives and pursues her work in New York, creating pieces with many various materials. Her main choices of mediums are mixed-media, paint, photographs, films and installations. Thomas uses many themes surrounding the complexities of being black and female in the United States as well as the beauty of it. Most of her work is inspired by popular culture and art history. Thomas has won numerous prizes and grants for her works, including the Pratt Institute Legends Award and the Artist Impact Award.

Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les trois femmes noires, 2010

This multi-media painting created by Mickalene Thomas in 2010 displays themes regarding the femininity and beauty of black women. The colors and clothing style remind me of the trends and fashion that peaked during the 70s in the United States. The bright colors and added layers for dimension make this piece extremely satisfying to view. The background has almost what I would refer to as a detailed simplicity- the way the background isn't too captivating to where it takes the attention off of the subject but it still has details that make it interesting as well. The posing of the three women makes this painting contain a feeling of comfort and familiarity. Thomas beautifully encapsulates the features belonging to these black women in order to display their culture and femininity. The patterns along the bottom of the painting really complete this piece; it doesn't take away from the women but more so adds to their presence and aesthetics.

November 1950, 2021

This multi-media painting truly caught my eye whilst scrolling through many of her works. While this painting is very interesting in its entirety, its broken down parts are equally captivating on their own. The pose of the woman is so vulnerable yet confident in her nudity and the changing of artistic styles and mediums really shows the dimensions of women as a whole. The various cut outs of censoring around the painting really adds an alluring element to the concept of nudity- it's almost as it she isn't entirely sure if she wants to censor it or keep it exposed. The background's simplicity really adds an emphasis on the subject.

Diahann Carroll #3, 2018

This piece captured my attention because it differed so greatly from her other works. I thought her regular use of color was absent within this particular painting. I like the layering of the two photos and the blend of them together in order to create a cool effect. The framing is truly interesting as I have never seen another painting with a structure as this one has. The simplistic lining throughout the painting really pulls it all together despite this detail not truly being a big component to the painting. The entire vibe and aesthetic of this painting really grabs my attention and compared to the rest of her paintings, it truly stands out within its more dull color palette.

Artist Copy Project Process

The process of beginning the project was quite daunting and I had trouble using this particular method of graphing. I began lightly sketching the foot in the bottom left box of my paper. It got increasingly more difficult as I went up the page, however I ended up with an overall proportionate sketch and it was very similar to the original drawing created by Raphael. I began the artist's mark on the same box I had begun sketching on, this part was easier for me because I wasn't too focused on the proportions. I begun to understand more about his drawing through the copy of his marks; he creates lots of hatching and cross hatching that I found sort of difficult to recreate but I believe I got a handle on it.