Self Portraits from the Google Arts & Culture Studio

I chose the self-portrait of Frida Kahlo (Frida Kahlo, Self-portrait with Small Monkey, painting, 1945, w415mm x h560mm) because it expresses her feelings towards something she likes, and self-portraits usually portray what the artist is feeling. I selected Vincent van Gogh (Vincent van Gogh, Self-portrait, painting, 1887, 41cm x 32.5cm) because he is well known for this piece and it shows that not all self-portraits have to be a frontal view.  I also chose Nora Heysen (Nora Heysen, Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 1932, 76.2cm x 61.2cm) because she is a beautiful woman, showing what she likes to do-paint. I chose to use pencil when creating my self-portrait. I enjoy using pencil because I can erase mistakes! I encountered some challenge when creating my ‘own face’ that include; not being able to capture the true likeness of my smirk, I could not quite get the shape of my face. I overcame these obstacles by erasing time and time again and trying again and again. This piece represents me because it is my usual half-smile. The elements and principles that I tried to incorporate were shapes, value, forms, color, texture, contrast, unity and proportion. I actually enjoyed doing this project and trying to draw myself. I am actually pretty good with recreating images with looking at them, such as the case with this project. I think that my final artwork is good. i tried to keep the proportion the same from one picture to the other.