Expressionist Portrait
Assigned 5/5
Inspired by expressionist painting and utilizing the color skills we have practiced in class, we are going to transfer our knowlege and manipulate it in the creation of a portrait. Ideally, this will be an exercise in self portraiture. However, if there is someone in your life that inspires great emotion and leads you down a more solidly expressive path, by all means, use them as your reference.
EXPRESSIONISM-a brief description
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.[1][2] Expressionist artists sought to express meaning[3] or emotional experience rather than physical reality.
The term is sometimes suggestive of emotional angst. In a general sense, painters such as Matthias Grünewald and El Greco are sometimes termed expressionist, though in practice the term is applied mainly to 20th-century works. The Expressionist emphasis on individual perspective has been characterized as a reaction topositivism and other artistic styles such as naturalism and impressionism.[5]
"An Expressionist wishes, above all, to express himself... (an Expressionist rejects) immediate perception and builds on more complex psychic structures... Impressions and mental images that pass through mental peoples soul as through a filter which rids them of all substantial accretions to produce their clear essence [...and] are assimilated and condense into more general forms, into types, which he transcribes through simple short-hand formulae and symbols." [7]
The term refers to an "artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person."
Inspired by expressionist painting and utilizing the color skills we have practiced in class, we are going to transfer our knowlege and manipulate it in the creation of a portrait. Ideally, this will be an exercise in self portraiture. However, if there is someone in your life that inspires great emotion and leads you down a more solidly expressive path, by all means, use them as your reference.
EXPRESSIONISM-a brief description
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.[1][2] Expressionist artists sought to express meaning[3] or emotional experience rather than physical reality.
The term is sometimes suggestive of emotional angst. In a general sense, painters such as Matthias Grünewald and El Greco are sometimes termed expressionist, though in practice the term is applied mainly to 20th-century works. The Expressionist emphasis on individual perspective has been characterized as a reaction topositivism and other artistic styles such as naturalism and impressionism.[5]
"An Expressionist wishes, above all, to express himself... (an Expressionist rejects) immediate perception and builds on more complex psychic structures... Impressions and mental images that pass through mental peoples soul as through a filter which rids them of all substantial accretions to produce their clear essence [...and] are assimilated and condense into more general forms, into types, which he transcribes through simple short-hand formulae and symbols." [7]
The term refers to an "artistic style in which the artist seeks to depict not objective reality but rather the subjective emotions and responses that objects and events arouse within a person."
YOUR JOB:
1: select a portrait (use a photo of you or that you have taken...not a stranger from the internet) Please be emotionally connected to this person somehow, or to the time and place from where this photo was taken.
2. Compose your paper with the layout of the portrait. This should be a large drawing of the face, touching at least 3 sides of the paper (aka, DRAW BIG)
3. Overlay areas of the portrait with repeated design. This could accentuate the emotion, this could be straight line design, this could be organic, geometric or even alphabetic. Be ORIGINAL and add to the design. (you should have at least 3 clear areas that display design)
4. Think about color schemes and mixing, begin laying in areas of paint and expressive color. How will you maintain form and dimension and not lose the quality of your drawn sturctures?
5. Define your style, how you will blend and use brushstrokes to your advantage.
6. Let the paint be paint, think about the qualities temera paint has...its liquid and runny and even more so when you add water....how can you use this to your advantage and ensure it is not a disadvantage?
7. Figure what it is you will do to the background such that this painting will represent a full composition when done? How will this background add to the portait and ensure it doesnt take away from the portrait?
8. Utilize color creatively to ensure you convey and express the desired emotional quality.
1: select a portrait (use a photo of you or that you have taken...not a stranger from the internet) Please be emotionally connected to this person somehow, or to the time and place from where this photo was taken.
2. Compose your paper with the layout of the portrait. This should be a large drawing of the face, touching at least 3 sides of the paper (aka, DRAW BIG)
3. Overlay areas of the portrait with repeated design. This could accentuate the emotion, this could be straight line design, this could be organic, geometric or even alphabetic. Be ORIGINAL and add to the design. (you should have at least 3 clear areas that display design)
4. Think about color schemes and mixing, begin laying in areas of paint and expressive color. How will you maintain form and dimension and not lose the quality of your drawn sturctures?
5. Define your style, how you will blend and use brushstrokes to your advantage.
6. Let the paint be paint, think about the qualities temera paint has...its liquid and runny and even more so when you add water....how can you use this to your advantage and ensure it is not a disadvantage?
7. Figure what it is you will do to the background such that this painting will represent a full composition when done? How will this background add to the portait and ensure it doesnt take away from the portrait?
8. Utilize color creatively to ensure you convey and express the desired emotional quality.
Student Examples:
INSPIRATION IN COLOR: