A review of my portraiture assignment, as well as a reflection of the previous year, and my plans for the future.

1. Summer Assignment and
Self-Review
Portrait painting, reflecting on year 1 and plans for the future

2. Portrait painting: initial source
The portrait I chose as an intial source is Sir Cedric Morris’ self
portrait, painted in 1930. I chose this portrait because of the
balance between realism and a slight unrealistic feel, present in the
way Morris accentuated the face’s characteristics, and the fauvist
background. The portrait itself measures about 30 x 20 inches,
which doesn’t have particular importance, unlike a much bigger
painting, which would convey grandeur and authority. Hence this
suggests the normality of the painting, creating a laid back sense.
On the other hand, the positioning of Morris in the painting (in the
center) brings all attention to him, making him the subject of the
painting; and giving him importance.
The fact that, despite Morris is positioned up close, the background seems so far away,
creates an illusion of space and freedom in the painting, which contrasts with the tight fitting
of the frame around Morris’ upper body. The way Morris paints means that there is a certain
roughness to the painting. We can detect a layering of paint on the canvas due to the pasty
look of the paint, and the mixture of colours tightly packed together to give an overall
impression of depth and complexity. Oil paint has been used in this painting, which is one of
the reasons for the pasty and rough look created in this painting. This was a very common
media used at the time, which further enhances the commonality of this painting. Morris
plays on this casual look by painting himself in casual clothing, showing a comfort and
relaxation, which can be sensed by the viewer, despite the vivid colours mixed to create the
pigments in the background and foreground.

3. Portrait painting: experiments and decisions
I started off creating different compositions using just a pencil, to find which best would fit
the style of Morris. I did eight A5 simple line drawings of myself at different angles to see
what emotions I conveyed in these positions and the level of difficulty I encountered. For
example, as I concentrated while drawing myself from a low angle with my head tilted
upwards, I presented myself as elegant and distant. On the other hand, when I drew myself
from a higher angle, with my head titled downwards, I seemed shy and reserved. In Morris’
painting, he seems confident and relaxed, so by adopting his stature in my last drawing, I
was able to convey this. So I decided to use this angle for my four painted A5 studies, to
develop my painting skills for the final portrait. What I found enjoyable was Morris’ technique
of mixing vibrant colour together to create almost natural colours in the tones of the face. For
example I found myself using reds, oranges, yellows and sometimes green to create the
pigments of the face.

4. Portrait painting: final outcome
What I learnt through drawing and painting from observation in
this project is never to assume what you are drawing, and always
observe before you draw. A lot of the time when I was drawing or
painting I assumed the shape of my nose and mouth, but the more
studies I did the more I observed and found that I was more
accurate than before. This helped me to improve my skills,
especially when doing the four A5 paintings. Every time I drew or
painted a new self-portrait, I was able to identify places where I had
gone wrong and not accurately represented myself, and the next
time I drew I would correct my mistakes by observing more closely in the mirror. I also learnt
that the smallest detail in a painting can make a huge difference, and can communicate
something completely different than what you originally meant to. The reason why some of
my paintings and drawings looked so wrong is because I had drawn or painted a small detail
wrong, and conveyed the
wrong emotion. For
example a tilt in the mouth
could resemble a snarl, or
a lifted eye brow signifies
questioning. Hence why
observation is the most
important thing when
drawing or painting a
portrait.

5. Reflecting on Year 1:
In the last year, I have enjoyed many of the projects which we
have done, and believe that many of them have improve
essential skills which I will need in the future. For example, I
especially found the Tate project useful, as it opened my eyes to
graphic design, and a way of presenting products to attract a
certain target audience. I greatly enjoyed being inventive and
creative and designing the packaging for my 6 cards.
Another project which I appreciated was the Kew Gardens
project, in which I designed a sculpture for Kew Gardens,
reflecting a wide range of aspects I found while visiting the
premises. This enabled me to work in a 3D way, and improve my
skills in model making. I found that my strengths lied in graphic
design and 3D Design more so than fine art, thanks to these
projects. I think this year I will need to work on my model making skills even
more, and familiarize myself with even more methods and techniques when
making products, to better the quality of finish. I think I also need to improve
my presentation skills, and be able to feel more confident when presenting
ideas to an audience. I also need to widen my knowledge on different software,
to be able to use them this year and at university, when presenting ideas and
designs in a 3D way, but on a computer.

6. Plans for the future:
In comparison to the beginning of last year, I think my ideas about progression
have greatly changed. About this time last year (during the first few months of
year 12) I was interested in studying Fine Art or Product Design at university,
and planning on working as a Product Designer and painting my own work for
sale to earn extra money.
Now I have found a passion for architecture, and have no interest in studying
anything else at university. My aim is to complete a 7 year architecture course
with the intent of getting a Masters Degree, with which I would join an
architecture firm abroad, to pursue my other interest of languages (French and
Spanish).
To achieve this I have decided to focus my
A2 studies on the Art & Design Diploma, to
prove my passion for art, and continue with
3D Design to be able to practice model
making and improve my understanding of
design techniques and software. I believe I
will be able to improve my language skills
by simply living in another country; I don’t
need to be in a classroom to learn a
language.