This document summarizes the student's process for their summer portrait project. They began by visiting art galleries for inspiration and chose initial source portraits that showed different aspects of portraiture. The student then experimented with different materials and techniques, focusing on breaking up the face and body into sections. Their final outcome was a self-portrait created from life that depicted the subject as separate color planes, inspired by the work of Jonathan Yeo. The student reflected on learning about using value and color to create form through life drawing classes. They discussed plans to study art foundation and degree courses to pursue illustration.

1. Summer Portrait Project

2. INITIAL SOURCES
For my initial sources I visited both the National Portrait Gallery and the
National Gallery, however I was most intrigued and inspired by the artwork
within the National Portrait Gallery as that was more solely focused on
portraiture; this being the main aspect of our summer project, exploring
different ways a ’self portrait’ can be presented. I chose these four initial
sources plus the painted copy as they all show different aspects of portrait
painting, therefore giving me a wider scope for inspiration into this
subject.

3. ‘Bust of Annette’ Alberto Giacometti – Oil on Canvas, 1954
The figure of ‘Annette’ is centralised in the painting, thus drawing the viewers focus to the face, with only a
suggestion of detail in the background using mark-making in a sketch type form. The painting is a representation of a
previous sculpture and uses natural muted tones and lively brush strokes, giving an energy to the painting.
Giacometti has used oil on canvas, however in a nontraditional way, using the brush as though it were a pencil,
creating a sketched effect to the painting. Due to the subdued colours and the unfinished feel, the painting evokes a
solemn and somewhat temporary atmosphere.

4. ’Christine Keeler’ Stephen Ward – Pastel, 1960-61
Within the portrait all the focus is on the face, making it a very sensitive and intimate portrait, using predominantly one tone
of pastel with highlights to create depth. The subject is centralised yet not fully facing the artist, indicating a sense of shyness
or slight teasing nature; fine strokes of pastel creating a delicate feel to the subject and an intimate atmosphere that is
backed up with the knowledge of the artists’ and subjects’ personal relationship. This also creates a sense of exposure into
their personal and private lives as it seems as though the picture was intended for the artist or subject to keep in a private
collection due to the intimacy and background to the piece.

5. ’Haydn as Henry’ is a very controlled pose set up by Stephen Earl Rogers depicting his son ‘Haydn’ as Henry Hill from the
opening scene of Goodfellas as depicted by actor Ray Liotta. There is a dramatic sense of space and tone within the picture,
as was intended in the film, the subjects’ face is illuminated against the dark background creating a sense of anticipation and
foreboding. There is a very clever use of shading and colour to give depth and a sense of drama with the prominent red light
lighting half of the subjects face up. Rogers’ use of oil on canvas gives the portrait a photorealistic quality which could’ve
intended to look as though it was a film still.
’Hadyn as Henry’ Stephen Earl Rogers – Oil on Canvas, 2016

6. This is a portrait of the artists’ wife, ‘Laura’, painted entirely from life, focusing on the subjects wistful expression as she
gazes into the distance. The background remains unfinished with the use of mark-making which gives real depth to the
painting as the subject is pushed forward with the use of heavy shadowing. The sepia tones colours give the portrait an
aged fell, with very delicate and sensitive uses of colour and pigment; this sensitive use of colour and dramatic shadowing
create a luminous and life-like look to the subject and an overall calm atmosphere.
‘Laura in Black’ Joshua Larock – Oil on Linen, 2016

7. ‘Reflection’ is a very centralized portrait that best describes the mood and characteristics of most of Freud’s artwork through
the colour choice and expression upon the subjects’ face, this being one of sadness and, due to the background of the
painting. As the subject is so central within the artwork all the focus is put onto him, this is further drawn out by the lack of
detail in the background. Freud has used oil paint in a somewhat different way to conventional oil painters, as he has broken
his face and shoulders up into small blocks of colour that have been used to carve his structure, creating depth and a sense
of three dimensions on a two dimensional surface.
‘Reflection’ Lucian Freud – Oil on Canvas, 1985

8. EXPERIMENTS AND DECISIONS
As I was very unclear on what I wanted my final piece to be based on I
experimented with as wide an array of materials and media as I could. Whilst
looking at different ways I could produce a self portrait I began to focus on
breaking up the face and body into small sections, further progressing this
idea with the inspiration from Jonathan Yeo’s artwork. My ideas evolved from
just producing a detailed portrait to exploring the body, down to individual
colours and textures; this also gave me a wider understanding of painting and
the use of unexpected colours such as blues, greys and yellows within a
familiar looking skin colour.

14. FINAL OUTCOME
Throughout the process of producing this portrait, I began to
understand that the best way to create a sense of three dimensions
within the picture is to work from life. This was a mistake I made on my
first attempt at my final piece, I thought that it would be easier to work
from a picture, but it flattens the face and simplifies the colours within
the image.
As I was exploring different artists and techniques in my initial
experiments I learnt that there are many different ways to portray the
human figure and face, I found that I preferred when the face and body
was split into lots of different planes, this is because it was easier to
pick out different shades, tones and colours within the skin, hair and
clothes.
I produced this with respect to the work of Jonathan Yeo as he
produces amazingly intricate paintings of iconic and well known
figures. He also adopted a style similar to that of Lucian Freud, in which
he clearly and very obviously layers colours on top of each other to
create an almost cartoonist depiction of the subject from up close.
However from afar the pictures look almost real to life.

15. LIFE DRAWING
Throughout AS Art and design, we explored
different aspects of art, using a mix of
different media and activities. For me I feel
like the British Museum project was the
most important as it meant that I could focus
on the aspects of art I favoured most, also I
felt more engaged with the project as we
could chose what to base our research on –
in my case Japanese Art and the influences it
had on Western culture. As well as this, I
know that the life drawing classes I took
alongside the schoolwork for unit 75 had a
huge influence on the way I look at the
human figure and use shading to create form
and depth within the figure; aiding me with
any later artwork and most notably the latest
summer assignment.
I feel over the last year my skills have improved and my understanding of art and the influences
of art on society has been increased dramatically, allowing me to annotate my work through
visual and written communication to a high standard. Yet, I feel something I need to take into
great consideration for next year is time management, as I feel like last year I was left short of
time at certain points nearer the end of a project, relying on a resubmission at times. This I
thoroughly intend on changing and improving over the next year.
REFLECTING ON YEAR 1

16. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Over the year at Esher my ideas on progression have more or
less stayed the same. I planned on carrying on with art in
future, however I now know the full extent of work, time and
effort needed to get far in the art industry. Things I intend on
giving my full amount to achieve what I want in later life.
My aim for the future is to go onto an art foundation after
College, then onto University to do an art degree; what I want
to do for degree I’m still unsure about, however after
developing my understanding over last year I am leaning more
towards the Graphics and Illustration side of art.
This of course means I need to put my all into my work in A2,
getting as many ideas and processes down as I can, backed up
with research about key artists and art movements, all
annotated and completed to a-level worthy standard.