What is a self portrait?

Portrait: A likeness of a person, especially one showing the face, that is created by a painter or photographer

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Self Portraits of a few artists

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JUDITH LEYSTER

Self-Portrait, Judith Leyster, c. 1630

The painting on the easel was originally a self-portrait of Leyster. But she changed her mind and painted the violin player over it because her most successful and profitable paintings were scenes of merrymakers, a type of picture very popular with customers.
She must have decided that this painting could advertise several messages at once: I am a successful, sought-after painter; I can paint great portraits; and I’m skilled at painting lively scenes of people

Adapted from : http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/self_portraits/act_leyster.shtm

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VINCENT VAN GOGH

self portrait by Vincent Van Gogh

oil on cardboard

40.5 x 32.5 cm

Paris, Summer,1887

"What impressions me most-- much, much more than all the rest of my metier -- is the portrait, the modern portrait. i seek it in colour, and surely I am not the only one to seek it in this direction. I should like -- mind you, far be it from me to say that I shall be able to do it, although this is what I aiming at -- I should like to paint portraits which would appear after a century to people living then as apparitions."

- Vincent Van Gogh, letter W22, 5 June 1890

adapted from http://www.vggallery.com/painting/main_az.htm

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ANDY WARHOL

Self portrait, Andy Warhol, 1986

Andy Warhol created this self-portrait in 1986, the year before his death. He used four photographic images of himself (with his trademark “shocked” hair) and silk-screened them, off-kilter, onto a 6-foot square canvas. The result is four big heads, set in supercharged pink and yellow against a glossy, dense black background. The effect is intense and unsettling.

QUESTION: why did Andy Warhol include four images of himself rather than one?

Adapted from : http://www.nga.gov/education/classroom/self_portraits/act_warhol.shtm

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ASSIGNMENT

What is your definition of a self portrait?

How would you define yourself in a portrait?

Task One: Create a mindmap of who you are as a person/student.

Task Two: Using Alias sketch pad, draw a simple self portrait of yourself.

Task Three: Post it back on this blog!

Task Four (which is not really a task) : Have Fun!

..... but remember this will be a graded assignment.

---- Ms Tan