Self portrait depicting garments through which I feel represent my aesthetic and sense of style.
Final:
Media: graphite pencil
Final Presentation:
Preliminary thumbnails:
Compositions:
Reflection:
My final “Self Portrait Without Self” depicts five garments that I feel represent my personal aesthetic and style. The garments are shown hanging on hooks and include a sweater, eyeglasses, crossbody bag, and denim jacket. They depict my minimalist aesthetic and interest in fabric and texture rather that silhouette. The sweater on the far left shows my interest in knitwear, the bag shows my gravitation to minimalist designs, the denim jacket the importance of wearability, and the glasses give a personal touch as to who I am.
The process of creating this portrait began with choosing a garment that I have a personal connection to. The garment I chose was a sweater knit by my mother as part of her senior thesis in college. The sweater is important to me not only because I like the style, color, and texture, but also because it was my mom who piqued my interest in art school, working in the fashion industry, and knitwear in general. After I chose this garment, I tried to choose others that would complement it and help to shape other aspects of my aesthetic. Once I decided on the five items, I staged different curated compositions and sketched thumbnails. I chose one to fully render. I chose to render the portrait in graphite pencil because it is a media that I felt I could depict the textures of the garments accurately. I also feel very comfortable using graphite pencil and in a way it also represents who I am as an artist and contributes to this project being a self-portrait.
I believe my portrait will resonate with a public viewer because of the stark contrast of values in the clothing and different textures rendered. Each object is unique, and while it is not photo-realistic, I think that the stylistic nature of the drawing adds character to the garments. I think that it will make the viewer learn more about what my aesthetic is.
Working on this project allowed me to study my five objects and really focus on materiality. It was difficult at first to know how to depict each texture and make the objects stand out, yet once I did, it helped me learn more about how to draw intricate fabric patterns, and textures. Familiarizing myself with the materiality of these objects taught me skills that I can use to enhance my own designs.
