The idea for today’s self portrait was to use color to depict near and far planes in the multiple-view portrait of myself. As with yesterday’s post, the self portrait below combines my image with that of my brother Michael. Mike is autistic, low functioning and nonverbal. I have included him as part of my image, since he has been a big influence in my life.
When used in a painting, blue is a color that seems to recede into space and red, a color that advances toward the viewer. Therefore, I painted the closer planes of my face red and those further away, blue.
The simplification of contours in this portrait necessitated the use of color to portray depth. Before applying any color to the paper, I drew general outlines of the head. I had the artist Paul Klee in mind and ‘took my pencil point for a walk’ to produce curved features. Alexej Jawlensky also inspired simplification. His portraits, ‘Variations’ and ‘Meditations’ have nearly identical outlines. I am working to a similar end – the formulation of a collection of lines and curves that represent me and what makes me, me.