June-August 2022. Acrylic on Mixed Media paper.
This summer, I attended an art intensive at UIUC. I lived on campus for a week, and attended daily studio classes. In one of these classes, we were tasked with creating a self portrait with a limited color palette — I chose hot pink, purple, and cadmium yellow. It was one of those “trust the process” moments. It looked nothing like me at first — nothing like a human, really — but as I started to add in harsh highlights and shadows, in my hair, glasses, and on my face, it suddenly transformed into a self portrait. This was an amazing experience, and inspired me to create another one when I got back home. I chose alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, and orange for a more monochromatic look. For this one, I also smiled for the picture, but it was less of a sheepish smile and more confident — I wanted to try painting the smile lines and other intricate patterns in my face that came from a more dramatic facial expression. Once again, the highlights on my glasses and on my neck and lower face played a crucial role in creating this look.