Selfies

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Our first show featuring portraiture is one of my favorites. We looked at self-portraits from the masters, and had some great guests (Justin Garnsworthy, Charlotte Love, Bill Sullivan, Kirsten Ulve) who showed us how they do faces. I hope you found How to Draw Your Face and 5 Ways to Draw a Selfie helpful, and enjoyed seeing the Museum of Selfies.

I love seeing everyone’s take on themselves, and just wanted to give a shout out to a couple of entries that featured different media or techniques: Colette’s use of collage, Dylan’s “Minecraft” pixel portrait, and Elena’s window drawing. I also adored Cameron’s expression, and seeing Henry’s haunting(?) eyes. Thanks to all who took the time to enter! We [heart] you!

 

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Museum of Selfies

I recently saw this clever tumblr blog that I had to share because it’s so relevant to our current theme: self-portraits. I’ve been calling our drawn portraits “selfies,” but that term, of course, refers to taking a photo of oneself (or a group) with a smart phone. Olivia Muus, an advertising art director at agency Seligemig (who coincidentally has a great collage of portraits on their homepage) created this Museum of Selfies that combines the two references: the phone selfie and the artist self-portrait in the most unexpected way—it’s brilliant! Take a look:

Koenigdeseinfallsreichs

taken by @Koenigdeseinfallsreichs

 

AnnaSchuster

taken by Anna Schuster. Nicolas Regnier, “Büßende Magdalena,”
Martin von Wagner-Museum, Werzburg, Germany

 

OliviaMuus

taken by Olivia Muus

 

LucasStrabko

taken by Lucas Strabko. Lasar Segall, “Emigrantes,” at the Pinacoteca in São Paulo

 

AnkevonHeyl

taken by Anke von Heyl

 

MikkelHenriksen

taken by Mikkel M. Henriksen

 

HamburgMuseum

taken by Hamburg Museum

 

I love how the photographer and subject seem to blend, and the painting comes to life—they really do appear to be taking selfies! This amusing blog is curated by Olivia Muus, but some of the images were taken by contributors. Please note: The artist and title of the work are only indicated when such information was provided by the blog.

Images via Museum of Selfies

 

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How to Draw Your Face

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial with tips for drawing your face. Before you begin, you will need:

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  1. A mirror or photograph of yourself
  2. Drawing paper or pad
  3. Pencil or pen
  4. Optional: eraser or sharpener, and an easel or clipboard

A. Observation

Start by looking at your face (in the mirror or at a photo of yourself) and studying your features.

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  1. Face shape. What’s the shape of your face?
  2. What’s the color of your eyes and hair?
  3. Do you have any distinguishing characteristics? For example, freckles, moles, glasses, or birthmarks can set you apart from others.

B. Foundation

Sketch the structure of your face:

face

  1. Draw the face shape (round, square, triangular, oblong, or oval—the most common)
  2. Divide the face in half with a light line to help a guide the placement of the features.
  3. Add a light line as a guide for the eyebrows.
  4. Continue with guidelines for the eyes, the bottom of your nose, mouth (line between upper and lower lip), chin, and (bottom of the) ears. TIP: Notice that the line for your eyes is approximately halfway between the top and bottom of the face (lower on toddlers and babies), while your ears line up with your eyes and the bottom of your nose.
  5. Lightly sketch the hairline.

C. Features

Draw in the features:

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  1. Eyebrows – When you shape the eyebrows, try drawing in the direction that the hair seems to grow. For instance, start near the middle of the face, near the bottom of the brow and moving the stroke upwards and out, and repeating with the rest of the brow as you shape it. Sometimes for men with bushier brows, you’ll want to do the opposite, starting near the outside, at the top of the brow and coming downward with your stroke. TIP: Drawing them this way will make them look more realistic and natural. As you draw the brow, take note of how far they are from the sides of the face, and how much space is between them. Try and capture the expressiveness of the eyebrows because they give character to the face.face_eyes3
  2. Eyes – Look at your eyes, and study their shape. Start by outlining the top and bottom of the eyes, then draw in the pupil and iris, leaving a bit out of the black dot for the highlight of the iris. TIP: Leaving the white for the highlight will make the eyes look more alive. Note that you may not be drawing an exact circle for the pupil, and sometimes you can make the pupil slightly larger than they appear in the photo—you don’t want the whites of the eyes to dominate the space. For most people, the space between the eyes is about the width of one eye. Next, indicate the tear duct and eyelid fold. face_nose2
  3. Nose – With the nose, sometimes just having a couple of dots for the nostrils is enough, especially if you want a dainty look, for a delicate face. You can add detail with a suggestion for the curves around the bottom, or shade a bit to shape the bridge or tip of the nose. And sometimes, for strong noses, or 3/4 and profiles, I may add a line from the inside of a brow, stretching to the tip of the nose, indicating the bridge. TIP: With this line, it’s important to only do ONE SIDE. You can shade the other side of the bridge, but having two lines for the bridge of the nose looks cartoony. face_mouth2
  4. Mouth – Most of the time, you don’t actually need to draw the entire mouth—just having a line between the top and lower lip, and an indication of the edge of the lower lip with a line or shading is sufficient. Sometimes for women, I draw the upper lip, shading with strokes to emulate the texture of the lips. TIP: For men, it’s more masculine NOT to draw the entire lips, but just indicate them with a few lines as shown above on the lower right. AND NEVER draw details for teeth. It NEVER looks right, and isn’t flattering in a drawing. As always, double-check the distance between each feature as they relate to each other.face_chinears2
  5. Chin and Ears – Strengthen the original lines you had for the chin and ears, and give them more detail and shape. Notice how much (less) space there is for the chin compared to the forehead. TIP: For men, squaring the jawline makes them appear more masculine.face_hair2
  6. Hair – With hair, I try to draw the strokes to imitate the shape and flow of the hair. TIP: Notice where the shadows are, and make that part darker by drawing more hair detail, and conversely leave out detail in the highlights. This will make the hair look more realistic and natural.

Finally, take a step back and review your drawing. Do you need to add more shading anywhere? Do any lines need refining around the face? Do you need to add any details or adjust the spacing of any lines?

I hope these tips help you in your drawing. Let me know if you have any questions by replying below.

faces

 

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5 Ways to Draw a Selfie

When trying to create your portrait, think of what makes you distinctive, or what makes you look different from anyone else. What’s your hair-color and hairstyle? If you always wear your hair in pigtails, then you’d definitely want to show your hair up, instead of down. What color are your eyes? Do you wear glasses? Is there a favorite hat or dress that you always wear? Maybe you’re known for wearing a bow in your hair, or red boots. If someone saw you down the street, how would they know it was you? If you were a character in a book or tv show—who wears the same thing all the time—what would you wear? Also, consider adding details such as your home, or pet or beloved things (sports equipment, toys, etc.) that are special to you and help tell the viewer about you.

Just in case you need some inspiration, here are 5 ideas for creating your self-portrait:

1. Make a Mirror-Image. Sit in front of a mirror, as Norman Rockwell did, and render your reflection.

2. Dupe the Other Half. Print out or photocopy a snapshot of yourself, fold in half, place onto another piece of paper, and draw the other half. Like Jimmy the cat did here:

kcdportrait_sm

3. Pretend to be Picasso’s Muse. Take a look at a few of Picasso’s portraits below: {from left to right: Portrait of Dora Maar, 1937; Girl Before a Mirror, 1932; Seated Woman (Marie-Thérèse Walter), 1937}, and try your hand at Cubism, a style of art that the artist made famous.

kcdpicassoportraits

Take note of the way he seems to combine both frontal and side views of a face. Here’s Jimmy’s interpretation:kcdportrait_cat_sm

4. Make a Minecraft Mosaic. Take some grid paper, and sketch your hair, eyes, and mouth, using only the squares as a guide. Then fill in with color. This is a good exercise in reducing details to simple shapes.

kcdportrait_minecra

 

Variation: If you want to try a more detailed version, take a look at this Self-Portrait by Chuck Close:

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Image Credit: © Chuck Close, Courtesy Pace Gallery

 

5. Cartoonize Yourself. You don’t need a Simpsons Avatar Generator to create your own cartoon character. Take note of their distinctive details as you’re drawing:

The round eyes. Add eyelashes if you’re a girl. Note: If you wear glasses, draw the glasses and then add the dots for iris, so the glasses are combined with the eyeballs.

kcdsimpsonseyesOther features such as the nose, mouth (with an exaggeratedly pronounced upper lip), and ears look like this:

kcdsimpsonsnoseAnd don’t forget to add that trademark bright yellow.

kcdsimpsons2

Variation: Inspired by this Buzzfeed post, I created a Power Puff Girls version of myself:

kcdportrait_ppg_smDon’t forget to check out these 10 Famous Faces for more inspiration and How to Draw Your Face for rendering tips. Then enter your self-portrait in our Selfies show.

 

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10 Famous Faces: Artists’ Self-Portraits

While self-portraiture can be traced back to ancient Greeks, Ian Chilvers explains in The Artist Revealed: Artists and Their Self-Portraits that there are 3 main reasons why we don’t see many examples until the Renaissance era (1300-1700) and thereafter:

  1. There was a move away from religious subject-matter popular during the medieval period (500 AD–1500), as artists began exploring other themes.
  2. As artists became more successful, it appealed to their vanity to paint themselves and helped to confirm their social status.
  3. The biggest reason was that mirrors were expensive, luxury items, and not mass-produced until around the 1400s.

To give context to our current KCD Call for Entries, Selfies, here’s 10 of the most famous artists’ self-portraits.

kcdportraitvalazquez_sm

Image Credit: Corbis, Bettman

 

1. Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), Los Meninas (The Maids of Honor), c. 1656, Prado, Madrid.

One of the most well-known self-portraits in art history shows the artist on the left, holding a brush in his right hand. What’s interesting to note is that while the mirror reflects the opposite of what is true, many artists will correct the reversal, so that Veláquez is most likely right-handed as depicted. What’s not clear is what he’s painting on the large canvas in front of him: Do you think it’s the blonde princess Margarita and her attendants (hence the title), or her parents, whose faces are reflected in the mirror near the background of the painting?

 

kcdportraitRembrandt_sm

Image Credit: Bridgeman Art Library, Kenwood House, London, UK

 

2. Rembrandt Van Rijn (1606-69), Self-Portrait, c. 1965, Kenwood House, London.

Regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time, Rembrandt, like Beyoncé, is known by his first name. I’ve always thought his paintings to be dark in palette, but he is actually a master of lighting. This painting is a perfect example: his command of the medium matches his assured gaze.

 

kcdportraitVermeer_sm

Image Credit: AKG London

 

3. Jan (Johannes) Vermeer (1632-75), The Art of Painting, c. 1665-70, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

It’s so surprising to see the artist turning his back to the viewer—so defiant—I love it; I wanted to show that self-portraits don’t always depict an author’s face. Vermeer’s attention to details, seen in the map, or the chandelier, makes the painting look realistic, but his model resembling Clio (the muse of history), and his fanciful costume suggest that what we see is staged rather than a true snapshot of his life.

 

kcdportraitVanGogh_sm

Image Credit: Bridgeman Art Library,
Courtauld Institute Gallery, Somerset House, London, UK

 

4. Vincent Van Gogh (1853-90), Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, 1889, Courtauld Gallery, London.

Evidence of a famous story in which the artist cut his ear after a dispute with his friend, artist Paul Gaugin. It also reveals that Van Gogh didn’t correct the mirror-image he was copying, because he had nipped his LEFT ear—not his right, as seen here. (Side note: Van Gogh has always been a personal favorite of mine; maybe the tortured artist appeals?)

 

kcdportraitPicasso_sm

Image Credit: AKG London, © Sucession Picasso DACS 2003

 

5. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Self-Portrait, 1907, Narodni Gallery, Prague.

While this portrait isn’t as abstract as Picasso’s later Cubist works, it does hint at his progression in that direction. It also illustrates my suggestion to emphasize one’s own distinctive characteristics when creating your own portrait for Selfies.

 

kcdportraitChagall_sm

Image Credit: ADAGP Paris & DACS London

 

6. Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Self-Portrait: In the Twilight, 1938-43, Private Collection.

Chagall’s work is a example of how the inclusion of highly personal details can be more telling than a life-like rendered visage. For instance, we can conclude that his wife is important to him by the way he joins her face with his, combining their features into one.

 

kcdportrait_kahlo_sm

Image Credit: AKG London

 

7. Frida Kahlo (1907-54), Self-Portrait with Monkey, 1943, Private Collection.

Kahlo’s love of animals is evident in her painting. She had many furry/feathered friends, including dogs, parrots, deer and monkeys. (Frida Kahlo is coming to The New York Botanical Gardens in Queens this year, May 16 – Nov 1, 2015. NOTE: I wanted to represent more female artists on this list, but in my research, there weren’t many to choose from, and among those, Frida Kahlo seemed the most familiar.)

 

kcdportrait_magritte_sm

Image Credit: Bridgeman Art Library, Private Collection, Lauros/Giraudon

 

8. René Magritte (1898-1967), The Wizard, 1951, Private Collection.

Magritte, was a surrealist famous for playing with reality and illusion—often with a bit of humor—and this portrait is a perfect example of that. We don’t have to take ourselves too seriously, right?

 

kcdportraitRockwell_sm

Image Credit: Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts

 

9. Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Triple Self-Portrait, 1960, Rockwell Family Trust.

I adore the way Rockwell, a well-known American illustrator, pokes fun at the process of creating one’s own portrait. Did you notice that he’s holding a paintbrush, yet his work-in-progress resembles a drawing? Or the references to other famous portraits? Or the beverage precariously-placed on the open book?

 

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Image credit: © Chuck Close, courtesy Pace Wildenstein/Photo y Ellen Page Wilson

 

10. Chuck Close (b. 1940), Self-Portrait, 2000-01, The Art Supporting Foundation to SFMOMA, San Francisco.

An artist still alive(!) and renowned for his self-portraits is Chuck Close. In an interview by Sandy Nairne for Self Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary (authored by Anthony Bond and Joanna Woodall), Close admits to using himself as model just because he was available, and that he was inspired by Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels to make them extra-large in size. “…the idea of Lilliputians crawling over the head of a giant and not even knowing what they were on, stumbling over a beard here and falling through a nostril.” When you see his work in person, it’s amazing to see their scale, and easier to interact with them, experimenting with the relationship between viewing distance and abstraction. (Currently an exhibition of his work is showing at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia through March 15, 2015.)

I hope seeing these Famous Faces inspires you to try drawing your own portrait. For more help, also check out How to Draw Your Face and 5 Ways to Draw a Selfie. We’d be so honored if you shared your work with us by submitting to Selfies before March 31, 2015.

Sources:
Chilvers, Ian. The Artist Revealed: Artists and Their Self-Portraits. London, The Brown Reference Group, 2003.
Bond, Anthony and Woodall, Joanna. Self Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary. Great Britain, National Portrait Gallery Publications, 2003.

 

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