SELF PORTRAIT ASSIGNMENT
Name:
Throughout this unit we have learned the simple strategies to build up a basic face that is in
proportion, we have practiced drawing an accurate face of a celebrity that has true value,
texture, and realism, and we drawn an enlarged detailed version of an eyeball. However, for
each of these drawings we copied from a photograph or from our imaginations . . . but what
about drawing from a real life-source?
A self-portrait is when an artist creates an image of themselves. Self-portraits are a very popular
topic amongst artists to help them practice and improve their abilities to draw from real life.
Artists like Rembrandt, Durer, Picasso, and Van Gogh are known for creating many self-portrait
paintings and drawings of themselves – often capturing their likeness throughout the many
different changes and ages of their lives.
TASK: Our final portrait assignment will be to
create a realistic self-portrait drawing that has
been drawn by looking at your own reflection in
a mirror. Not from a photo or from a screen!
Drawings from a mirror or of a real-life figure is
an entirely different skill set than looking at a flat
image from a photograph or your devices screen.
The figure in a mirror can move and be seen from
different angles, and there may be constant
changes in lighting as the day progresses.
OPTION 1 – When creating your realistic self-portrait drawing
from a mirror, set up dynamic lighting (hard highlight that
contrast with stark shadows). This should be completed using
pencils and an emphasis on dark values to create the illusion of
three-dimensionality.
OPTION 2 – Use pencil crayons, pastels, or paints to create a
realistic self-portrait image whose colours are abstracted or
monochromatic. Again, your image will look real and be created
from a mirror, but the way that you colour it will be surreal.