Assignment 5 update

I cannibalized one of the blue collagraph prints to take the glasses frames and pasted them onto the purple print – which can now be more accurately described as a collage – and added the neck area too from the same blue print. This left me with a “holey” print. This I laid on top of slate blue mountboard as so:

I intend to lighten the areas slightly where the slate blue mountboard shows through. I shall leave some areas dark, such as around the neck, to form a choker. This may, or may not, have beads spelling out the words “Am I normal yet?”

I haven’t forgotten about the third in this triptych:

I shall work on these further very soon.

Update:

I shall attempt to recreate the above effect using lime green highlighter pen, collaged yellow and blue paper and crimson gel pen/biro.

I carried out an online search for contrasting colour combinations and came upon Johannes Itten. He wrote a book, The Art of Colour, wherein he included his theories on colour use. I have yet to read it, however from what I gleaned online he suggests that colour associations are both subjective and objective. Although colour contrasts are generally accepted what jars and what resonates will vary from person to person.

I’ve decided to concentrate on just one image rather than attempting a triptych, the following is rapidly nearing completion:

How can I improve this image? I feel that I’ve done all I can to it and that all that’s left to do is to ensure the collaged layers are pasted down satisfactorily. It has come a long way from the initial sketched inspiration. I feel that the contrasting colours hint at both an icy and an alert state which earns this piece its title. Though the furrowed brow may not be so much in evidence these days, making this self portrait more expressive of how I used to be rather than how I am now, it reminds me that the scars of hypervigilance are not so very far beneath the surface.

References:

Itten. J. (1961) The Art of Color. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Itten. Johannes. (1921/22) Kinderbild [online image] Available from: http://www.bauhaus-imaginista.org/articles/4787/johannes-itten-and-mazdaznan-at-the-bauhaus [Accessed 4th July 2020]

Picasso. P. (1971) Facing Death [crayon on paper] [online image] Available from: https://www.pablopicasso.org/images/paintings/picasso-self-portrait.jpg

Walker. M. (2020) Self portrait from sketchbook [pastel on paper]

Walker. M. (2020) Hypervigilance #2 [mixed media on A1 cartridge paper]