Project #3 - Self Portrait

“Self Portrait”
7x11 on paper

Materials: Graphite transfer paper, charcoal stick, charcoal pencil, black ink, brush


I started with a basic pencil drawing of me. The thing that really jumped out – man that guy has got a big head. …too bad that doesn’t equate to smarts. Once the drawing was complete, I utilized graphite transfer paper to copy the drawing to other sheets of paper. This enabled me to play around with different media and ideas. This can be an effective tool for experimenting without having to redo the sketch each time. Once the drawing was a reasonable likeness, I could use it over and over again.

You will find 3 examples above:
1 Original drawing used for transfer
2 Charcoal drawing
3 Brush and ink rendering

You are an artist.

Self Portrait

My brother has issued me a challenge : a self portrait

I have never done one and struggle with where to even begin. It seems kind of self indulgent, but an interesting challenge. Most of the great artist did some sort of self portrait and demonstrated various approaches. The fact that the subject matter will be me removes a great deal of the pressure. I knew immediately that my approach would not be conventional so don't be looking for a "likeness" of Matt.

I would entertain any suggestions. Charcoal drawing, pastel painting or mixed media?