What Is A Portrait?
Portraits penetrate beneath the surface to reveal the psyche. ~Alice Neel |
Oftentimes, we think of portraits as boring paintings of people who have long since died. But portraiture can be much more than that!
portraiture: +a painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, verbal description or other likeness of a person's appearance, esp of the face, AND an aspect of the subject's character A good portrait should tell the viewer something about the subject; what they look like, where they are, who they are with, their social status, their emotion, how they wish to be seen in the world, how the world sees them . . . |
All of us have our own different way of looking at the world. Our experiences, our personalities, the people we know . . . all of these things influence the way we view our surroundings, even the way we see other people. When we reflect on a portrait, we learn about 3 people:
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I like to think they're looking at me. They're actually looking at themselves. ~Carrie Robora Barratt |
Types of PortraitsAlthough portraits vary greatly in style throughout time and culture, most fall into one of three categories:
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Questions to keep in mind . . .As we examine the portraits this unit, we will keep returning to the following questions:
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Self-Portraits and Selfies
Click HERE to listen to a curator's view of the genre of self-portraiture.
The video points out that a selfie is a self-portrait that serves as a Speech Act - in other words, a photo of a person that says something about that person - a.k.a PORTRAITURE!
The video points out that a selfie is a self-portrait that serves as a Speech Act - in other words, a photo of a person that says something about that person - a.k.a PORTRAITURE!
Additionally, you can click HERE to see how the introduction of the iconic phone in hand image can change the perspective of a portrait.
Is Twitter a diary? A new way of writing autobiographies?
Is Twitter a diary? A new way of writing autobiographies?
Additional Artworks
Who Am I? Doodle
On a piece of paper answer the following questions:
What is your full legal name?
What are your nicknames?
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite snack?
What are the 3 most valuable items you own?
What is a symbol that represents you?
With what character from a book/film do you most closely identify yourself?
What was a significant event in your life?
Who, in your life, has been most influential? (This must be a real person.)
Sounds easy, right? Here's the catch, you are not allowed to simply write the answers. You must present them in "doodle form." Look at the example above. It need not be geometric shapes, just use your imagination!
On a piece of paper answer the following questions:
What is your full legal name?
What are your nicknames?
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite snack?
What are the 3 most valuable items you own?
What is a symbol that represents you?
With what character from a book/film do you most closely identify yourself?
What was a significant event in your life?
Who, in your life, has been most influential? (This must be a real person.)
Sounds easy, right? Here's the catch, you are not allowed to simply write the answers. You must present them in "doodle form." Look at the example above. It need not be geometric shapes, just use your imagination!
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