Category: Uncategorized
The Indian Artist, Revamped: Should I Make a Self-Portrait?
Good afternoon everyone! I hope that you are all well and had a restful Spring Break. I have always wanted to do a self-portrait and have been contemplating whether or not I should do a large-scale piece of myself recently. I read a few very interesting articles and wanted to share some perspectives!
According to Sadie Valeri, “As an artist, and especially for woman artists, creating a self-portrait is the most powerful thing you can do for your personal artistic development, your career, and your place in history.” I found this to be a very interesting statement. However, when diving a little bit deeper, it makes complete sense.
Historically, women have not been allowed to contribute to art in the way that men have. Women were not always allowed to paint. Generally the only people creating self portraits were men. It now seems like a duty as a woman artist for me to create a self-portrait, to leave my mark, to establish my place and privilege in history. It feels like it’s now my responsibility, and the responsibility of other women in art, to scream, “Hey! I exist in art! I have a voice to share and a unique perspective to give!”
A self-portrait can be made for a variety of reasons. It can be empowering, a convenient way for an artist to practice the skill of capturing likeness with a readily available model, or just a creative way for an artist to demonstrate their own style, eye, and perspective.
Above all else, self-portraits are honest, they require a huge amount of vulnerability, courage, and bravery. it can be startling to look at yourself, and I mean really look at yourself, without all of the bias built up over years of internalization. It can be challenging to achieve not just a likeness, but to almost separate yourself from your image and recreate it honestly.
I think in writing this post I have convinced myself to do a hyperrealistic self-portrait in my own style. Should I go nostalgic and do a full pencil and charcoal piece? Or should I stick to the classic, oil paint? Let me know what you guys think! Also always, if any questions or thoughts arise, please comment or reach out to me!
Until next week,
Riya
Instagram: @riya_agg.art
Portfolio: https://theindianartist.weebly.com/
Sources:
https://blog.artweb.com/how-to/how-to-do-a-self-portrait/
https://marianacustodio.com/why-do-artists-make-self-portraits-and-what-we-learn-from-them/
A Day In Our Lives #20
Hey guys,
Everyone can agree that the second semester of the year is always the hardest. It always feels much more stressful and gloomy with the snow and cloudy weather. I am super looking forward to spring in Ann Arbor! Right about now is midterms, so good luck everyone! This is a time of studying and taking care of yourself. This semester has seemed like it is flying by. I just recently got Hogwarts Legacy and I am really liking the cute library study vibes. That made me want to include the big window behind the subject in my drawing. I liked creating the books to place all around her. To do this I created a bunch of books individually, and then decided which ones I liked the most. I then stacked them on top of one another, and copied and pasted the entire unit throughout the drawing.
See you next week!
Marissa 
Evolving Emotions: Love- Poetry
Last Goodbye
She was evening nights sprinkled with fireflies. She was bouquets of every shade. She was long farewells, dandelion wishes, and key lime pie. Her heart beating atop my chest settled my breath into a steady patter every Sunday morning when the birds were chirping and her hands would hold mine, delicate and powerful, carrying me into the day with jittery excitement and beaming optimism and just when the world felt like it would fall into pieces I watched her wave with a smile plastered on her beautiful face knowing I was hers and she was mine from now until the end. She was warm embraces beneath a woven blanked. She was long road trips below a bright sun. She was mine and I was hers until our last goodbye.
Character Mock-ups
(Left to Right: Simon, Hima, Lily, Yim, Enola)
These are some inked and colored concepts of my characters. I already want to change their designs. Maybe it’s something about seeing them presented as if their designs are finalized that is activating the art critic part of me. Simon’s coat could be more realistic, Hima’s pink could be a darker read, Lily’s coat could be blue, Yim could look more eldritch, and Enola could use a hoodie with sleeves. I guess that means more time sketching before the actual character sheets. A shame, but it’s good that I won’t be spending a ton of time on designs I personally feel need improvement.
Industrious Illustrating #32 – Risograph Printing
Lately I’ve been playing around with different methods of design and printing, which has led me to make use of the risograph printer available at UMich Stamps. Risograph printing is a type of printing that uses a type of Japanese office printer that layers bright halftone dots of ink, creating a visual effect similar to a screenprint or a retro comic book.
Below are some examples of bicolor and tricolor risograph print designs I recently made or converted into risograph printing format:
Risograph printing is great for creating its signature pixellated texture and intense colors, as well as for mass-producing large print runs nearly instantly — a risograph printer can pump out dozens of identical prints in under a minute once the master copy of the print has been burned into the pigment rolls. The risograph can also print in fluorescent orange, fluorescent pink, and metallic gold — colors that I want to try out once I come up with some good ideas for them. I’m looking forward to bringing more risograph prints with me to conventions as well as for my own personal enjoyment in the future!
