Blue self portraits ( body painting )

We have to do Self portrait in style of Picasso blue period with water colours. So of course i started looking at Picasso's blue period. He used monochromatic shades of blue. They were very somber and he would use subjects like beggars, prostitues and drunks.

I first wanted to think about painting in blues, so i decided to just go for it in blue and get something down to start with...

Since these are Self portraits i decided to then start, again, by thinking about me and what i was to portray. Since blue is a very powerful colour and these needed to be inspired by this blue period i asked the question am i a somber person? i would say no. But what i am is a deep thinker than can often be very self destructive. I felt a bit lost...

One thing I really noticed is the effect colour can have, how sad it can make something appear...

I read that Picasso was very depressed when he started this period, due to the death of a friend.

I then wanted to put myself in an uncomfortable position and think about the death of my friend, and the effect it left on me at the time, this was very hard to do because i don't like to be very emotional, towards myself.

When my friend committed suicide i spent a lot of time alone, and in my own head, i drank and smoked a lot as a way of coping and i wanted to really try and capture how empty i felt at the time in the eyes by painting myself staring away into nothing, almost glazed over.

I have been feeling a huge pull lately back to body painting, and i am starting another unit on painting, and i want to do body painting for this, and then i thought... why not do one in this blue period style and i can use it for my painting unit as well?

Face painting to me is my way of pulling my inner feelings out, litrally, and doing so by phsically putting paint on my skin. So that others, and sometimes myself, can suddenly see what is going on... To turn my hard outer self into one with emotions and vulnerability.

So I took this opertunity to try some face painting self portraits in this blue style, i started by looking at the blue shades and the shapes i had when painting on paper and trying to map it out on my face...

(I use water based paints as i was asked to use water colours and these paints basically are that but non staining)

I put darker the paint around the sides of my face and thick outer lines around my nose and eyes, i also pulled my mouth down lower to capture the somber feel.

I felt the jumper took away from the painting feel of it, i need to remember how the clothing and background can take away the illusion of it feeling like a painting. I then just played around a bit with tone and adding stronger lines.

I really liked the thicker lines, although a bit too cartoon like i think it helped captured the somber feeling. After playing around and getting to know the mapping of my facial structor again I decided to then go to the next step and look at paintings, after looking around and finding a lot of beautiful paintings, i found one that just completely resinated in my, this painting...

The Old Guitarist 1903

THE FACE!

It was perfect, look how it is full of sorrow! and the use of simple tone!, the sunkin eyes i could achive by disregarding my eye brows and making everything from the brow to the lid black with white highlights on the brow itself! Same with the cheeks.

I decided to take this further in my sketch book and see where it takes me! very exciting.