Inspiration
henri toulouse - lautrec
When researching inspiration for my self portrait, I came across a lot of pieces I found boring or too simplistic. I wanted to find a piece that drew me in, and made me wonder about the story behind it, because I wanted a self portrait that would do the same to viewers. I discovered Self-portrait in front of a mirror by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, which filled me with an overwhelming feeling of curiosity. Additionally, this was also a piece that I could see myself in, unlike a lot of paintings that I did not feel a personal connection to. This piece perfectly reflects my thematic concepts related to human behavior. Furthermore, the human behavior depicted here is something I have experienced, unlike other pieces that I have based on observation of others.
Self-portrait in front of a mirror is an Impressionist oil painting created in 1882-83. It was Lautrec's only self portrait painting, as he normally focused on depicting others, similar to myself. The colors in this piece are considerably less vibrant than his other pieces. The loose, thick brushstrokes are consistent with the style of Impressionism, and create a blurry depiction of his face. There is also a rough, sand like texture in the background. |
Lautrec painted himself in a small area of his bedroom, which he did not make an effort to change or clean for the purpose of the painting. There are a couple items present in the painting, including a candle holder, some bowls and a plant on the left side. The light source obviously comes from the right side, as his right sleeve and the right side of his face are illuminated. I appreciated the lack of ostentatious elements and Lautrec's attempt to keep the piece consistent with his everyday life. I interpret his intention as presenting himself in an accurate way, not by using realism painting techniques, but through his clothing, actions, and surroundings. I was drawn to doing a self portrait with the same intention, so I planned to depict myself wearing my normal clothes in an area of my room that I do not change for the purpose of the painting.
PLanning
First, I chose a spot in my room that was similar to the background in Toulouse-Lautrec's piece. I knew I wanted to depict a mirror reflection, with the only indication that it was a mirror being the reflection of one object. I sat at my vanity table, with a perfume bottle, two nail polish bottles, a comb, and a jewelry box on the surface. These are all ordinary items that can be found in a room and are normally on this table. I wanted to include them to be consistent with the composition of Lautrec's self portrait, specifically how he did not alter his surroundings for the purpose of the piece. Initially I tried to capture the photo myself, but this was ineffective because the phone was visible, so someone else had to take the photos.
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Initially the camera angle was from above, so the viewer is looking down on the vanity and the mirror reflection. The first two photos show more of the vanity table and place an emphasis on the objects, but I felt this was distracting and took away from the true purpose, which is the reflection. The third photo was taken from a lower angle to result in a straight on view, but did not fully include the objects' reflections, so this one was eliminated as well.
Next we took photos from the lower angle, but zoomed in to focus more on the mirror and eliminate most of the view of the objects except for their reflections in the mirror. This was an improvement from the last technique, but still did not feel right. I also did not like that I wasn't completely visible in the mirror, because it indicated that I was shying away from it, which was not the message I wanted to convey.
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Since I was displeased with all of the prevoius photos, I experimented by switching the side I was facing. In the first image we zoomed back out and captured more of the vanity again, and this time I was not even looking at the mirror, which differs from all the previous images. While I found this interesting, I did not want to appear completely uninterested in the mirror, and I felt this pose indicated that I was. The second image is a much closer shot and effectively captured the reflection of the objects, but I looked too concerned and my face was not completely in the mirror, similar to the third photo. In this one, although I found my distressed expression interesting, it again does not match my intention for the piece, which is to exist in my normal space and exhibit the typical human tendency of an interest in one's appearance, but not to the point of obsession or vanity.
My favorite photo was taken straight on with my eyes looking up and away from my reflection. I propped the box open to create more of a reflection in the mirror, as opposed to the minimal reflections in the previous photos. The hand of the person taking the photo is slightly visible, but I knew I could exclude that in my painting.
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I experimented with some photo editing and found that I liked this brightened version of the picture best. I thought the contrast on my face and on the wall behind me would look interesting in the Impressionist style of loose, overlapping colors and brushstrokes.
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Then, I cropped the photo to make the edges the mirror frame. The objects are only visible in the reflection, except for a small corner of the box to show the audience it is a mirror. I think this makes it more interesting as the entire scene is a reflection, similar to Lautrec's piece.
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Process
the canvas :
First I had to stretch the 3 ft by 3ft canvas. I started by connecting two wooden pieces to make a wooden frame. Then I laid it on top of canvas and cut to leave a big enough border for the canvas to fold around the frame.
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Next, I had to staple the ends of the canvas onto the back of the frame to secure it. This was a crucial step because I had to stretch the canvas just the right amount. If it is too tight, the canvas will bend and become warped, but if it is too loose it will sag and be difficult to paint. I also took into consideration adding gesso, which tightens the canvas. After stapling it, I trimmed the edges.
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The final step for making the canvas was adding gesso, which I used a thick paint brush to do. The first gesso I used was low quality and I had to add three coats before it appeared on the canvas after drying. Since gesso takes a long time to dry, I had to wait for each coat to dry before adding the next one. After three coats I realized I needed a different gesso, so I used a higher quality one, and after one coat the canvas was complete.
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tracing :
Next I had to trace my chosen reference photo onto the canvas. To do this I used a projector, which I had to alter numerous times to ensure it projected the image at the correct angle.
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I used a pencil to trace over the most significant aspects of the photo. I did not trace every detail, because I felt it was unnecessary since I was doing an Impressionist style painting, and small details would be captured by simple brushtstrokes of a different color. For example, my face and hair are extremely detailed in the photo, but I drew significant color changes on the canvas instead of outlining every strand of hair.
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I messed up on a couple areas, such as the framing of the mirror, where the lines are uneven and confusing. I knew this was fine because I would utilize the reference photo when painting and could alter the mistake. I also applied too much pressure in some areas, resulting in a really harsh pencil line. I erased these, as well as the smudges made from the graphite, before painting to ensure they did not appear through the paint.
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painting:
I started painting the background first because I knew I wanted my person to stand out, which I could achieve by having brushstrokes of the body cover parts of the background. To emulate Toulouse-Lautrec's style, I used a large flat brush to create thick brushstrokes. Starting with the shadow my body made against the door, I used gray, white, and beige straight from the bottle. I added the different colors without washing my brush inbetween as to blend them on the canvas. I also did not wet my brush before painting, so the dryness helped create different layers. In the image on the left, I applied small amounts of white using the tip of the brush to lighten the entire area. This technique was successful as all of the colors are visible and create a rough texture, so I continued to paint this way.
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Continuing this strategy, I covered the entire area of my shadow. At times I had to wait for the paint to dry because if I added more it would start to smooth blend instead of building the rough texture. I added yellow, white and beige to create a stripe of wood on the door, which is still visible in the shadow.
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Next, I moved onto the door surrounding the shadow, which is a yellowish beige color. Using my dry brush, I added small amounts of paint to create a scratchy texture.
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Similar to the shadow, I continued adding layers of paint, including white to brighten the door.
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This was my palette for painting the door. I mixed some shades with my brush on the paper so there were multiple hues on the brush, which transferred to the canvas and helped the piece look dimensional and gave it movement. Other colors were taken straight from the bottle to the canvas, such as the beige, which was perfect for the door.
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Since there was a light source from the right side in my reference photo, certain areas of the door are highlighted. To depict those I used yellow and white, and overlapped the brushstrokes from the bright areas with the normal areas instead of making a harsh line. Straight lines are not present in Lautrec's work, and as a result the entire piece is very organic, helping contribute to the authentic feeling.
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After finishing the door and wall behind my figure, I painted the wall on the right that is seen through the slit in the vanity mirror using the same color palette. Next, I painted the open crack of the closet. In the reference photo this is a shadow, creating an ominous feeling about what is behind the door, so I used black to show the void.
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As I was focusing on the background first, I felt the next logical step would be to paint the white frame of the vanity. I knew I wanted to use white paint instead of simply leaving that area of the canvas blank because it would look more professional this way. Also, I wanted to completely finish the background first, and I allowed myself to paint outside the lines of the crack in the vanity because I knew I would clean up the edges with white paint.
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At this point I made an unplanned decision to paint the vanity frame and remaining background solid white, instead of following the textured paint layre technique I used for the rest of the piece, which is consistent with the inspiration. I felt this would create an interesting contrast and pose the question of why the frame is perfectly geometric and solid while the composition within it is more free flowing and organic. I used tape to assist in creating straight edges (more details in experimentation), and after I moved onto painting the blue wall on the left side that is reflected in the miror just before the frame cuts it off. For this section I used white, neutral gray and blue from the paint tubes, and layered them to create a variety of shades, with the values growing lighter near the top. I also painted the door knob using two types of bring and adding a highlights on the knob to show it is a shiny material.
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Next, I moved onto paint the objects on the vanity table. I started with the brown leather accessory box, which is something I have had almost my entire life, and has always been a part of my room. This object is always on my vanity and I felt it showed authenticity, because while it isn't my prettiest jewelry box, it is prominently placed and frequently used. I utilized burnt umber, white an oranger tan hue to create the leather and its wood framing. This box was an important aspect because it is the point that shows the viewer the entire composition is shown in a mirror. The smaller part closest to the front is the top of the open box, and the only aspect of the painting not reflected in the mirror, while the rest of the box behind it is the reflection made by the top.
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After completing the box, I painted the two nail polish bottles, the perfume bottle, and the pink comb. The perfume bottle is my favorite scent and is always sitting on my table, making it an accurate representation of my life. The pink and blue nail polish bottles are also always out and are favorites, and the pink wide tooth comb is something I was always encouraged to use to treat my curly hair well, keeping it authentic and consistent with myself. It was challenging to paint the top of the perfume bottle to make it look like a clear lid and shiny sprayer, but I think I accomplished it but using gray and white and mixing in a couple strokes of the color used to make the sprayer, to show it reflecting. I used different shades of pink hues to show the dimensionality of the pink nail polish, and I think this was also successful. I am also pleased with the shadow of the perfume bottle, which I used gray for, but also a small amount of pink and red to show the colored liquid shining through the bottle.
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Once I was satisfied with the objects, I painted the remainder of the table white, and used the same hue of the perfume bottle shadow to paint the corner and border of the vanity mirror. This completed the background, so I moved on to painting my black shirt. I chose to wear this because it is one of my favorite shirts, and is casual and soft, so I wear it regularly. I wanted to depict myself wearing something that I could be seen wearing on any given day, instead of formal wear. I used black straight from the bottle and decided not to mix in other colors because I liked the boldness of the hue. I only painted the shirt until just below my neck because I knew my hair would cover the rest of that area.
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After painting the shirt I moved onto my arms, which are partially shown against the table. This was the first time I had to mix my own skin tone, and was probably the biggest challenge of the piece. I wanted to convey the warm lighting of the setting, as well as the highlight of the rightside due to the light source. I used the beige straight from the bottle, which was close my skintone. I also added small amounts of red to create a pinkish undertone, as well as gray on the left side to darken it.
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I used the same color scheme on the left side, but I knew I had to convey a shadow on this arm. At first I tried using a brown red hue, but this was too dark. After painting over with the beige skin tone, I added some burnt umber which perfectly showed the shadow. I had to remember to be patient when painting my arms and let the paint dry before adding the next layer, because I knew applying too much paint at once would ruin the rough texture.
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Next, I started to paint the face. This was difficult as well because there were numerous hues I had to include to account for the shadow on the left side of my face. I used burnt umber and gray to darken the skin tone on the left side, and used white on the right to create a highlight on my cheek, nose, and chin. I struggled with adding definition to the nose, but by adding a small amount of white underneath it I was able to make the form stand out. The lips were also difficult, and I used red, white, and burnt umber, and then added a small burnt umber line to separate the top and bottom.
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I directed my attention to the eyes, and added more gray underneath to create the impression of eye bags, which I have. To create the impression of an eyelid, I drew a thin brown line above the eye, and to define the edges of the eye I added light pink and beige to highlight the corner. I used a combination of gray, blue and yellow to craft a green-gray eye color, and which I felt was pretty accurate to my real color.
After my face was complete, the last element was the hair. My hair is curly and has a frizzy texture, and has numerous shades of dark blonde and light brown. I knew using a dry brush, like I had been doing, would result in a curly texture. I started applying thin layers of burnt umber, burnt sienna, and raw sienna, which are all accurate to my true hair color.
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I added a thin black line around the pink highlight of the eye and started adding the eyelashes using black. I painted the bottom eyelashes but thought they looked too fake, so I smoothed them out into a darker line underneath to give the impression of bottom lashes. I also created the eyebrows in this step, which I used burnt umber straight from the bottle for, and created thin lines pointing left to imitate how my eyebrows look when combed.
I thought my hair looked too pigmented so I started adding white, which helped a lot. However, I started to add globs of paint that were too big, and they started to blend and create a smeared texture. I had to let those areas dry before continuing the thin layers with the dry brush.
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I repeated the same steps to create the left eye and eyebrow, but I had to darken the eye color to be consistent with the shadow on the left side of my face. I did this by adding more gray, but had to experiment with a few different hues to get the perfect shade.
Once most of the base layer was painted, I experimented by switching to a rough round bristle and doing circular brushstrokes. This really helped place an emphasis on the more prominent curls. I added a little too much burnt umber so I had to go back over with white to lighten some areas.
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The final step of the hair was covering the remaining canvas peeking through the paint. I thought some areas looked too blended, such as the one above, so I waited for that to dry, and then added a couple rough curls. Due to the dryness of the brush, some of the previous paint layers were shown through holes, but I liked this because it was consistent with the organic look of the piece.
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I also added hair down my shirt and onto the edge of my arm, but in order to paint a full head I got some paint marks on the white frame, which previously had been perfectly straight.
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To remedy the messy edge I added more tape after the paint dried and painted another clean white edge. After this step, my portrait was complete.
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experimentation
One area of experimentation was the area of the wall surrounding the doorknob. At this point in the process I was not extremely confident in using the rough texture technique, since I had never used it before. I wasn't sure how to add a highlight around the door without smooth blending. I tried adding a glob of white paint above it, but did not like how clumpy this looked. Below the doorknob I tried adding thin layers of white using the dry brush, and this looked looked more seamless, so I applied this technique to other areas that needed highlights.
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Another completely new strategy I tried was using tape to create straight lines. First I tried painting the white vanity frame by hand, and even though I was not shaky I wasn't pleased with the edges. I knew using tape was a technique to easily achieve straight edges, so I applied masking tape around all the edges. Then I used white paint, and some covered the tape, which was okay because once the paint dried I peeled the tape off to reveal a clean edge.
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One aspect that I painted early on but bothered me throughout the remaining process was the doorknob latch on the side. I used black to outline it, but I felt this held too much emphasis and distracted from the rest of the painting, but was a pretty insignificant detail. To remedy this, I painted over the outline with beige to soften it. This didn't make a big enough difference, so I completely covered the latch and painted soft brown lines over it to be more consistent with the brushstrokes in the piece.
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Critique
compareBoth Self Portrait in Room and Self Portrait in Front of a Mirror by Henri Toulouse Lautrec are self portraits in the Impressionist style depicting the artist's reflection. The mirrors are located in a non-descript area of the house and have ordinary objects surrounding them. Lautrec wanted to depict himself as authentically as possible, and I applied this idea to my work as well by placing myself in my room and not changing the setup to falsely glamorize my life. Loose, overlapping brushstrokes that are consistent with Impressionism are used in both pieces.
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contrastAlthough I emulated Lautrec's painting style in my self portrait, my face is more visible and well lit than his. I also used precise edges to make the vanity frame, while straight lines and geometric shapes do not appear at all in Lautrec's work. The composition also differs between the two pieces, as I the only elements that are not a reflection in my painting are the vanity frame and a small corner of the jewelry box at the bottom, while Lautrec included the full objects in the foreground, and only himself and the candle are reflected in the mirror.
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reflection
Initially I was intimidated by this project because it was the largest painting I ever completed, a 3 foot by 3 foot, and also the first self portrait I have done. I also decided to experiment with a new style of painting that I had not previously learned in my foundation art classes. There were moments of frustration, such as fixing the door latch and using shadows on my face, but these challenges were overcome by revisiting my inspiration and emulating the organic aspects of Lautrec's work. Although our pieces look different, with his being slightly more Impressionistic than mine, I feel I applied his techniques and composition ideas well, while still adding my own spin. I'm proud that the rendered version of myself is consistent with my real appearance, especially with the hair texture, and that I was authentic in choosing my background and outfit, which was my main intention. I think I like my reference photo more as a photograph instead of a painting, but I still find the composition of me being reflected in a mirror interesting. I hope the viewer is able to understand that the painting is a mirror reflection, and appreciates the loose brushstrokes that are very intentional and the style of Impressionism, instead of thinking of it as "messy".
Act
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork?
I painted myself in an unchanged area of my house to emphasize authenticity, similar to Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. I also depicted myself in a mirror using rough textured brushstrokes.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec felt he should depict himself wearing his normal clothing in an unchanged area of his house to represent himself authentically.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A lot of people try to change the way others perceive them by falsely glamorizing their lives.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Self portraits should be a depiction of how the artist views themselves.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec painted in an Impressionist style with loose brushstrokes and organic shapes to show the little imperfections of himself and his life.
I painted myself in an unchanged area of my house to emphasize authenticity, similar to Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. I also depicted myself in a mirror using rough textured brushstrokes.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec felt he should depict himself wearing his normal clothing in an unchanged area of his house to represent himself authentically.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
A lot of people try to change the way others perceive them by falsely glamorizing their lives.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?.
Self portraits should be a depiction of how the artist views themselves.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Henri Toulouse-Lautrec painted in an Impressionist style with loose brushstrokes and organic shapes to show the little imperfections of himself and his life.
bibliography
Gurney, T. (2023, October 4). Self-Portrait in Front of a Mirror by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. TheHistoryOfArt.org. Retrieved April 13, 2024, from https://www.thehistoryofart.org/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec/self-portrait-in-front-of-a-mirror/
WikiArt Visual Art Encyclopedia. (2021, October 10). Self-portrait in front of a mirror, 1882 - 1883 - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - WikiArt.org. Wikiart. Retrieved April 13, 2024, from https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec/self-portrait-in-front-of-a-mirror-1883
WikiArt Visual Art Encyclopedia. (2021, October 10). Self-portrait in front of a mirror, 1882 - 1883 - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec - WikiArt.org. Wikiart. Retrieved April 13, 2024, from https://www.wikiart.org/en/henri-de-toulouse-lautrec/self-portrait-in-front-of-a-mirror-1883