Self-Portraits - Student Art

I promised I'd post these second year drawing/painting student's self-portraits about a week ago, but as usual, my busy summer schedule is getting in the way of blogging. So anyways, here they are, and I think you will find they were worth the wait. This was their 4th quarter final, and it had to be a self-portrait done in any 2-d media they were most comfortable in. It also had to be done by either looking in a mirror, or from a recent photograph, and show an identifiable expressive quality. The one above and the close up below belong to senior Caroline Ma. This was a photo that was taken of her at senior retreat. She began with watercolor, then brought in some collage and finished up by free motion stitching over top. She may also have brought in some pen and ink work. It is a phenomenal piece, and one of Caroline's strongest works of the year. I went crazy over it when she brought it in for grading then went as fast as I could to the principal's office to show it off.


This next one belongs to senior Shabina Toorawa and was done from a photo of she and her boyfriend Brandon. She executed it in charcoal and I feel it was also one of Shabina's strongest works this year. Love the expressive quality that she was able to capture in her face. Really sensitive, gorgeous work Shabina!


Next we have senior Regina T. She is a very creative, outside the box thinker and I always look forward to seeing how she will interpret my assignments. Regina choose acrylics to work with but then I think I remember she switched to tempera. She worked from a really expressive photo that she manipulated on the computer so she could alter the colors. She mounted the piece on cardboard and brought in some loose paint and collage work on the left. And then she cut interesting shapes around the outside edges. Very unique Regina!


Really love this next one of senior Peraya Siriwong. Such a strong visual statement. She also worked from a recent photo and in charcoal. This piece was so captivating that as physics teacher Mr. Z strolled by my room, he took a peek inside and spotted it on my wall and had to come in for a closer look. He liked it so much that he bought it from Peraya that same day. It's so cool to see how art pulls people in and moves them.


This lovely piece was done by senior Mindy Cho and I'm pretty sure she looked in a mirror to work. She began with watercolor then brought in some text with pen and ink as well as some collage work in the hair. Fantastic expressive quality Mindy, and I'm especially impressed with your watercolor work.


This next one was done by junior Jullian Kuo who is one of my up and coming stars for next school year. She worked from a photo and painted herself n acrylics. A very competent piece!


Here is another work that Mr. Z really responded to done by senior Amanda Garcia. She worked in pen and ink and came up with a highly original design. A really bold, expressive piece.


And last we have my other rising superstar for next school year, junior Hannah Park. This piece is so sensitive, so very lovely, and was done from a recent photo in watercolor, and believe it or not, paper towel collage. Yes, paper towel that you wipe your hands on in the kitchen. Hannah is such a clever girl!