JoeyWong (FID august 2014): Principle of Design Assignment 1b self-portrait

Date: 9/9/2014
Name: Joey Wong Li Wen
Principle of Design
Assignment 1b) Self-Portrait.

For this assignment, we were instructed to research on art movement, select one , and create an A3 sized self-portrait using the art movement.

I have always like Gothic art, so I researched on the history of Gothic art.

Gothic art is a style of Medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in 12^th century AD. It started with Gothic architecture, which was popular in the Northern Europe, in mid-12^th century. Slowly, it developed and spread into International Gothic, where it was used in painting, sculpture and decorative art, between 1375 and 1425. In some places, gothic art died out for a while. In mid-18^th century, Gothic art was revived, this era is called the Gothic Revival. In 1980s, Gothic art developed into Neo Gothic art, as a part of punk movement. In late 1990s, it becomes recognized as a new artistic style. The term "Neo-Gothic Art" was coined by Charles Alexander Moffat, who wrote "The Neo-Gothic Art Manifesto". This art movement emphasizes the bizarre, obscene, sexual, blasphemous, mysterious, horrific and gender-confusion.

My favourite Gothic artist is Stefanie Lynn Evans. Her artworks are dark, surreal ,and even twisted. These are some of her works.

Lady Night: 2002

Pray For Salvation: 2000

" My work is generally dark in nature and is presented as a reflection of myself, how I feel about others, and my perception of the world around me."Stefanie Lynn Evans.

I decided to choose Neo Gothic art as the art movement fr my self-portrait. In Gothic self-portrait, the human would always have pale complexion, sharp cheekbones, dark make-up and is always dressed in Gothic fashion.

Self-portrait progress:

My thought:

When I was doing research on Gothic art, I was surprised that although Gothic art movement has exist for a long time, there are only four main eras of it, which is much lesser compared to other art movements. Which amazes me more is that it never ceases its own classical style after centuries. Gothic was heavily criticized and described as “monstrous” before it was accepted as a style of art.

For the self-portrait, I tried to express myself by drawing both sides of me. Ever since I was young, I wish to be a boy. Until now, sometimes I put on make-up and style my hair to show my boyish side, and no one could recognize me since I will look totally different from my usual self. Thus, drawing a boy version and a girl version of me was a choice of doing the self-portrait.

Final portrait: