Godfried Schalcken, a Dutch artist renowned for genre paintings and portraits, mastered the interplay of high contrast through his reproduction of the effect of candlelight. In his Self Portrait of Godfried Schalcken, Schalcken sought to demonstrate that no other portrait painter at the time could rival his mastery of light and shade. By depicting himself holding a piece of possible artwork, he aimed to assert his reputation as an accomplished artist. His luxurious clothing subtly reflects this success as an artist as he was often commissioned by wealthy figures like King William III. By selecting his portrait, I challenged myself to achieve a work of convincing value while incorporating my Asian-American identity. Growing up Buddhist, I replaced the candlelight with incense, symbolizing a significant concept of my life—Buddhism was a light in my life. Further, I was able to showcase my material-handling skills by taking advantage of charcoal as a medium and successfully emulate the smoke of incense using a kneaded eraser. Lastly, I substituted the artwork in Schalcken’s hand with joss paper, a traditional Chinese papercraft often used during ceremonies, and mirrored his poised posture to express my confidence as an Asian-American woman.
