This self portrait is a comedic take on formal portraiture. I set up my reference photo to be very traditional, draping fabric against a plain backdrop and positioning myself in a three-quarter profile. However, I chose my props to juxtapose the serious scene and add a sense of comedy. I felt as though the ceramic duck and joke t-shirt added a sense of personality that was necessary for a self portrait. I even chose my expression carefully, smirking slightly while still maintaining an air of composure. Now, the viewer has more information about me as a person than they would if I wore a plain shirt and held no props. On the technical side, I chose a yellow-violet color relation to base this painting on which helped with cohesion and gave guidelines to my color mixing. I then built up layers of paint on top of my underpainting while maintaining a smooth texture with minimal evidence of brush strokes. Both my painting style and reference set up combine to give a glimpse into who I am as a person and artist in this self portrait.
