Oct 24, 20223 min read

The Self Portrait: Me, Myself and I

Updated: Nov 5, 2022

The Self Portrait as Study

The Self-Portrait is a powerful tool for artists. You are your own personal muse, your constant source of inspiration, and always on call for modeling for an artwork. The self-portrait is a great way to explore your identity, practice different mediums, and stay consistent in your art-making journey.

Practice makes perfect (if there is such a thing)... But really, when it comes to art, practice is so beneficial to your creativity and skill. Journaling is a great way to practice various techniques and to keep your creativity flowing. Even though it may sound easy to just sit down and sketch it can be hard to find the imagination to create. That's where you come in! That is to say, you as your own muse. You are a never ending source of new material, readily available and personally relevant. So sit down in front of a mirror or take a few selfies and get out your sketchbook or tablet!

Artists such as Frida Kahlo, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso have used self portrait in their artworks. Throughout history artists have used self portrait to study the human form, composition, and expression. They have found a means for self expression both through representation and symbolism. These artists and others have found reference for study and inspiration for their art in their own reflection. When you use yourself as the subject you can manipulate your pose however best suits your goals. If you want to practice rendering the eye or mouth you can change your expression for each sketch. You can also use yourself as reference if you want to practice composition and need inspiration for pose and narrative.

Learning to use yourself as a model for your art can be challenging and you must move past insecurities about your own image. Start by sketching quickly in pen or pencil the sweeping lines of your face. Leave it messy and move from one portrait to the next without stopping to evaluate the previous sketch. When you get comfortable sketching yourself, a new world of possibilities open up for transforming your own image into whatever you need for your artwork. Use variation to expand your creativity by drawing a likeness to yourself first and then alter your drawing to create different characters and styles.

Meryl McMaster Self-Portraiture

Meryl McMaster is an artist in Canada that does primarily self-portrait photography. McMaster is Plains Cree, Dutch and British and uses her mixed culture background to inform her artwork. With the use of photography, the landscape and handmade clothing and props, McMaster transforms her images into a cohesive mix of history, place and self. She finds inspiration in self-reflection and self-portraiture. McMaster's performative self-portraits present real and imagined journeys into the realms of her ancestors.

Watch the video below and take notes in your journal on her approach to the self-portrait.

Often when starting a drawing it can be difficult to decide on what to draw. This is another benefit of the self-portrait. Start with a portion of your face and then either proceed by rendering realistically or transform your image by altering the facial features, adding new elements or distorting it with other objects and patterns. The possibilities are enormous. All you have to do is get started!

*Sketching in general, including self-portraits, is a great activity to promote creativity. This creativity doesn't end with the fine arts, it affects daily life with increased observation and reflection. The practice of sketching also translates to skills of flexibility and intentionality by being deliberate in your designs but using variation to understand how creativity grows.

Studio Practice

For this studio practice, you will create four self portraits. Use me, myself and I as inspiration for the exercise. Think of a way to can use your portraits to tell a story like Meryl McMaster does with her self-portrait photography.

You can use the same medium or different mediums for each portrait. Try and vary the pose, angle or style of each portrait to create a series of images that are cohesive and unified.