Self-Portraits. Mirror Image vs. AACKKK!

first published July 9, 2008, edited 11/1/19). I am re-releasing these blog posts to communicate how I traveled the journey to artist...mistakes I made, things I tried, money spent, hours spent researching. I have boiled all this down into a simple formula for you to Restore Your Soul | Jumpstart Your Creativity.

My FREE Facebook Group, Axully Art is here:
I help people learn and grow as artists...filling their free time with peace.

DOWNLOAD your FREE copy of the Axully Art Roadmap here…

Watch this space for new stuff from Vicki

Still don't want to figure out how to do captions with photos...so...
#1 nokin: mirror image of nikon...duh. No wonder it is difficult to paint yourself from life from a mirror.
#2 AFTER painting #3 (and #4) trying to get a photo that wouldn't be mirror image. failed experiment...goofy smile.
#3 & 4 The good 'ole college try. framed to look like I am looking out a window. That's why I turned it when photographing so the shadow would be on different side. Can't smile when you are one-eyed squinting. However, I see some things that can definitely be 'improved'!
#5 just for fun, photo of a pencil drawing I did 3 years ago...titled 'Airhead'.

#1 nokia

#2 AFTER

#3

#4

#5

AACKK! Sure wish I had started painting earlier so I'd have some younger self-portrait material! This latest effort is sobering!
I had a meeting today of the NWA Invitational Critique Group (name recently changed from Starving Artists since we are having a joint show at Arts Center of the Ozarks in 2009 and NWAICG sounds better). Our project for the last month was a self-portrait. SOOO...the latest experiment I had put off until the last minute. One thing about a self-portrait...your model is always free and available!

As if painting models from life lately was not enough, let's take it up a notch and do a self-portrait. Funny thing is that an artist is supposed to shut one eye and squint the other when looking at the subject. I tried this a few months ago and painted a wonderful rendition of a one-eyed squinty person! Horrible expression! Then in Theresa's class one day we did a self-portrait session...She worked on mine awhile...and on the way home I wondered to me..."if I was painting me from a mirror and she was painting me from life...did the resulting study end up being two right sides of me or two left sides!

THEN, last night friend and fellow artist, Joann said my new version didn't look like me because it was a mirror image...the image of us we personally are most familiar with...not the one everyone else recognizes. So, how do you set up 2 mirrors, one to capture the mirror image, and the other to flip it...hold a pose...AND paint it! Did some research online, and found several discussions about Rembrandt's self-portraits...and how he really looked if reversed. http://www.truemirror.com/selfportraits/rembrandt.asp
AND, apparently this company used to manufacture some sort of true image mirror that gave you the view not reversed! gotta have one! SO. BOTTOM LINE. THE LATEST EFFORT IS NOT REALLY ME!

BFF Erika (who is a degreed trained artist with emphasis in portraiture) and I had a discussion today...she tried to take 'representational' photos of me...and wasn't happy with any of them. She decided it would take a video to capture my expressions and personality 'cause I'm never still and serious. Without the eyebrow raising-crossed eye-smirking-smiling-rolling eye-facemaking, I'm difficult to capture.

Maybe with Bozo clown hair (oops, Wesley thinks I should comb my real, everyday hair), and red/white make-up someone could capture the REAL vicki.

We will need to investigate this conundrum of mirror image self-portraits in the future! Comments welcome!