Studio Art: Designing Self Portraits with Pattern

We are going to revision self-portraits but this time we are going to work to incorporate design elements to create a composition using pattern, texture, and shape.  In this work you should explore creating contrast with patterns and you should work with both realism and some element of abstraction.  The example above is from a student and the one below is one of my own.  You can create interesting patterns out of anything: line, type, shapes, ect.

The master of this mix of realism and textured patterns is artist Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and well known for famous paintings such as The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

The portrait painting, one in a small series one of which was recently owned by Oprah, is now on view in NYC's Neue Gallery for free.  It is now often better known as the "Woman in Gold" after the recent film starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds based on it's history, the trailer is below.