Manet Transcripiton - Self Portrait

Final Painting

 

 

 

30/10/2013

  A few more days to go and its getting better but theres still something missing. On Monday I plan to get the mirror out and really work on my expression and do some more work on the paint tubes. I also need at least a few hours to get the right photograph which is something I struggle with. Please send advice if theres something in particular you've noticed which you have an idea of how to improve. 

  In particular I can;t seem to photograph the background without having the light reflect poorly off the paint. Also the shadow on the canvas is wrong and too rounded.

10/10/2013

 

  Better darker or lighter? Quickly filed it in to see and while I prefer the pale canvas the image works better as a whole. Boy is there a lot more work to do on this though. Reducing it down to the size of a photo really highlights how much there's missing, and how simplistic some areas are painted. Three days at work and then I'll go at it again. 

09/10/2013

  Not the best photograph but it suggests where I'm up to at the moment. Still not sure what to do about the canvas in the background but my plan is to leave it blank and add a reflection on top later. At the moment its just too white and its taking away from the rest of the painting- and comparing them now I see why- the darkest space in Manet's painting I've painted the brightest.

Jobs list for next session

•  Reblock canvas a darker colour, possible attempting to capture the texture and colour of Manet's 
• Glaze out background
• Play around with patterns on the dress, I need to be a solid and tangible shape compared with the postcards in the background
• Work on foreground still lives
• Paintbrushes need a lot of work 

07/10/2013

  Things are going really well. The box works better further forward but I'm still struggling to make the hand seem stable. The dress needs detail, the books work well but don't seem solid enough yet. What I'm looking forward to now it glazing over the background and unify it. This point will be the make or break in the painting.
  So far the area I'm most proud of the it the cloth, shaped and coloured to represent the bottles:

 

  

  Seeing them side by side do tell me something which I hadn't realised before I began to write this entry. I shouldn't attempt to try to paint like Manet, I don't stand a chance to creating anything close to Manet, I just can't paint that well yet but there's also no point. I need to paint it like me, and show them how I work.

06/10/2013

    I'm enjoying this a lot, the bottles in particular were incredible fun but there are elements I'm struggling with. My hand? Does it go in front of the box and the box stays suspended in midair? Or do I push it back and paint the box in front, as it would be compositionally according to the Manet? Also I'm not sure how to deal with the canvas in the background, keep it blank or paint a reflection style portraiture? 

  Looking forward to continuing tomorrow. Plan to work on the books, and paint in the box. I'm also getting a little excited about filling me in which is a good indication that I should paint me. 

07/10/2013

  I've sketched it out, and I've began to paint the background. I will have to layer this the most, paint the detail and push it back once its dried. 

   Th rest, at this point, I simply blocked in so that they wouldn't distract. I worked directly from the postcards and attempted to get as much detail into them as I could. They need to appear effortless otherwise it will all look very silly.

Renois, Chegall, Picasso and Kiefer as well as the sketches of others

   I am questioning at this point how to paint me, whether I should or maybe I should leave it half painted in a reference to me now been quite sure on what sort of artist I'm becoming. However this might also appear a bit of a cop out. Will carry on painting and thing it over.

 04/10/2013

  I've began to plan this peace almost two years ago, leaving it, and returned to in on several occasions. Its something I knew I wanted to do but had not done any planning to begin painting it.  In about three or so weeks time there's the deadline for the John Moore Competition and I'd love to be able to enter it. The painting itself, if I pull it off, will be a sort of visual introduction of me as a painter. I want it to have all the artists I look up to, the books I leaf through the most, my hobbies and the expressions I have when I'm struggling with things. I also want to stick my tongue out at conceptual contemporary art, quote one of the greatest artists,and see how much I can learn my transcribing his last great painting.

Idea photo sketch done in the second year of university

 I also want to really test myself technically. I want the foreground still life to pop out at me, my expression to be fluid and the detail in the background to vary depending on the artist I'm representing.

First attempt at a transcription painted second year of uni

  Since I came back from uni I've been planning it in more detail. I ordered a canvas with the same dimensions and size of the original painting. Once this was assembled, stretched and primed I planned it exactly using photoshop, this was the result and what I used to sketch out and begin the painting.

The plan, me placing the objects over the original painting to insure the size and positioning