Summer Self Portrait Project

"Untitled Self Portrait"
Size: ~8 Feet x 3 Feet
Medium: Ink, Mixed Media
NFS

Above is my school project for my Summer Classes. The assignment was to trace your body and make a full self portrait in whatever media you saw fit. We had some really amazing work brought in. The class was all Art Majors, but everyone had a different specialty. We had sculpture majors, photo majors, textile majors and more, so it was a very diverse set of self portraits.

Detail - above the rose is a mini bear, for my nickname, "Clairebear"
I also have a mini fairy on the neck.

 For mine, I did a pose that sort of describes my flamboyant personality. I was going to try and branch out with photography and sculpting, but mainly stuck with my favorite raw medium: Ink and newspaper. I filled my traced self with inked drawings of mermaids, a crow, a rose, koi fish, jellies, a few butterflies, and song lyrics. Most song lyrics were from the Beatles and one Lady Gaga lyric on my shoulder that describes my attitude perfectly: "Just dance! -- it'll be ok"

Koi fish, lotus flower, mermaid tail, song lyrics, paint splatters, newspaper and the appearance of my old striped stockings from my goth days in High School

I started with old at the bottom, ie: the stocking, mixed media style, and paint splatters. Then I filled up with new, ie: inked "tattoos." If I ever wondered if my inked drawings would look cool as tattoos or not, now I know, they're AWESOME!

The piece is HUGE! It's at least 7-8 feet long. My dad (who is 6 feet or so) had to stand on stairs and hold it up high in order to have me take a picture of it.

Hope you enjoyed!