by Leonie Andrews

Self-portraits

WARNING this post contains a nude portrait. (It’s OK, it’s not me).

It seems there is a trend amongst my artist friends to be doing self portraits. So I am jumping in, along with Carol Haywood and Rose Davies to share my recent versions.

I started drawing myself in March and then quickly fell by the wayside. I recently got re-inspired by Jennifer Higgie’s book the Mirror and the Palette, looking at the herstory of the self-portrait.

Highly recommended, fascinating and a darn good read.

The portraits of older women artists are often the most experimental. Perhaps the most visceral portrait I know is by Maria Lassnig, (1919- 2014), painted in her 80’s, it really sorts the women from the boys. I saw it in Amsterdam in 2019 and it certainly hit me in the gut.

Oder du ich (You or Me) Maria Lassnig, 2005, oil on canvas , private collection.

Alice Neel has also painted an unapologetic nude self-portrait in her 80’s, which is on display in a current retrospective of her work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See here for a online veiwing of the exhibition.

You will probably be relieved to know that I don’t have the guts of Lassnig or Neel to do nude self-portraits. Maybe later. Maybe when I turn 80.

So here are the portraits I have made so far. Most, with the exception of the watercolour, have been sketched on paper roll from Ikea.

Self-portrait. Acrylic marker and brush pen.
Self-portrait with watching painting. Pencil.
Self-portrait Night repair. Collage and brush pen.
Double self-portrait. Gel pen.
Self-portrait with blue lips. Pen and ink, acrylic marker.

15 Comments

  2. Your courage and inventiveness blow my mind! (what’s left of it)
    I can’t even pick a favorite since they feel like a series, even a sequence! Glad to see the impetus self portrait of Maria Lassnig! Speechless I am, but yes.
    E eager to order the book, but it seems it will not be released in the USA until October 2021.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Thank you Carol. The wild variety is a result of leaving lots of pens and markers strewn about the end of my table. I try to pick something, anything up and just get stuck in.

      Oh that release date is a pain! You could try ordering from Book Depository, which is where my copy came from.

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      Reply

Thanks for commenting, I like to hear your thoughts and ideas.