SELF-PORTRAITS
AIM
The challenge with the second painting is to see
yourself in an entirely new light – and to have fun with
a serious purpose.
DURATION
2-3 hours
MATERIALS
Similar to previous exercise, though only one mirror
is required this time.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
In this exercise, you will be deliberately altering your own
features. This will help you break through the inhibiting
barrier of embarrassment and, in doing so, glimpse through
a door into a realm of new possibilities.
PROCESS
For your second painting, you will only need to be facing
one mirror. Begin by pulling multiple exaggerated, ugly,
disturbing faces: open your mouth in a maniacal laugh as
wide as it can go, stick out your tongue, frown as hard as
you can, press your cheek with your hand and squash it up
to your nose... Anything goes. Although this can be very
hilarious it can also be embarrassing, so if you’re feeling
uncomfortable I’d like you to imagine a room full of my
students all doing this in view of each other! But once we
all get past the initial laughter and the awkwardness, this
exercise becomes a very valuable one.
Once you’ve found a particularly entertaining or extreme
contortion, paint a small study of it from life, while
continuing to make your chosen face in the mirror.
You’re going to find that your facial muscles start to ache,
so you’ll need to rest occasionally but it’s so curious how
even the most peculiar expression starts to become, while
hardly mundane, almost natural after a while. Take as
EXERCISE 2
much time on this painting as you feel physically able to.
This can seem like a fairly simple task to undertake and
it’s certainly fun but it is far from frivolous. We spend our
lives trying to present our “best face” to the world, so to
instead depict our worst and overcome self-consciousness
can prove immensely liberating. The word “embarrass”
derives from the French verb embarrasser: to block,
hamper or impede – precisely what we must abandon at
the dock as we embark on this voyage of self-discovery.
Next month: learn how to develop a new identity in your
self-portraits. http://www.roxanahalls.comBELOW Face-pulling
inspiration for
exercise two
BOTTOM Self-
portraits pulling
faces by Roxana’s
students