Art: Portraits and Why I Love Them!

When I think of Art, I think of something exciting! Something that gets the blood pumping through the veins. There's nothing like it, whether it be paintings, drawing/sketches, sculptures, graphic design, illustration, fine arts, etc. The list can go on and on. Artists and art lovers any where in the world can relate to what I'm trying to describe. It is a way to express your most deepest feelings and thoughts. A person can stand in front of a Mark Rothko painting or an ancient grecian sculpture and see something that inspires them or fills them with wonder - something they can connect with and cherish as their own. It can be beautiful, haunting, disturbing, satisfying or meaningful and can solicit all manner of human emotions and reactions. Yes, that's ART!

This is my first art post in the blog "Things That Annoy and Things to Enjoy" and I am so pumped. I am especially excited because the first of my art posts for this blog will feature my own work. I know it sounds a bit selfish but bare with me. In future art topics I intend to feature other student artists like myself and also the artists who inspire me. This is definitely a thing to enjoy!

Let me first give a little back story. I am currently studying Graphic Design at COSTAATT - College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts in Trinidad and Tobago. I completed an Art and Design course at Thames Valley University in Reading, England.

This was my first painting of a self portrait. As you can see the likeness is a bit off and its more abstract than realistic but I am was happy that I could paint a portrait that could be seen as "recognizable" to others. The bird is on my shoulder because we (my classmates and I) were given an assignment to paint a portrait of ourselves that would show reveal something about us. The bird is a Scarlet Ibis - one of the national birds of Trinidad and Tobago. It was my way of saying that I am a proud Trini!

Above are two other self portraits that didn't do too well in the likeness department. The one on the left was done in chalk pastels and the one on the right is my first and only oil painting.

These are drawings I did only after I knew what it was like to paint a portrait. Working with paints helped improve my drawing skills as far as portraits were concerned. The one on the left is an illustration of what I thought one of the characters from Maya Angelou's book "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" - 'Mr. McElroy' looked like. The one on the right is a self portrait but when I look at it I only see my sister - Simone.

These are portraits of other people which were challenging but fun. I really enjoyed these. In the one on the left, I struggled with the hair a bit and the one on the right of the little boy, it took a while for me to get the teeth right.

Can anyone guess which celebrity can claim ownership of this portrait? If you guess Halle Berry you are correct. This was my first celebrity portrait. I was still struggling with likeness and proportions

at this point but it didn't stop me from enjoying the process.

Finally we have my first attempts at portraits using the amazing adobe photoshop software. I love using photoshop for portraits because even without too much detail you can achieve an exact likeness.

Although portraits are a highly enjoyable art subject I do paint and draw other things as well. My favourite thing by far to depict are animals and insects. I recently featured in an art exhibition entitled "Vintage Caribbean"where three other artists were also featured. You can click here to read the article written in the online Trinidad Guardian about the entire event.

Let me know what you think in the comments below and look out for more art posts coming soon.