- When artists make self-portraits, they may be asking themselves a very basic
but difficult question: Who am I?
- When authors write journals, diaries, letters, or autobiographies, they
are also trying to find or provide answers to: Who am I?
- Do these artistic methods—art and writing—help people to understand themselves better? Why is that important?
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Why do artists make self-portraits?
Since the Renaissance, artists have used self-portraits to answer the basic
question, Who am I? A mirror or a photograph can tell a person what he or she
looks like, but that outer image rarely reflects the whole self. Self-portraiture
asks artists to think carefully about personality, character, mood, and
physical appearance in order to make decisions about how to represent themselves.
For each self-portrait, the artist must ask: what expression, posture, clothing,
setting, colors, texture, style, and material best conveys the real me?
Might the answers to these questions be different at any given time?
Here are some practical reasons why artists make self-portraits:
- They get a model who is always available and works for free.
- Self-portraits are a good way for artists to practice representing different expressions and moods.
- Self-portraits advertise an artist's skill. A potential customer can compare
the image in the self-portrait to the actual person and decide on the spot
to hire the artist—or not!
- Self-portraits live on. They preserve memories and let the artist leave his or her image behind—a way of fulfilling the human quest for immortality.
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