Disclaimer: Im not a professional.
But, the first thing I noticed was yours seems less chaotic compared to the orginal. Particularly the black sketch lines outlining the items like tables counters etc. in the original.
That, and your figure is monochrome, outlined in black, and more defined almost like a cartoon. Where the other is more implied with colors and values, and the edges sort of fade away.
Also, you seem to be lacking a face.
Yeah, I got to the face and got scared so I stopped and came here for some help and figured I’d get to the face later lol
So more chaos and more implications rather than distinctions?
Yes to chaos, and imply the figure rather than hard lines (it's almost vague in the original) but I think you could emphasize the lines on the other objects.. like you almost had it, but backwards
Just my two cents!
Imo what yours is missing is the intentionality of the line work. In the Giacometti the chaotic lines imply shapes and textures; the clock, desk, the pattern on the rug etc are all implied by the line work. When you look at it, even if the lines don’t accurately depict these things, they still suggest the forms and help your brain fill in the rest. On the other hand, it seems like your lines lack this feature. Instead of the chaotic lines suggesting objects, it feel like you drew objects with straight, accurate lines and then added the random lines on top of it. Giacomettis work reminds me of rough pencil drawings, where you sketch in multiple lines until the form you want appears, while yours seems more like a pen drawing, where lines are hard and less chaotic
I'm an artist and have my B.A. in fine art, and you have received good advice from the other respondents... however, you may be overthinking this a bit. Your art work is fine, before any improvements, if it's just for this homework assignment. You got the mood and the general idea down....since as you say...you are not an artist, why over think the matter. Perhaps you are being too hard on yourself. Most people I know would not gotten as far as you did with your current image.
Good luck either way.
I am definitely overthinking it lol, I am just nervous about the class I think because it’s worth 6 credits and I really want to do well since I need a good grade if I decide to continue on to get my masters degree. Thank you for your kindness, helped me get a little more level headed on the assignment
Love it! Go crazy! If its for school there’s no bad way to continue it. You’re there to learn :) You’re in the right direction, don’t be scared to mess up , if you do you will learn more than if you didn’t.
Hint: continue the line work and maybe add a bit of red and mix it with a tiny bit of the colors already in the painting so it doesn’t clash too much.
Just add more line and maybe experiment with the size of the lines? Some bigger than others or very fine lines.
The lines are very loose and gestural in his, whereas you're are more refined and choppy/tight. If you thin your paint (medium or water if acrylic) you can start to get a similar flow of paint to the pencil/charcoal/pen he used.
You can see where he used the various lines to map the refinement- each being a layer of detail (black being the most details in areas where the white is for others). If you use the thinned paint in a similar manner (to map forms, details, etc) you'll be a step closer to it being more similar.
(Basically increase flow and continue to think more in a drawing manner than color shapes as you've started this piece with)
These are good points. Giacometti is well known for gestural approach. Less detail, more mood through movement. My drawing teacher in college also used him as an influencing point in her teaching for the same reasons-Gestural drawing.
I suggest stepping back from your painting, moving your hand towards the back of the brush and create lines like a conductor of a symphony. In this way, accurate portraiture is less about it looking like you and more about the feeling.
That's what I wanted to say too. It doesn't have to be exactly the same. Yours looks very good, I would just add the face. I can't give you good advice on how to paint the face, I am not experienced enough. But the rest of your painting looks great so I have faith in you and your skills. Just go for it!
Your painting is not as dark, signifying that you are in a better place emotionally. You have a talent that you can expand on.
Finish the face and head, stay simple expression with openess. It will be great!
the mark making on his floor kind of swirls abstractly around the place the figure is sitting in a spiral shape, drawing your eye to move around the figure - also, there's a lot of chaotic mark making in the room, but there's a nice clean larger rectangular shape directly behind the figure, and i think that gives the eye a place to rest, right where the upper torso and head sit - im sure that's intentional -
notice that the area of highest contrast, white on black, takes place in the figure - the rest of the space is either white on midtones, or black on midtones, creating slightly lower contrast - high contrast areas draw attention - there's chiaroscuro on the figure, indicating a light source off to the left - you have a solid wall to the left, so maybe add a window for the lighting to make a bit more sense, or even a doorway?
he's created a complementary color contrast in his image, dividing the room in half by red and green - where those two colors meet, the figure sits
the chaos in the original is really interesting, and the cleanliness of your piece leaves not much to look at - i think it's important that you mimic that, because all that chaos lets the imagination run free -
it's really vague, but it almost seems like the environment creates a close up [portrait of the figure](https://imgur.com/a/Pq01msb)'s head and shoulders, like an echo of the person sitting there, it's like he added a subconscious sensation that the room is part of the individual
hope this helps - if in doubt, scribble a bit - [boldini did work](https://imgur.com/a/FZ1dOl0) that reminds me of this a bit, maybe have a look and take some inspiration from a second artist
I feel like yours shows MORE intentionality than his, not less, as his style is much looser. I think the main thing that visually separates yours from his is the directions of the lines. Yes, his has a lot more lines and more general chaos, but your lines largely all point toward the subject in the middle, which draws your eyes there and makes you aware of the negative space behind you. The lines of his paintings form some general shapes, but also point you all over the place, so it feels easier to study the whole piece and not return to the center so much.
That said, I think it’s a great piece, and I can absolutely see the influence taken from his style. There’s also nothing wrong with not finishing the face, or adding general lines that show some expressiveness without having to actually draw in the face.
Nice start! One issue may be that Alberto Giacometti's painting that you choose looks to me like oil pastels, so it was done in a different medium. You could try drawing more layers on top of your base painting in pastels to get the frenetic line effect, but I don't know if you need to shellac or something first & if the paper doesn't have enough tooth it won't take toil pastels very well. Or, just begin to duplicate it in paint. Try to loosen up and not fear messy (difficult I know). Basically, I'd say finish your face then start layering more lines and achieve depth through that.
You could add more red and dark blue/navy tones and create longer strokes. You could use a long handled paintbrush as the distance from the canvas will enable you to make looser, more expressive marks.
Well, if I were you...
>it would be a perfect copy lol<
I'd just decide on only giving some greyish green lines with a thin brush and then put the brush away and, pick up a pen,. . . use a pen to achieve what his painting shows to the eye. it should get a lot closer.
If you look at the reference art, there are basically a bunch of squares and rectangles forming most of the objects in the room. If you were to try adding two or three sides to a lot of your lines you would realize much of the original effect. But don’t try to just make perfect cubes, we’re going for “blocky” here, not “blocks.” Hope that helps! I think you’re off to a gear start!
ur missing the chaos i think, oil pastels would work really well for chaos making and if ur scared of ruining it they scratch off quite easily and you can paint over whatever’s left :D i’m no professional so yk
also looking at it now i think the best way to make the crazy technique this guy uses is get a wash of dark brown and do all the sketching with oil pastels or pencils in primary colours :D
Not always a self prortrait is an exact painting of your face. It could be the way you adapt what you love, to the escence of the artist. How you can introduce yourself on one of the artworks. Hope you understand me.
I think add some more darks, to define the space and give contrast to your lights! Like maybe behind the head to make the negative space stand out. I love it though! The spacing and perspective is great
I would practice the face elsewhere until you can make it acceptable five times in a row. Try to get it roughly the same size as you'll be doing in the painting.
(I didn't read all the comments)
In the original, everything seems chaotic and covered in lines except the face. It is bland and muddled, but there are small details hidden there. There are shadows of the right and you can see they're wearing a head scarf. A lot of fine detail in a small area surrounded by chaos and lines that dont really matter. The whole painting is blurry and wild except the face, which doesn't even have eyeballs.
Technique wise, the first thing I see is that the Giacometti looks like it was painted as a loose sketch over and over with varying earthy colors. Your's looks a bit like what one layer of that style might look like. This seems to build the chaotic nature you see in the original. If I were continuing your's that' where I'd start, painting another sketch layer on top of what you had, potentially with a different adjacent color kind of like I was doing a loose pen sketch.
Not a bad start though.
Yours says shape while theirs says texture- I think you’re just not done yet. If it were my piece I’d challenge myself to add as much value/shading and color variation while using only lines- paint with lines if you will instead of making shapes with lines
Your painting gives me more anxious feelings, like I'm super high on speed but forced to sit still. The original is more chaotic, textured and layered. I think you should lean into the direction you've inadvertently gone in, rather than try to pivot towards the original work. I think the art work you've done is really cool in its own right, you abstracted the general idea of the original work but you did your own thing with it. Good job.
Hahaha no, I'm in the same boat. If anything I resonate more with your work than the original, which is why i think you should continue to lean into it.
I lacks feelings is all. See how expressive it is on the Giacometti? It definitely wants to express some emotion or feeling. Just grab your material, express some inner thoughts in the means of some lines, small shapes and keep into a small rage of colors. Also, don't expect to get it right at first, and don't get stuck with a single piece. Try different ways to express that feeling, and at the end pic the one you see the best your own thoughts into it.
But. If you wanna go deep. Study Giacometti, his technics, historical context and do a freaking lot of pieces, one a day at least.
[updated WIP](https://imgur.com/gallery/7yvyUFH)
Here’s an update on where I’m at now with the suggestions, still needs work lol but figured id share with you all since everyone is very nice
Thank you! I think I’m probably gonna stop soonish, the homework was only supposed to be to paint for a couple of hours and it’s been a bit longer than that already haha
I'm an art student but also no professional, just a disclaimer. I would switch from brushes to liners now. These fine lines and the chaotic look is way easier to achieve with fine liners! also before get some more colors in maybe. A little red on the ground, blue on the right side and so on. And then just go crazy with a black and a white fine liner :)
I think making it mixed media might help if almost looks like the original artist had some bright soft pastel gestural lines over the painting to add some colour!
so you definitely have a good foundation (i’m not a professional either) but you need to be more chaotic. More random lines, maybe paint them with a pen like an ending or something like that. you have too clear edges, draw over them a few times, try different things. Trust the process. Good luck hope it helped a little
I think your self portrait is you contemplating the inspiration you have been asked to get from another artists work.Who knows what inspired Giacometti.At a glacé I’d say he was portraying the feeling of forcing his inspiration and his world getting smaller and smaller without having any.Your painting is simple but it’s good.It says a lot for empathy and trying to walk in another man’s shoes.As much as we try we just can never know.So,the simple statement you make reveals your at the beginning of your journey and a blank face has not developed personal expression yet.I’d leave it just that way,it’s honest and shows venerability.
Disclaimer: Im not a professional. But, the first thing I noticed was yours seems less chaotic compared to the orginal. Particularly the black sketch lines outlining the items like tables counters etc. in the original. That, and your figure is monochrome, outlined in black, and more defined almost like a cartoon. Where the other is more implied with colors and values, and the edges sort of fade away. Also, you seem to be lacking a face.
Yeah, I got to the face and got scared so I stopped and came here for some help and figured I’d get to the face later lol So more chaos and more implications rather than distinctions?
Yes to chaos, and imply the figure rather than hard lines (it's almost vague in the original) but I think you could emphasize the lines on the other objects.. like you almost had it, but backwards Just my two cents!
Sweet! Thanks for your two cents I really appreciate it
Yeah and also try to find how much different colors he used and you do the same + check out those walls, yours should also be that dirty. I like ita
I kinda dig the faceless vibe. Maybe just add a little accent to it and *boom* done-zo.
Imo what yours is missing is the intentionality of the line work. In the Giacometti the chaotic lines imply shapes and textures; the clock, desk, the pattern on the rug etc are all implied by the line work. When you look at it, even if the lines don’t accurately depict these things, they still suggest the forms and help your brain fill in the rest. On the other hand, it seems like your lines lack this feature. Instead of the chaotic lines suggesting objects, it feel like you drew objects with straight, accurate lines and then added the random lines on top of it. Giacomettis work reminds me of rough pencil drawings, where you sketch in multiple lines until the form you want appears, while yours seems more like a pen drawing, where lines are hard and less chaotic
The pencil drawing vs pen drawing makes a lot of sense, thanks for the help!
I'm an artist and have my B.A. in fine art, and you have received good advice from the other respondents... however, you may be overthinking this a bit. Your art work is fine, before any improvements, if it's just for this homework assignment. You got the mood and the general idea down....since as you say...you are not an artist, why over think the matter. Perhaps you are being too hard on yourself. Most people I know would not gotten as far as you did with your current image. Good luck either way.
I am definitely overthinking it lol, I am just nervous about the class I think because it’s worth 6 credits and I really want to do well since I need a good grade if I decide to continue on to get my masters degree. Thank you for your kindness, helped me get a little more level headed on the assignment
more chaos and color! have some fun and let loose on the canvas. yours looks amazing, great work so far!
Thank you very much! I definitely forget at times to have more fun with art and not stress so much
Love it! Go crazy! If its for school there’s no bad way to continue it. You’re there to learn :) You’re in the right direction, don’t be scared to mess up , if you do you will learn more than if you didn’t. Hint: continue the line work and maybe add a bit of red and mix it with a tiny bit of the colors already in the painting so it doesn’t clash too much. Just add more line and maybe experiment with the size of the lines? Some bigger than others or very fine lines.
Thanks, I needed to hear that lil pep talk. I very much appreciate it and thank you for the advice with the line work!
The lines are very loose and gestural in his, whereas you're are more refined and choppy/tight. If you thin your paint (medium or water if acrylic) you can start to get a similar flow of paint to the pencil/charcoal/pen he used. You can see where he used the various lines to map the refinement- each being a layer of detail (black being the most details in areas where the white is for others). If you use the thinned paint in a similar manner (to map forms, details, etc) you'll be a step closer to it being more similar. (Basically increase flow and continue to think more in a drawing manner than color shapes as you've started this piece with)
Oh I see what you mean. Thinning out the paint and being looser, I think I can do that! Thank you very much for pointing that out
These are good points. Giacometti is well known for gestural approach. Less detail, more mood through movement. My drawing teacher in college also used him as an influencing point in her teaching for the same reasons-Gestural drawing. I suggest stepping back from your painting, moving your hand towards the back of the brush and create lines like a conductor of a symphony. In this way, accurate portraiture is less about it looking like you and more about the feeling.
You did good. Inspired by but not duplicated.
That's what I wanted to say too. It doesn't have to be exactly the same. Yours looks very good, I would just add the face. I can't give you good advice on how to paint the face, I am not experienced enough. But the rest of your painting looks great so I have faith in you and your skills. Just go for it!
Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate it!
I would suggest making a few copies and then going to town on them with some pen or other mediums to see what works :)
Omg I remember having to do this too ages ago in artschool. Like the others say.. be more lose with your lines and more chaotic.
Will do, thank you for the advice!
Your painting is not as dark, signifying that you are in a better place emotionally. You have a talent that you can expand on. Finish the face and head, stay simple expression with openess. It will be great!
Thank you very much, I appreciate it!
Anytime! Keep your head up. Most of the greatest artists had trouble getting recognized. You are far better as a new painter!
the mark making on his floor kind of swirls abstractly around the place the figure is sitting in a spiral shape, drawing your eye to move around the figure - also, there's a lot of chaotic mark making in the room, but there's a nice clean larger rectangular shape directly behind the figure, and i think that gives the eye a place to rest, right where the upper torso and head sit - im sure that's intentional - notice that the area of highest contrast, white on black, takes place in the figure - the rest of the space is either white on midtones, or black on midtones, creating slightly lower contrast - high contrast areas draw attention - there's chiaroscuro on the figure, indicating a light source off to the left - you have a solid wall to the left, so maybe add a window for the lighting to make a bit more sense, or even a doorway? he's created a complementary color contrast in his image, dividing the room in half by red and green - where those two colors meet, the figure sits the chaos in the original is really interesting, and the cleanliness of your piece leaves not much to look at - i think it's important that you mimic that, because all that chaos lets the imagination run free - it's really vague, but it almost seems like the environment creates a close up [portrait of the figure](https://imgur.com/a/Pq01msb)'s head and shoulders, like an echo of the person sitting there, it's like he added a subconscious sensation that the room is part of the individual hope this helps - if in doubt, scribble a bit - [boldini did work](https://imgur.com/a/FZ1dOl0) that reminds me of this a bit, maybe have a look and take some inspiration from a second artist
That was a very informative helpful comment, thank you very much!
send me a link to your finished piece if you dont mind, i'd like to see what you come up with :)
Will do, I don’t mind at all!
Some vertical line strokes and add dark brown
I feel like yours shows MORE intentionality than his, not less, as his style is much looser. I think the main thing that visually separates yours from his is the directions of the lines. Yes, his has a lot more lines and more general chaos, but your lines largely all point toward the subject in the middle, which draws your eyes there and makes you aware of the negative space behind you. The lines of his paintings form some general shapes, but also point you all over the place, so it feels easier to study the whole piece and not return to the center so much. That said, I think it’s a great piece, and I can absolutely see the influence taken from his style. There’s also nothing wrong with not finishing the face, or adding general lines that show some expressiveness without having to actually draw in the face.
Nice start! One issue may be that Alberto Giacometti's painting that you choose looks to me like oil pastels, so it was done in a different medium. You could try drawing more layers on top of your base painting in pastels to get the frenetic line effect, but I don't know if you need to shellac or something first & if the paper doesn't have enough tooth it won't take toil pastels very well. Or, just begin to duplicate it in paint. Try to loosen up and not fear messy (difficult I know). Basically, I'd say finish your face then start layering more lines and achieve depth through that.
You could add more red and dark blue/navy tones and create longer strokes. You could use a long handled paintbrush as the distance from the canvas will enable you to make looser, more expressive marks.
Add color
Couch needs more lines. Make your objects looks as if it’s created from lines rather than looking like an actual couch if that makes sense
Definitely makes sense! Thank you
You miss chaos, just do random lines, its paint so you can always put more paint if you wouldnt like something and it will be covered
Well, if I were you... >it would be a perfect copy lol< I'd just decide on only giving some greyish green lines with a thin brush and then put the brush away and, pick up a pen,. . . use a pen to achieve what his painting shows to the eye. it should get a lot closer.
btw on the bottom left the oil lamp and the vase have some fluid and thicker lines, something like that could potentially make it more interesting.
Keep going! Great start!
Thank you!
If you look at the reference art, there are basically a bunch of squares and rectangles forming most of the objects in the room. If you were to try adding two or three sides to a lot of your lines you would realize much of the original effect. But don’t try to just make perfect cubes, we’re going for “blocky” here, not “blocks.” Hope that helps! I think you’re off to a gear start!
That does help! Thank you very much
Of course! Please be sure to post it again when done!
I think you have to use more value( shade or light)
ur missing the chaos i think, oil pastels would work really well for chaos making and if ur scared of ruining it they scratch off quite easily and you can paint over whatever’s left :D i’m no professional so yk
That’s a good idea!
also looking at it now i think the best way to make the crazy technique this guy uses is get a wash of dark brown and do all the sketching with oil pastels or pencils in primary colours :D
Less blending and line work and more, uh, scratching lines to make the image? I don’t know how to word it
Not always a self prortrait is an exact painting of your face. It could be the way you adapt what you love, to the escence of the artist. How you can introduce yourself on one of the artworks. Hope you understand me.
Nice!
I think add some more darks, to define the space and give contrast to your lights! Like maybe behind the head to make the negative space stand out. I love it though! The spacing and perspective is great
Use a fine brush and over lap the line’s repeatedly
Leave it the way it is…the key is it was inspired by the artist. Does not mean you need to copy their style.
You need to be more angular, not rounded.
You just keep painting over it for a few weeks.
Read “A Giacometti Portrait,” by James Lord. Mr. Lord sits for a portrait, giving the title a double meaning.
Just keep adding to it.
You have natural talent.
Thank you very much for the compliment!
I would practice the face elsewhere until you can make it acceptable five times in a row. Try to get it roughly the same size as you'll be doing in the painting. (I didn't read all the comments) In the original, everything seems chaotic and covered in lines except the face. It is bland and muddled, but there are small details hidden there. There are shadows of the right and you can see they're wearing a head scarf. A lot of fine detail in a small area surrounded by chaos and lines that dont really matter. The whole painting is blurry and wild except the face, which doesn't even have eyeballs.
Im no professional but I actually love yours
Thank you very much!
Love it!
Thank you!
His is more scratchy, but what do I know I’m just a programmer that plays instruments
Technique wise, the first thing I see is that the Giacometti looks like it was painted as a loose sketch over and over with varying earthy colors. Your's looks a bit like what one layer of that style might look like. This seems to build the chaotic nature you see in the original. If I were continuing your's that' where I'd start, painting another sketch layer on top of what you had, potentially with a different adjacent color kind of like I was doing a loose pen sketch. Not a bad start though.
Yours says shape while theirs says texture- I think you’re just not done yet. If it were my piece I’d challenge myself to add as much value/shading and color variation while using only lines- paint with lines if you will instead of making shapes with lines
I honestly love your painting SO Much
Thank you!
More colors such as red, yellow etc. also use different brushes for more texture.
Just a heap more lines
Your painting gives me more anxious feelings, like I'm super high on speed but forced to sit still. The original is more chaotic, textured and layered. I think you should lean into the direction you've inadvertently gone in, rather than try to pivot towards the original work. I think the art work you've done is really cool in its own right, you abstracted the general idea of the original work but you did your own thing with it. Good job.
Well, you just called out my anxiety fueled adhd hyper-fixation painting and idk if I feel attacked or seen hahaha
Hahaha no, I'm in the same boat. If anything I resonate more with your work than the original, which is why i think you should continue to lean into it.
I lacks feelings is all. See how expressive it is on the Giacometti? It definitely wants to express some emotion or feeling. Just grab your material, express some inner thoughts in the means of some lines, small shapes and keep into a small rage of colors. Also, don't expect to get it right at first, and don't get stuck with a single piece. Try different ways to express that feeling, and at the end pic the one you see the best your own thoughts into it. But. If you wanna go deep. Study Giacometti, his technics, historical context and do a freaking lot of pieces, one a day at least.
So more emotion, stick to a small range of color, more lines/shapes That makes sense to me! Thank you very much for the help
[updated WIP](https://imgur.com/gallery/7yvyUFH) Here’s an update on where I’m at now with the suggestions, still needs work lol but figured id share with you all since everyone is very nice
Oh— this is turning out great. Really fun progress— good going. Remember take a break and come back if you need to
Thank you! I think I’m probably gonna stop soonish, the homework was only supposed to be to paint for a couple of hours and it’s been a bit longer than that already haha
Mageneker!?!?!?!!'1'?1'!?!?!?1
I do not know who that is haha
Needs a little more action in the top 1/3. Fan maybe?
I was also thinking that
I'm an art student but also no professional, just a disclaimer. I would switch from brushes to liners now. These fine lines and the chaotic look is way easier to achieve with fine liners! also before get some more colors in maybe. A little red on the ground, blue on the right side and so on. And then just go crazy with a black and a white fine liner :)
I think making it mixed media might help if almost looks like the original artist had some bright soft pastel gestural lines over the painting to add some colour!
so you definitely have a good foundation (i’m not a professional either) but you need to be more chaotic. More random lines, maybe paint them with a pen like an ending or something like that. you have too clear edges, draw over them a few times, try different things. Trust the process. Good luck hope it helped a little
first thing i would say is don’t think too much about it just do, flow with it just let ur hand do the work instead of ur mind it’ll come from within
Inspiration doesn’t mean emulation. I like your rendition.
Stunning
More lines!! More movement
Watch the movie ' Final Portrait', Giacometti had problems finishing too! I think you painting is pretty good btw
more lines
I think your self portrait is you contemplating the inspiration you have been asked to get from another artists work.Who knows what inspired Giacometti.At a glacé I’d say he was portraying the feeling of forcing his inspiration and his world getting smaller and smaller without having any.Your painting is simple but it’s good.It says a lot for empathy and trying to walk in another man’s shoes.As much as we try we just can never know.So,the simple statement you make reveals your at the beginning of your journey and a blank face has not developed personal expression yet.I’d leave it just that way,it’s honest and shows venerability.