Entry N
12.5″ x 16″, Acrylic Paint on Mixed Media Paper
I chose to paint a self portrait to bring more racial diversity to the Renaissance art style and to encourage other students of color who are artists. When studying Renaissance art, I felt there was a lack of representation of people of color. I remember studying the Renaissance, especially biblical art, and seeing most characters represented as Caucasian. Still I am inspired by Renaissance artists Botticelli and Jan van Eyck. Botticelli’s paintings have high contrast and bold colors. He uses a lot of detail to the backgrounds and intricate shading to the faces of his subjects. He also was an ekphratic painter who used allegory from other artworks and people of the time. This makes one think deeply about what his paintings might mean. Jan van Eyck was a master of super-realistic paintings. He created incredible three-dimensional effects using contrast, light, and rich colors. This inspires me to learn more techniques to accurately show what is in my imagination when I paint. The Renaissance art style shows the beauty of nature, people, and all of God’s creation. I will continue to research and create more artwork that represents these qualities, especially people of color.