Digital Design: Self-Portrait Collage (2022 Update)

When artists want to express themselves, it's done in a unique way that captures their imagination. In the case of portraits, it could be a realistic depiction of something original. In my case, it is the latter, as I prefer to create something out of nothing. The idea of a self-portrait is a relatively simple one in a painting or design, so it was a perfect choice to try something new. The next entry in my portfolio is actually a revised piece of artwork. It is a collage of my self-portrait, with only minimal elements of the original photograph present. I believe this was one of my earlier attempts at creating a complete collage on Photoshop, as I have mainly created them by hand before. From a personal perspective, I felt that this was a good practice at utilizing the tools available at my disposal. For assistance, I consulted a few textbooks and online tutorials for creating a collage with digital programs.

As I briefly mentioned, this was an older collage from around a year and a half ago. For the most part, the collage is similar, except with a few adjustments to make it feel more polished. I scanned the outside of a folder that was crumpled and bent for the background of my portrait. It looked great once I adjusted the filters to sharpen the image quality. The background also gives it a feeling as if the collage was done on a physical canvas rather than a digital image. Parts of the original photograph are present including my beard and the shape of my head. This gives the appearance that parts of my face were torn apart, then stitched with fragments to complete the shape. The edge of my face contains a crude outline to emphasize the head's shape. At first, it was an unintentional remnant of the background, but I kept it since it complements the idea of tearing and repairing. The colorful, contrasting imagery on my face shows a unique blend of texture and visuals. Does it make sense? Definitely not, but that further adds appeal to the portrait.

This is definitely one of my more experimental pieces, but one I was satisfied with. With everything offered by Photoshop and collage techniques, I could let my imagination act as the paintbrush on the canvas. When somebody looks at this for the first time, they might remark on how it doesn't look like a realistic depiction of somebody, or how it's a strange portrait. If you say something like that, I actually take that as a compliment, as I like to venture off into the unique aspects of art. Something like this allows you to try your own ideas and make something unique. If somebody has taught you something before, wouldn't you want to use that knowledge, but make it your own? Since no two people (or artwork for that matter) are the same, I personally think everybody should look into what's possible. This self-portrait contains basic elements of myself, but I wasn't going for something that accurately reflects my real-life appearance. In a sense, you could say that this represents me in the creative aspect.