Cubist Self-Portraits

This year for a bit of Art History we studied Pablo Picasso and the art style he created, Cubism.  The main characteristics of Cubism are geometric lines and shapes with lots of overlapping.   There were two main phases of Cubism: Analytical and Synthetic. 

 We made these Cubist self-portraits mixed media to help the abstraction.  In each of these we used pencil, colored pencil, crayon, visual texture, markers, oil pastel, and collage.  There were several drawing techniques taught along the way such as a value fade with pencil, gradient color blend with colored pencil, texture rubbings with crayon, and gradient color blend with oil pastel.  I also gave students the option to use a color scheme to enhance their projects.

 In the earlier Analytical style of Cubism the person is broken up, analyzed, and reassembled abstractly; often past recognition.  This style has less color and more value.  The person and the background are treated the same, creating a very flat sense of space.

This is one of my Analytical Cubist examples with a traditional color scheme for this style; plus orange for fun!

In the later Synthetic style of Cubism the person is broken up and reassembled with simplified geometric shapes, generally in order of where they should be making the person easier to see.  This style is usually more colorful.  The background is usually treated differently than the person.

This is one of my Synthetic Cubist examples with an analogous color scheme of yellow, yellow-green, and green.