The document summarizes Jemima Witt's summer assignment and self-review from her first year of study. It includes summaries of her initial research project looking at different portrait styles. It then discusses her experiments creating compositional sketches and small portrait paintings. The document concludes with reflections on her first year, plans to develop new skills, and goals for her future studies in set design.

1. SUMMER
ASSIGNMENT AND
SELF REVIEW
JemimaWitt

2. Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research
Whilst visiting the National Portrait Gallery I chose a range of sources
from different times, techniques and compositions. After looking at
different areas I found four very different portraits as I wanted to look into
different styles and focuses as oppose to choosing four from the Portrait
of theYear exhibition, to ensure I had more varied research and influence
to create a more advanced outcome.
The first piece I looked into was a photograph of someone called Sarah
Davies by Camille Silvy. It is a print in an album in the Camille Silvy album
collection, I did further research into this image as I found it particularly
interesting as the main focus was a black women who you immediatley
you could tell was important.The photo was taken in 1862 where the
slave trade and inequality was still a large problem at the time. However
once researching into the subject of the photo I found out that Sarah
Davies also known as Sara Forbes Bonetta, was rescued from the slave
trade by one of QueenVictoria’s Naval Captains. Subsequently she was
bought back to the Queen and lived as her goddaughter. So this is why
the composition of the piece is royal and shows the subject as a person of
importance.

3. Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research
The photo itself is small, however the image blown up gives you a
sense of importance due to the full body image and the royal style to
the portrait. Including the dress she’s wearing and her broad
shouldered stance you can tell she has some importance and grace
about her.This photograph is in black and white you can really see the
areas of tones and highlights, the creases in the dress and shadows
behind increasing the for front focus being the person in the middle.
The media used for this is obviously photography and compared to
the other works I have looked its an old style, black and white with
shadows lifting her forward. I think the garden background being not
to overly complicated definitely draws the focus to Sarah.
Silvy has made it so all focus is bought to Sarah Davies and keeps her
as the central most important factor of the painting, by creating less
of a background and the focus being her.
This achieves the central focus being completely on Davies, showing
her off as an important figure.

4. This is a toned bromide print on Kentmere paper, photographed in
1996. It is 19in x 16 in so isn't very large however it is quite an
intimidating piece that is quite mysterious. It is a photograph of
the athlete LinfordChristie. I chose this portrait as immediatley I
really liked the style of the very dark shadows and the white
highlights creating the muscle definition, really showing off his
strength.
I chose this as I thought about the composition and what kind of
feelings I want to portray, as this composition clearly wants you to
feel his strength with the torso being the main focus of attention.
This made me think about what compositions I could use an how
much of my body I wanted to show.Whether I focus it just on my
face or have more torso in it.Also whether I want the expression
on my face to show a particular emotion or show something about
my personality.Which I think the photographer has done in this
picture with the highlights and shadows, to create a feeling of
strength.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

5. The technique of creating a large amount of shadow and highlight
is quite clever and it really helps to represent his strength
highlighting his muscles.Which for a an Olympic sprinter is
something you want to highlight and really show him off in all his
glory, lifting him up as someone to be proud of.
This made me think about when I begin to draw my self portraits,
whether I use day light or if I was to set up a lamp to create darker
shadows or areas of highlight.
The shadow creates a mysterious atmosphere almost as if you
don’t know the person in the picture who’s almost hiding in the
background.Which actually relates to that a little bit as this photo
was taken in 1996 and in 1999 he tested negative to a drug test.
Which makes me think about whether I can create a painting that
represents something about me or makes you feel a certain way or
emotion.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

6. This is a painting of Sir NicholasThrockmorton, I chose this
portrait as it a very classic style of painting before cameras and
pushing the boundaries of “art” began.This was a strong
comparative style to the other painting from the Portrait Artist of
theYear Award which many of the artists had different styles.
This style of painting was a very common for the time as
photography wasn’t around and for the royal and rich having your
portrait painted was a sign of wealth and meant your portrait
could be displayed for people to see. It was painted in 1562 by an
unknown artist using oil on panel, a common media for the time. It
is about 36in x 28.5in so isn’t huge, which made me think although
important this man was not one of the most wealthy or important,
which I think is represented in the size of paintings.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

7. The composition of this piece with the subject standing almost
centrally with little behind to distract you from him being the
main point of focus. SirThrockmorton has obviously dressed in
one of his specific outfits and is seen holding what looks like
some special items that could possibly have been placed there to
represent some of his wealth.
The artist has used a very realistic style which was the style of the
time, to create a portrait to look as similar to the model as
possible.The techniques used are quite simplistic using oil paints
as that was what was available and used the most at the time.
The technique is quite subtle there isn’t a huge amount of
texture, however I think the painting will have changed slightly
overtime as it has been fixed up and redone a few times so isn’t
completely in it’s original state.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

8. Hugo by Benjamin Sullivan was the third prize award in the
portrait awards. Immediatley the style of painting of this picture
intrigued me, I like the colour tones specifically in the skin tones. I
wanted to try out the techniques as I’d never seen anyone use such
different colours and tones in skin, there was a mix of brown, pink,
purples and green tints, which when I went to use this style I
wanted to try and highlight.
It’s not a huge piece as it’s only 46 x 36 cm, but immediatley you
get a sense of pride and respect for this man through the
composition of this piece and the way his hands are positioned on
his lap.The slight hunching of the shoulders and the legs being
crossed makes it slightly more relaxed but you do feel as though
he is important.After doing research I found out he is a poet and
this was painted in his flat in London, so being in his own home
probably creates the more relaxed feel.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

9. The bruised and battered style on the face creates a a slightly
more emotional feel which a lot of his work has quite detailed
differing tones. Its slightly textured when you’re close you can see
some brush strokes and some areas where the colours blend
together.
It looks as though the artist is trying to create him in a good light,
making him look like a figure of importance.You can infer that the
artist has quite a lot of respect for this man by the way he has
portrayed him looking quite regal.
Much like the three other pieces I studied this one again has little
background focus and wants to ensure that the viewer is looking
at the figure and that they are the centre of attention.When I do
my painting I want to have little focus on the background and
possibly have little or no background in the image.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Initial Research

10. To create some initial ideas of how I could compose my painting to show some
of different styles and expressions. Whether I was to focus on just the face or
have more body in it as the focus. I tried lower angles, ones wear I’m looking
to the side, up or including my hand in the picture.
After doing eight line drawings I liked the positions where my hand was in it as
it added some more expression to the image, specifically a look of boredom
which could link a little bit to my personality in some ways. Composition two,
three, four and eight.Two because I felt this created a distance and I really
enjoyed drawing it as I think its one of the drawings that look most like me,
possibly due to being a specific angle it was more measured. I also like the
angle from below, the resting on the hands and close up to the face. So this
helped me to make my drawings into four more developed paintings.
From my four chosen compositions I developed these four paintings. For
compositions two & four I made the sketches look like me but struggled with
the painting. I tested different ways of doing the hair by using different
colours and sizes of paintbrush, I decided from the four paintings my favourite
position was the close up to the face leaning on the hand. I think it was quite
personal and intimidating. From practicing these paintings it made me realise
that I needed to focus more on creating the intense colours and tones in the
skin more like Benjamin Sullivan.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Experiments and Decisions

11. The painting I was using as inspiration used oils on canvas,
so I decided to use acrylics as this was what I had available
to me.This was the closest material I had available to
replicate his style in the best way. I tried to develop my
technique by creating several different tones that used
greens, browns, reds and purples in it to create the more
beaten up look to my skin like his style in the pictures.
Looking at some of the other work of Benjamin Sullivan it
helped me to develop the use of highlights and skin tones.
With these pictures to reference I was slightly more brave
with colours and started to make some colour
differentiation. Possibly if I’d had more time or developed
slightly further I could have practiced his style more in order
to replicate it.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Experiments and Decisions

12. Throughout this project I have learnt to break everything up in order to
get the most developed outcome. Especially from experimenting with
compositional drawings and then practicing four small paintings,
definitely helped for a better outcome. I was struggling with making it
look like or have any resemblance to me. Although in the final outcome
there is definitely some improvement that could be made, however I felt I
made it slightly more like me as I the measured drawing from the mirror
first.
I learnt that it is important to work from observation as you get a
stronger, more advanced 3D image that drawing from a 2D photo. Also
found that having a few mirrors helped with the initial drawing and
shaping the face.
It was difficult to portray an aspect of personality as I think self portraits
can be very personal and quite exposing. Overall I think mine has little
personality as I felt slightly uncomfortable with that aspect.The only
thing you could really infer is that its quite intimidating and may
represent some boredom and a loss of focus as it looks as though I’m not
really focusing on anything.
I found after experimenting that to create this style I needed to use
layering as oppose to one layer of paint, it created more texture and style.
This helped to replicate the style of Benjamin Sullivan better.
Summer Assignment: Portrait Project
- Final Outcome

13. Reflecting onYear 1
Over the projects we did last year I think the most important assignments I did for me would have been
the equivalents project, life drawing lessons, the surface design and fine art summative project.The
equivalents project was important as it was a large step up and I learnt a lot and achieved a lot in a short
space of time.Through being taught measured drawing, analysis, speed and not needing every piece to
be perfect really helped me to prepare for further projects. Life drawings were crucial, I learnt a lot about
the shape of the body and how to create it in a measured realistic style in different medias. It advanced
my drawing skills greatly.The surface design project was especially useful as it was working to a brief
with areas of art I wouldn’t usually use for example screen printing. It enabled me to learn new skills and
progress to create a more varied project. Finally the fine art summative project was really useful to me
as again it was working toward a brief for the british museum and I did a huge amount of
experimentation which helped me to progress and create a refined piece of abstract art created from
many different sources.
Over the year my skills in art have advanced in many ways, my drawing from observation has improved
massively and I can now sketch objects and people in a more advanced style. I have also widened my
skills and can now use more medias and styles than I would have ever done before. I have learned I am
quite strong when it comes to more fine art styles as oppose to working in the workshop or the textiles
side.

14. Looking Forward
This year I would like to develop my 3D and design skills, by
hopefully creating something like small room models and
technical planned drawings. I would like to do more work that
could create a widened portfolio with some strong pieces.
Hopefully I will be able to manage my time better and ensure
I’m on top of the work, also that it doesn’t have to be perfect
and redoing work is never a good idea.
I also need to research into what is needed or works well to
have in a portfolio and the likeliness of getting onto a university
course if you don’t have a foundation qualification and whether
the BTEC is a good representation of skills. Specifically I need
to look into what kind of portfolioTV and Film Set Design
courses are looking for and what I can do to increase the
likelihood of being accepted.

15. Plans for the Future
I still am interested inTV and Film Set Design, if anything this course,
researching and talking to people about it helped to solidify that this is
what I want to do. Hopefully for my EPC this year I will create a mini set
design project for myself which will add to my portfolio.
My current progression aim is to get Distinction/ Distinction*s in art to
ensure the best chance of getting accepted onto the courses I want to
do.Throughout the next couple of months I need to put extra work in to
create a stronger portfolio.This is my current aim as it will give me the
best start for university.
I will need a strong portfolio that aims toward the set design route,
hopefully I will get to do some work experience before going to uni to
also increase the strength of my application. I need to get a B or higher
in Psychology and Distinction Merits in Art to get into the uni’s I have
looked at .
To increase the chance of this happening I need to develop my skills
over the next year with work experience and my EPQ.