Activity 1: Aesthetics- Compare and Contrast

I wanted to recreate Picasso's "Portrait of a Young Girl" so it would be more naturalistic and appeal more to my personal artistic preferences. I kept the subject of the artwork the same, both subjects are young girls with sun hats with a black ribbons on their head. It is difficult to see in the above photo, but there are also hints of red and green in the eyes of my portrait similar to what Picasso did in his piece. Both subjects are wearing blue and green outfits and I incorporated swirls and lines into the flower detail that are similar to Picasso's. One of the main differences between these two is the more naturalistic appearance of my recreation. I also changed the background to better match the colors used on the subject and incorporated value into my recreation.

Activity 1: Aesthetics- Prepro

Activity 1: Aesthetics- Objective Critique

This piece by Pablo Picasso shows a portrait of a girl from the chest up wearing a yellow sunhat with a black ribbon. The girl is wearing blue and green clothing with something white over her shoulders. Her face is abstracted, with a large nose and lips on a bean-shaped head. The face is painted with the colors white, red, green, and blue from left to right in that order. The left eye is colored red and the right eye is colored green, both have see-through eye whites that show the face's different colors underneath. The girl has a large black scribble on the right side of her face and a black diamond around her neck. There is also a large black space to the left of her face that could represent hair or black fabric hanging off the hat. The background is a single color that shows multiple paint streaks. The portrait of the girl takes up the majority of the canvas. The artist shows contrast through value by painting a large amount of black next to the stark white of the face. The artist creates emphasis on the face through color, making half the face a warm red against the cool colors green and blue. The artist creates unity in the piece through the multiple black and white lines in the painting, the vertical and curved lines are painted on the chest, face, and hair. Some Elements of Art and Principles of Design are visible in this work of art.

Activity 1: Aesthetics- Subjective Critique

When I first saw this piece it made me angry. I have seen Pablo Picasso's other work and I think that he is a talented artist, he has this ability to paint beautifully yet chooses to create something as disgusting as this portrait. This portrait is just one big ugly mess. My main issue with this piece is the very apparent brush strokes, you can clearly see the base color of the canvas through the paint which makes the whole background look like one big sloppy mess. His color palette is also atrocious. He uses a nasty brownish-red in the background that looks disgusting and a strange mix of red-orange, green, and blue for the skin. The red-orange is very off-putting and doesn't compliment the green next to it and also feels out of place because the rest of the skin is painted with cool colors. None of the colors he uses are very vibrant, but are dull and lack depth. The only color that isn't dull is the harsh black that he uses, which creates some contrast in value but ends up flattening the piece even more. He also doesn't attempt to create any variation of shadows in this piece, which leaves the painting looking extremely flat and unappealing. The way he abstracts the subject is also very distasteful and inaccurate. The gigantic nose and lips give strange shapes to the face and the boxiness of the hair makes it look flat and lifeless. The subject is inaccurate because she is painted to look older. Picasso has given her breasts and developed facial features, this wouldn't normally bother me but in this case the subject, according to the title of the piece, is supposed to be a "young girl" which this painting in no way resembles. If I were to change this piece I would change almost everything about it. I would start by using a subject who looks more like a young girl and rendering her in a naturalistic way. I would incorporate different colors into the skin to make it more vibrant but still believable and use more attractive shades of blue and green in the clothing of the subject to incorporate some of the original color scheme into the piece. I would also create more depth in the piece by using value. I believe doing so will help me to create a more visually appealing work of art.

Activity 1: Aesthetics- Photo and Information

This painting is by Pablo Picasso, a Spanish artist who lived from 1881–1973. This painting was made with oil paints in1938 and is titled "Portrait of a Young Girl."