2024 ShowOff! Artwork Hailey Sawatzky

Self Portrait

In the "Self Portrait" piece I used Greco-Egyptian style (Hellenistic Egyptian) as my inspiration. Many aspects of the piece are directly related to how the Egyptian and Greek painted portraits. The original works I referenced were done in Encaustic, a medium in which pigments are mixed with a hot wax and burned into wood. I used acrylic paint and attempted to to give a similar effect as the hot wax.  To recreate the style, I used strong , line-like highlights to give a similar effect.  The brush strokes are visible but the paint is still blended.  One detail that brings it all together is the background. In the paintings I referenced, there is always a shape framing the face.  Whether it was a rectangle, or an oval. I used an oval to frame my face and pull the painting together.