Monochrome Portrait

Violet/Purple Monochrome

 

Sketches

Artist Reflection: 

            For this assignment, I was asked to create a monochrome portrait of my friend Charlotte. When I received her name slip, I immediately knew I would use the color purple to represent her. I’ve always felt that I have a strong intuitive sense for associating colors with people and objects, and purple felt like the perfect match for Charlotte’s personality. She gives off a vibrant, whimsical, and cheerful energy, and purple in its softer and deeper tones captures that essence very well.

In the portrait, I worked with a range of purple values, from light lavender to deep violet, to create contrast and depth. I exaggerated both the color and her facial features to emphasize expression and emotion. One of the first things I noticed about Charlotte was her big, joyful smile, so I made that the focal point of the piece. I used the lightest tint of purple to highlight her smile, making sure it stood out against the darker tones of her face and background. While I feel the background and skin tone could have been slightly lighter for better balance, the deep purple I used helped the highlights pop even more, creating a strong contrast.

To add atmosphere and dimension, I included bubbles in the background using both light and dark purples. By mixing grey into the purple, I was able to achieve a more muted tone that showed depth and space. For the highlights in her hair and face, I mixed white into the purple to create soft tints that added light and movement to the composition.

Overall, I believe I captured Charlotte’s personality well through color and form. Her bubbly nature and connection to the color purple were reinforced during our in-class critique, where she shared that her childhood bedroom was painted a deep purple, almost like the shade I used for her skin tone. That moment confirmed for me that I had made the right color choice.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during this project was contouring the face. It was difficult to get the proportions and shading just right, but I think the exaggeration worked in my favor, giving the portrait a stylized and expressive quality that reflects Charlotte’s joyful spirit.