For my final project in The Digital Eye: Photography, Vision, and Visual Communication (AHSE1135), I chose to focus on studying and eventually emulating the visual style of artist Chuck Close. Additional details can be found in the project's final paper.
'Close But No Cigar'
Project Brief
For this piece, I wanted to focus on the most recognizable attributes of Chuck Close’s work: the abstract shapes and grid system of his portraiture. However, I took a different approach than Close’s painstakingly tedious process, as I’m not a painter, by using Adobe Photoshop to simulate the grid and abstract shapes. In order to achieve the appearance of incredible detail in each grid space, I was able to create a continuous pattern over the image to reproduce his paint strokes. I wanted to compel the viewer to take a closer look at the portrait to see the detail in the different patterns. When one views the image from afar one can see the recognizable face of a person, however, when viewed close up the image breaks down into abstraction as each individual shape can be seen. The bold use of color for this image is in reference to Close’s work in the gallery “Chuck Close: Red Yellow Blue.” Inspired by his use of vibrant, primary colors I chose to use a base of warm reds and oranges and contrasting blues to draw the viewer in to see the difference in the image from both close-ups and at a distance.