Key words
self portrait; etching
Questions to ask
Look at the artists’ facial expression and pose. He is staring out at the viewer and gripping his paintbrush tightly. What does this do to the atmospheric content of the image?
If you were asked to create a self portrait where you were pictured with one prop, what would you choose and why?
Who might be the audience or buyer for this image?
How this might inspire your work
Create a crayon etching
Think about the reasons why artists use objects as symbols in portraits. Think about your own sense of identity, and what objects you might use to represent your personality.
On a rough piece of paper draw yourself and an object that means something to you – you will use this as a plan for the activity below.
Use wax crayons to colour random shapes all over a heavyweight scrap of paper. Give each shape several coats of bright colours.
Brush on India ink. To help the ink stick to the paper, remove some of the "waxiness" of the crayon by lightly polishing the crayon with a rag. Brush the ink onto the crayon, and if it resists the ink, patiently move the ink around till it sticks. Allow the page to dry before continuing.
Make a scratch tool by reusing an old compass, or by attaching an embroidery needle to the side of a pencil. Refer to the rough drawing of yourself and your object, and start etching the picture by scratching through the ink layer to the crayon below
Self Portrait; The Artist at the Easel, about 1925 etching by Joseph Simpson (1879-1939).
In this etching Simpson depicts himself in middle age. He faces right, his head turned to regard the viewer. He wears a loose jacket and in his right hand he holds a paintbrush, in his left a palette.
About the time Simpson made this work he had spent a period of approximately 6 months experimenting with the etching process using a disused press from Charles Thurnham and Sons, a Carlisle printing firm. It was from this press that he produced his first twenty plates which were published by Wishart Brown of Glasgow prior to his first exhibition of etchings in March 1926.
Joseph Simpson was born in Carlisle. He later lived in Edinburgh and London, but his links with Cumbria remained strong throughout his life.
There are these inscriptions on the exhibit:
Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery collection, gift of Dr H.A. Lediard 1925
Image © Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery
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