Symbolic Self Portrait

For my CE Drawing course, our first assignment was to create a self-portrait with symbolism of things we enjoyed/that defined us. I joined the course a few days after it started due to a scheduling conflict, and so my piece was more rushed and I lacked supplies. Nevertheless, I think it turned out alright.

I used crayola colored pencils and a fine tip sharpie to create it.

The symbols I chose were things such as plants and celestial objects. I included pothos, snake, and jade plants, since I had recently gotten each of those plants and was taking care of them. I also included morning glories, since I liked them as a concept (a weed is just a flower out of place after all) and pearl plants as a glasses chain, since I had grown fond of the accessory. The background was a pure white halo on top of a starry background. the black background reaches into the halo with hands, intended as a symbol of anxiety and mental issues. Also included there is a star, moon, and sun shooting out of it with rainbow tails. The rainbow tails are because of my queer identity.

Despite the piece not being my best work, I am still fond of it because it shows me who I was and lets me see just how far I've grown.