An Analyzation of an Anxiety Portrait

Drowning by Charles Chapman

        Charles Chapman is an artist that I hold in very high regard. He is a tattoo artist who inspired me to seek a formal education in art. He is not afraid to experiment, but also keeps several educational resources on hand. Charles is frankly, in my opinion, a phenomenal artist. This is why I decided to analyze one of his traditional art pieces.

    In Charles' work, you will see that he does not rely on heavy lines for his work, especially when it comes to realism. Instead - like this piece - he relies form, value, and texture to tell a story. The vibrant use of colors, the asymmetrical break halfway down the canvas giving way to a new texture and reflection, speaks to me as someone who has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. This piece goes from smooth and almost sad looking to chaotic and disconnected. It is almost as if this woman has an alter-ego.

    The use of texture in this piece can make this piece feel as if it is a vessel for the emotions anxiety can invoke. When the canvas breaks, to me it appears as if it is cracked ice that could break at any moment. You could walk on the "ice" and you could fall through, but you will never know. In the "ice" is the reflection of the woman, however it is distorted. The reflection includes two eyes, and the rest of the face is pointing slightly downward.

    The only natural coloring in this piece is the eyes which are colored blue making the emotion she is protraying feel real and significant. The eyes do not reflect the warm tones in the piece, causing them to feel disconnected. The warmth of the reds, oranges, and yellows catch the eye while the blue and black of the hair frame the face with contrast to form a focal point.

    In my opinion, the use of these main elements convey exactly what I feel Charles was trying to - the emotion of extreme anxiety. The chaos that comes along with self doubt, paranoia, and the way things tend to not make sense in your mind when experiencing these things.

You can view Charles' other works, as well as his tattoos here.

My Introduction

 

    Hello, everyone. I am Robert Jefferson Stewart IV. I am 25 years old. I was born in Japan and lived in many places growing up, but primarily was raised in Texas. This is my second time living in Alaska, and I don't plan on leaving for a long while. I am currently in the Army at just under 8 years in. I am satisfied with my career, however I am pushing my focus into school because it's about time for me to make changes in my life and move on to something new.

    The moose image above is a digital drawing I did a few months ago. I was impressed with my own ability to do this (and no, this is not a brag, I sometimes don't know how I can pull off some drawings). Nature drawing isn't exactly my specialty, but every now and then I will move outside of my comfort zone. For that particular drawing, I did the initial sketch on paper, scanned it, and then inked and finished it on my iPad with Procreate. I am primarily a pop artist, however I will avoid posting that artwork to keep myself from facing the wrath of Blogger.com's copywright policies. 

    In 2017 and 2018, I did over 150 drawings for Topps Star Wars trading cards. It was my favorite venture to date. I have not been added onto any other sets because in 2018 and 2019-2020 I was deployed to Iraq and Syria. I have also worked on art for Vampirella and Fallout. 

    I have no real formal artistic education, but I want to be a middle or high school introductory art teacher, so I want to get as much experience and knowledge as I can. On my last deployment, at the end of the day, I would practice figure drawing with Quickposes. It is a great resource for some figure tutorials and timed drawings. It does have some adult content as many of the models are nude. If you are interested in checking it out, click here.

I am looking forward to exploring the history of art in this class, and sharing thoughts and artwork with other students. 

Thanks for reading!

Robert J. Stewart IV.