Andy Warhol's Self-Portrait

Hi Everyone!

I took a weekend and went to The Broad in Los Angeles to view some of Andy Warhol's work, specifically one of his 'Self Portrait’ pieces. It's one of the most iconic and well-known self-portrait pieces from his self-portrait series. It looks like the process was done by placing half tone images of himself on top of blocks of colors, which was a very popular method he used for many of his works, including the infamous Marilyn Monroe print. I like this print because he seems to be gazing out of the canvas, almost like he is staring at the audience and is wondering what they’re thinking, or perhaps judging the audience. Additionally, the dense and vibrant colors he chose to use work perfectly and all compliment each other beautifully. 

Although some of Warhol’s most famous works are screen prints, Warhol was a renaissance man when it came to art. He worked with a variety of mediums including screen printing, photography, film, sculpture, drawing, and painting. He was born in Pittsburgh, and pursued a career as a commercial illustrator which led him to receive some recognition and eventually sparked him to create his own art studio, The Factory. The Factory was well known gathering place for all types of people including drag queens, hollywood celebrities, etc. and he created most of his most famous works there. 

To be honest, I used to look at prints all over and never cared for them because I didn’t understand the process behind them. Now knowing what I know, seeing Warhol’s prints again is unbelievably inspiring. I plan to use his half tone method of printing in the near future.