RSA Scottish Art
Self Portrait
 | Artist: John Faed |
| Title: Self Portrait | |
| Year: 1844 | |
| Medium: watercolour & gouache on paper | |
| Dimensions: | |
| Suggested topic: | |
| Source: RSA | |
| View full screen image of this work | |
| Open print version of this work | |
| Description: John Faed was one of three sons of a millwright, who all became successful painters in their day. Born in Gatehouse-of-Fleet in Galloway, he settled in Edinburgh where he made his name. Like many other Scottish painters of the day, he later moved to London. In 1844, at the time he painted this sketch, Faed was an art student in Edinburgh. He was already exhibiting portraits in public exhibitions but, unlike this sketch, they would have been carefully painted in oils or watercolours to a high degree of finish. This piece was not intended for public display and in it the artist has sought to capture his own likeness with a few brushstrokes and highlights of opaque white. Although this may have been a rapid sketch, it is nevertheless a fine self-portrait. Faed displays fine tonal control, and has used a combination of vigorous brushstrokes and thin layers of colour to build up the hair and skin tones respectively. Highlighting with opaque white allows Faed to extend the range of tones available. Opaque highlights appear stronger than those made by unpainted paper, and the pinpoint reflections in the eyes are especially effective. This sketch, although executed in sombre sepia tones, is not a gloomy picture. The artist has captured himself looking youthful and handsome, with a subtle smile and a clear, direct gaze. Self-portraits do not only show an artist's visual appearance. The method employed to execute such a work and the style adopted reveal something deeper about the artist's sense of himself at that point in life. What would Faed be able to recall about his younger self when looking back at this painting as an old man? What do your self-portraits say about you? | |
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