Testing my final product

Am I using at least 5 different materials on my portrait?
I can answer this test easily: yes, as I am using torn paper, colored sand, cloth, napkin and old homework. I am also using acrylic, watercolors, gouache and oil pastels, so overall this mixed media piece uses about 10 different materials.

Am I able to explain the actual meaning of each material I have used to someone?
I explained the meaning of all five various media to Elise, who understood me well and thought that these mixed media did represent me.
Torn homework - because school has always been important to me, and the text represents my love of books.
Torn binary code - because I have a strong interest in computers.
Cloth - because even though I'm into school, I can be really girly at times.
Napkin - to symbolize Christmas, my favorite holiday.
Colored sand - because I've traveled a lot, and this looks exotic.

Can at least 5 persons see the difference between my original image and my altered version?
Ha Young - yes, the colors are different
Elise - yes, pink!
Urangoo - yes, very easily
Sonya - yes, of course =)
Suugii - yeah

Looking at it, is there anyone other than myself in the image? (that's an easy one...)
No, since I darkened the black part of the image, I'm the only person on the image.

Is the photograph I'm using my own? Do I have the original file for it?




If I write ten things I think this picture tells about myself, would a list of 10 things written by two other people match or would they find some things I didn't try telling about myself but ended up doing anyway?

Sarah

1. Traveled a lot
2. Likes Christmas
3. Not a perfectionist
4. Considers school important
5. Confused about myself
6. Interested in computers
7. Interested in books
8. Girly at times
9. Comes from faraway places
10. Can be crazy at times
    

Elise

1. Likes homework/school - english especially, since it's outside the english room
2. Has lived in many places
3. A thinker/philosopher
4. Computer freak
5. Wants to be an awesome blonde, you can't be: there is only one awesome blonde in this world and that's me
6. Wants to be different in a good way

Elise also thought that I liked homework, but although I like English, it's not particularly my favorite topic - I hung my portrait outside the English room because that was the only space left. I have lived in a number of places, and I have been described as a computer freak before...which I guess I am. Elise thinking I want to dye my hair blond is going to make me laugh for a long time. My hair was yellow on the image and if anything, I wish I had darker hair :) I guess that statement does say something about Elise, though.
A "thinker/philosopher" and "wants to be different" are aspects of me that I hadn't really thought of, but that I think are somewhat true. I can hold hours long debates on random paradoxes or some issues such as abortion with some of my friends, which I consider normal but that I suppose aren't for some people. I also really want to be different and sometimes get very stressed trying to know if my thinking and actions are really mine, or if I'm unconsciously being affected by others' opinions too much.

Temuleen

1. Likes sunlight
2. Very colorful person inside
3. But also has the dark sides
4. Likes school
5. You wanna know who you are
   

Temuleen said that I was a very colorful person inside, but also had the dark sides, which was something I was trying to express in my artwork. I'm glad she understood that, because many people in the school think I'm always happy and have no worries. I like school (sometimes :), and I really wish I knew who I was. I think maybe Elise was influenced by what she knows of me outside the portrait, but I am happy that someone like Temuleen who I don't necessarily spend a lot of time with got to know me better through my self portrait. That's what it's for, after all.

If I ask 2 people a list of 10 words describing me in general, how many of those 10 words are also shown in my picture?
I asked Ha Young and Sonya to give me a list of 10 words they would use to describe me. The idea was that I would then compare how many of these words are also represented in my artwork.

Ha Young

1. smart
2. knowledgeable
   
3. creative
4. crazy
5. funny
6. disciplined
7. cat-lover :)
8. dark
   
9. interracial
10. experienced

Ha Young was nice with some of those, so I don't know how many definitely were in my portrait. I do come from a number of different cultures and was trying to express that (interracial). I can be crazy but I also have my dark sides. I think these sides of me were therefore represented well in my portrait.

Sonya

1. smart
2. weird
3. international
4. ambitious
5. dark
6. scary
7. random
8. interesting
9. fun

Sonya also said that I was "international", and that I could be dark/scary or random/weird at times. I don't really think this portrait shows me as ambitious, though, considering how it's not perfectly finished. I guess my "random" side is also expressed a little bit in the various materials I chose.

Would I want to show this image to other people or am I not particularly proud of it? Do I want to hang up this picture in my bedroom or am I not happy enough with the result?

It's a bit hard for me to answer this question, but I think I might show it to other people. I think it really represents me as a person and I would be happy to let others know more about myself by looking at it while I explain the meaning behind the materials. I also wonder what my family might think it says about me when I show it to them. On the other hand, I'm not particularly comfortable with having a huge picture of myself on the wall...especially since I think the final portrait didn't turn out as well as I had planned it to. I guess I would put it up in my room, but not in a more public place like the living room. I wouldn't want people to see it without me having a chance of telling them exactly what it means.