Self Portrait?

I believe that a self portrait is something that is thought out and defines who you are as a person. Its about spending time, however short or long, in front of a camera or canvas and thinking about what makes you, you. A self portrait is a representation of your inner self and when I see other teens' pictures on their Facebook or Myspace, I've come to realize that te definition of "self portrait" has been changed a little.

Every picture I see on these websites includes girls showing off as much skin as they can while making a cutesy or alluring pose, or guys showing off muscles or sports skills. And while I firmly believe that a self portrait is something that you should put time into, I can see who people are through their photos, making them sort of like self portraits. I can see what their family is like, the places they like to go, things the like to do and wear. In th millions of status updates people share what they did that day or quotes that are meaningful to them or how they feel that day. So in sense, Facebook and Myspace pictures are like a giant compilation of pictures that make up a self portrait, making their whole page a portrait in itself. Even if it's not what we as art students would normally think of as a "self portrait" (myself included), you sort of have to realize that the change in technology and generations creates a different view o n what art is and that a self portrait can be something so common as a Facebook page.

What Inspires Me?

My inspiration comes from the everything around me. I'm inspired by the world and people in it. The things that inspire me the most are music, paint samples, Lewis Caroll and the movie "Pan's Labyrinth".
Whenever I listen to certain songs I suddenly feel inspired to create; and every song create different inspirations. Listening to bands like Mumford and Sons, Sigur Ros, and Biffy Clyro inspires me to drive around places photograph every little thing that interests me (I have no idea why but they're all foregin bands, Maybe thats a reason why? who knows!) while other bands such as Hollywood Undead, Shakira, and Linkin Park inspire me to create something with meaning,because ceratin songs of theirs have those important underlying messages that you don't notice until you listen to it a few times.
Whenever I go to Walmart, Menards, etc., I always have to take home a few of those little paper paint sample squares. Then I go home and tape them to the side of my bookshelf and move colors around till i'm inspired by certain color schemes. Then I think of works that would fit well with those colors. It seems totally weird, but it works for me quite well :).
Lastly, i'm inspired by one of my favorite authors, Lewis Caroll, and the spanish film "Pan's Labyrinth". Lewis Caroll's twisted, upside-down view of the world and stories, And the creepy, dark fairytale of "Pna's Labyrinth" really inspire me to get creative outside of real-life sketches to do something crazy or weird or sometimes creepy.

Building My Art Portfolio

After reading the list of portfolio requirements for Milwaukee college, I thought that most of it would be fairly easy to put together. Then after thinking on it more I realized that most of what they wanted was drawings from real life, which is not my strongest area of drawing. I thought some of it would be more applying your creatitivy and imagination to your art, but it's mostly still lifes, figure drawings, etc. My portfolio will be needing A LOT of work now.
Originally I planned for my portfolio to include the work that best shows my creativity and skill overall and planned to put in works from all sorts of media. Of course now, I know i'll be needing to do a lot more rethinking about my portfolio. This year I plan to step outside of my box of the medias and topics I usually use and try new things to really help broaden my portfolio I'm planning to show my portfolio to as many colleges as I can, but my number one priority college is Webster University in St. Louis. Webster's requirements are pretty much the same basic requirements as Milwaukee, but they also want a drawing of a "hand tool". Hopefully I can use new experiences in AP Portfolio to help put together a piece that is from real life, but also has my own twist on it!