Self Portrait, 2000

Self Portrait, 2000

This is a self portrait that Close created in the 2000, and is an example of one of his portraits after his accident. In this portrait he uses color separations to create the image. This was one of the first times he created something like this. Color seperations are using different variations of the primary colors. This particular part of the painting is a close up of the eye. I thought that it was a good example of how he used color in the portrait.

Chuck Close: Why Portraits?

In this inteview from 2010 Chuck Close discusses why he chooses to paint portraits. Close talks about how in the 1960's when painting was dead he decided that that would be the best time to do it; and when the art critics said that portraits were the one type of painting that really couldn't be done, Close decided to take a stab at that too. We should all be very happy that he did because Chuck Close is fantastic at making portraits of himself and other people.

Mark (1978-1979)

                                                                 Mark (1978-1979)

Mark is a photorealist painting that took 14 months for Chuck Close to complete. It is located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is an acrylic on canvas. The picture on the left is a full view of the painting and on the right is a detailed view of the eye. Mark was made from a series of airbrushed layers that imitate CMYK color printing. CMYK is the use of four colors of ink used in some color printing. After looking at the detail on the eye of this painting it is amazing to know that it only contains four different colors. From this painting you can see that Chuck Close is very good at taking a photograph and turning it into a detailed portrait.

Chuck Close: Self Portraits

Self Portrait 1983

Over the years Chuck Close has completed many self portraits of himself. The majority of his self portraits have been either oil on canvas or acrylic on canvas. This particular self portrait from 1983 is a 37 x 37 handmade paper pulp in 24 gray values and string. This sets it apart from many other portraits that Close has made and makes it truly unique.

Chuck Close- A Brief Biography

Big Self-Portrait 1967

Chuck Close is an American painter born in Washington state in 1940. He was an attendee of the University of Washington as well as Yale University. Close studied for a brief time in Vienna, and then moved to New York City in 1968. He is known mostly for the portraits he does based off of his own photographs of friends, family, and himself. Close's paintings are known for characteristically being cool and showing his subjects with expressionless faces. From the 1970's to today Close has experimented with media's such as mezzo tint, aquatint, linoleum cut, woodcut, screen print, paper pulp, and daguerreotype. In the year 1988 Chuck Close suffered from a collapsed spinal artery. Even though he was almost completely paralyzed Close is still able to paint to this day with the help of aids such as brace devices and wheelchairs.