Naked Self-Portrait, Would You?
Posted: Thursday, June 10, 2010
by LeahG Artist
Cartoon & Illustration Services
I asked this question on a forum recently to guage whether there was a market for a certain type of art work that may or may not exist within the art market at the moment.
I asked if people would consider having a naked self-portrait hanging on a wall in their home if the picture was altered enough that it was not obvious it was them but not so much that they themselves couldnt appreciate the beauty of their own naked form.
I gave an image as an example of how a photograph of them naked might be.
The response I received was mainly no. This response was based on the fact that many people were embarrassed or displeased by their own naked form and also that they thought people would have to be somewhat vain or exhibitionist in nature to want a naked self-portrait in the first place.
Some of the more arty respondants replied that they would consider it but would prefer an artists impression as oppose to an altered photograph. They felt that that the naked form is a beautiful thing and done tastefully it would be a nice momento of perhaps better times in terms of their own form.
So, would you or wouldnt you, dare to bare?
I asked if people would consider having a naked self-portrait hanging on a wall in their home if the picture was altered enough that it was not obvious it was them but not so much that they themselves couldnt appreciate the beauty of their own naked form.
The response I received was mainly no. This response was based on the fact that many people were embarrassed or displeased by their own naked form and also that they thought people would have to be somewhat vain or exhibitionist in nature to want a naked self-portrait in the first place.
Some of the more arty respondants replied that they would consider it but would prefer an artists impression as oppose to an altered photograph. They felt that that the naked form is a beautiful thing and done tastefully it would be a nice momento of perhaps better times in terms of their own form.
So, would you or wouldnt you, dare to bare?
LeahG Artist and Designer
Leah left the retail and health management world a few years ago to become a freelance writer and artist. She now enjoys creating funky vibrant cartoons and illustrations for websites, promotional materials and as gifts. Leah would love to illustrate her own children's books in the future.
Visit LeahG's Cartoon and Illustration Services website here for updates and latest art work.
Leah left the retail and health management world a few years ago to become a freelance writer and artist. She now enjoys creating funky vibrant cartoons and illustrations for websites, promotional materials and as gifts. Leah would love to illustrate her own children's books in the future.
Visit LeahG's Cartoon and Illustration Services website here for updates and latest art work.
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Top-level comments on this article: (4 total)I used to go out with a woman who hung nude portraits of her mother on the wall. Both her parents were passed away, and her father was a famous painter in the U.S., with paintings in the Museum of Modern Art, NY. I was too polite to say, but having her naked mother watching us as we made kinky love was kind of bizarre, in a mental way. Also, her daughter didn't really like it, and had many confrontations with her mother about seeing her naked grandmother all over the house.oh dear, yes that is odd!
I've painted a number of portraits, but none of me naked. To do so would seem a bit vain if I were exceptionally proportionate, or dumb since at age 53 I am not something the general public wishes to see naked.I believe it's just as or more important to please and consider the viewers as it is to please ones own curiousities.Agreed, this idea is more related to wanting to capture an image of oneself before gravity take hold I suppose. Personal pic more than public.
Upon reading your article I thought about the cartoon going around on the internet right now, it is a shot of two nude seniors at least 70 or 80 on the beach and the caption says thank God the cameraman didn't shoot them from the front, and that would be my sentiments about a nude of me. I paint also but my head is the only thing I've painted and that's enough. I do appreciate a good nude that is tastefully done, but I think that is the key. I think most people are embarrassed by the human body and do not see it as art. Interesting article Leah.It was very much art though in times gone by, statues were mainly naked, as were the characters in many paintings. I know when I visit a stately home I see many a bare breast and bottom. Not so much naked men though.
You're good Leah- really good! I LOVE that cartoon-It reminds me of three people I know...Haha thanks Ella :)
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