In both of my attempts at drawing a self portrait in Adobe Illustrator, I attempted to express an artistic style as an opportunity to practise and learn new aspects of design. This was the main decision in my approach for this section of the assignment. When designing the first self portrait I enjoyed the noir style of drawing I had been achieving within my previous assignment, and so I wanted to attempt a more high detail version of what I had previously drawn. The difficulty during the process was deciding on how much detail to include. The use of simple black and white meant more focus would be drawn onto the shapes and structure of the piece as opposed to the colours and shading. A personal opinion of the final draft is an acknowledgement that less is more in this circumstance, the piece becomes cluttered and would benefit more from a minimalistic approach. The second design was done much later on, towards the end of my work schedule, its process was intended to be a culmination of the technical skills I have learned within Adobe Illustrator. That was the drive for this version, more emphasis was focused on the detail of the image; the exploration and consideration of highlights and shadows to bring shape to the portrait. Finally was an opportunity to use colour within the medium. An expressive palette was chosen over a hyper realistic one, a choice originated due to a lack of confidence with colour knowledge, but doubled down on as a result of preference.
