Emulation: Why Scheile, and How.

In this project I decided to emulate Egon Schiele, the Viennese Expressionist. The first aspect of Schiele that I modeled my piece after was the portrait. Egon was said to have a body of work that was exhausted in self portraiture. Other aspects that are notable are the deliberation of the mark that flattens the image, bringing it closer to the canvas, or page. Also, there is a familiar feel of simplification to the composition, and emphasis on line quality that is not to be ignored. The piece that is foremost in my mind is a self-portrait sitting minus the chair. It is the model for the composition. I also decided to emulate the quilt pattering in the heavier marks of some of Schiele's
more ambitious paintings, most notably "Death and the Maiden", and "Agony", as well at the patterned background in many of his landscapes. I wanted to maintain my own sense of aestheticism, so I kept my own hand the prominent quality in the piece, just as Shiele would. In this way I was able to abandon a mere copy and keep the work mine. In short the aspect of Expressionism was kept only in theory in order to maintain the integrity of the piece, though the construction of the composition was all borrowed. The major dichotomy between a Schiele piece and my emulation is the absence of watercolor, but the remainder still being charcoal. In closing the styles may differ but the theory of aesthetic is upheld.