Self Portrait - Exposed

The last time I attempted a self portrait in paint (there are a couple of drawings lurking somewhere) was over 10 years ago at college, and I never finished the face. Why? Because I didn't know how so gave up. Drawing facial features I could do, painting them is a whole other ball game. So when Inspire Me Thursday announced this week's project as a Self Portrait one I thought I'd try it again. I have painted a couple of portraits of other people with varying degrees of success over the last few years so can I do my own likeness?

For someone who prefers to be the other side of the camera taking a decent shot of myself was a challenge in itself (and no, I'm not showing you!). Once I settled on an image I was vaguely happy with I set to the painting, oh and speed is of the essence here as I need to finish it today and I have to entertain the baby so the pressure is on. I'm using acrylic paint on canvas board. This is the first stage with the main areas blocked in over the background colour of Rose Madder.

Next stage while the paint is still wet I add a mix of white, viridian and gold to the background to balance out the painting - red with strawberry blond hair don't sit well! I also start adding shading to the face and neck. Now we wait for the paint to dry...

Next I start to fill in the features and continue to sculpt the face, also start to add the highlights to the hair. Once I am happy with the hair colour I will adjust and finish the background to compliment it. At the moment this is close to how I look when I get out of bed, my darling boy calls me a scarecrow - charming! Not quite finished yet though...

So here we are, hair brushed and make up on ;0)

and although it still needs a bit of work as I can see errors I am pretty pleased, not bad for a days work. My mum should recognise it at least!