Portrait study process part II...

This is another portrait that began life as a class demo. Once again I felt compelled to take it to finish. I simply used Ivory Black and Titanium White for this one. It seems to be painted a little looser than usual, which can only be a good thing for me...

A Semblance of Self...process

This was good practice. I propped a mirror up on my radiator, to the right hand side of my window with natural light pouring in, and off I went. I didn't do a drawing before hand, just dove straight in there with paint, and I admit I prefer this approach. It's funny how it takes awhile (for me anyway) to get it looking even remotely close to how you want it to look. The early stages look awkward, strange, and incorrect, but gradually you refine it, paint over bits, drink tea, stare at it, and one day it looks like genuine progress has taken place. A few friends have commented how serious I look. My response is always the same- how would you look if you were staring at your reflection for hours on end? In that respect I think I look cheerful. I had to make a slight adjustment about halfway through the painting as I got my hair cut, so it revealed more of my forehead. The orange glow reflected on the right hand side of the face was really an accident. I was relying on natural light, so one of the evenings when I began to lose that light I turned on the lamp behind me. I thought it looked good so I incorporated it into the final painting. I think it works better because of it...

A Semblance of Self (Self-Portrait)

This is quite simply a bit of practice, as I can't imagine using it for anything specific other than that. I tried to do an honest representation, to capture a certain mood in which I find myself in frequently these days...
I enjoyed this painting very much, as I'm slowly beginning to loosen up my application of paint, although I still need to take it further without jeopardising the familiarity of the 'sitter'.