And now for something completely different……

Pencil-up of the portrait

Several months ago, as you know, I decided to work again with the acrylic paints after a break of probably 25 years.  I had been thinking about it for some time earlier, but watching the British show “Portrait Artist of the Year” really inspired me to take the next step.  After the first set if paintings I have chronicled – both successful and unsuccessful – the thought came to me that perhaps I should attempt my own self portrait.  This is not as easy as it might seem, regardless of whether the portrait will be good or not, because I take terrible pictures when I know the camera is on me.  I sifted through decades of photos for which, unfortunately, I am the major photographer and therefore not in.  And the ones I am in rarely do me any kind of justice.  In fact, they are usually pretty awful.

Preliminary underpainting

Finally I settle on one from my wedding day.  It’s a fairly simple, candid shot of me looking over my shoulder as we drive away in my little silver pinto.  I like the picture because I am not looking directly at the camera, but just over my shoulder.  Time will tell how it turns out, but I already know the mouth is going to be hard.