I fancied another go with the inktense pencils but, rather than doing another female nude,…
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Annual Self Portrait 2022
It’s time for the annual self portrait and after two years of inktense pencils, this year’s portrait is in oil pastels. I have a long way to go before I attempt this in watercolour.
I used a James Gurney tip on this one, which was to divide the face into three horizontal stripes. The cheeks should have a red tinge, everything above that gold and everything below it blue/green/grey. I’ve included plenty of other colours in there too, as usual. I enjoyed following the contours of the face with my fingers.
The eyes came out right really quickly, which gave my confidence a boost. The suit and shirt also came out well. This is the first time I’ve included any clothes in a self portrait. Oil pastels make some of this stuff so easy though. Where I had most trouble was with the ear. I painted it before the rest of the face and it’s colour didn’t harmonise with the rest of the face. Lesson learned there – do the ear and the face together next year. It took me a while to get to a background that I liked but repeatedly going over mistakes has left me with an amazing textured look.
I like this. I’m amazed at how well it came out. In places it looks like my brother and it’s always good when family resemblances come out in portraits. I don’t think anybody will want a painting of me looking pissed off, though, so this one won’t be going up for sale.
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