Annual Self Portrait 2022

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.