Self portrait in oil

[Christina Kent]

I’ve been doing the intro to portrait painting in oils class with Joseph Todorovitch and decided to try a self portrait. I thought I was really getting the hang of portrait painting and that it would be easy- not so! I struggled a lot more with this portrait than I have with the portraits I did for the course. What do you think, is there something more difficult about painting a self portrait than other portraits? Is it just that you know your own likeness so well, so you know when it is wrong?

I think I captured my likeness, but am still not very satisfied with the portrait. Maybe the shadow areas are too flat? I tried using warm shadows to contrast the cool higlights on my face, but perhaps I could have made the shadows cooler and darker in some areas. What do you think?

Done in oils with the Zorn palette on arches oil paper, using a photo reference.

[Vanessa Christi]

You have done an amazing job with your self portrait!!! I especially love how you’ve painted your lips and the highlights on your nose and in your right eye. Great work!!!
<3

[Christina Kent]

Thanks for the kind words Vanessa 🙂

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