Painted Selfie

Calm and Collective 8x10

A common artistic practice is to do the self portrait.

I've put it off til now since I hadn't done much painting in the way of portraiture. Creating pet portraits can still be a challenge, for expression, coloring and breed accurately.


So I began the process of my own self portrayal with taking a selfie on my phone camera. It's not something I am use to. I'm always the one behind the camera so I have very few photos of myself to work from.


Painting from a photo seemed a lot easier than looking in a mirror at my reflection like those masters of days gone by. Did you know Van Gogh did 40 some self portraits.

Sunny Disposition 8x10

After taking lots of photos I decided on these three poses for their expression and light. I discovered painting a self portrait can be very challenging. You want to edit out those parts of yourself you don't like or are resistant to accepting, like the results of aging. We always look better as we look back.


I do not anticipate that I will be offering portraiture painting commissions anytime soon. It is a much more tedious process and I can't imagine trying to satisfy a clients desire and how they imagine they look.

Blue Period 8x10

I'm glad I gave it a try, it helps me grow as an artist and now I have a new and more current image of myself for my blog.
It's just which one expresses myself more.