Self Portrait From Life

[Classical Vince]

Hi Gang. I've always been intrigued with self-portraits done by master artists over the centuries (Rembrandt rules!). I dont consider myself a portrait artist by nature but I know how important it is to have the skill under your belt. The last self portrait I did was from a photo (yuck!) so Im finally taking on the challenge of doing one from life.

To begin, I used a black-mirror to get the block-in done. A black-mirror is nothing but a piece of glass coated with black paint on the back. It simplifies the tonal patterns which makes all the information-overload easier to deal with and it supports a mass-drawing technique. I had overhead lighting in the studio, which I hate, but its what I have to work with. ;)

The first two shots were done with the black-mirror and the last is the start of detailing using a real mirror. This is a preliminary drawing for a self-portrait that intend on painting in oil using a limited palette. I probably wont polish this to a fine-finish since the intention is to capture a likeness...then...move on to the meat...OIL PAINT! ;) Thanks for looking.

9"x12" blk/wht charcoal on Canson paper

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Aug-2004/25528-1.jpg

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Aug-2004/25528-2.jpg

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/13-Aug-2004/25528-3.jpg

[Stoy Jones]

Beautiful work Vince! I really like the light in this and the subtle hint of your right eye. I hope you come back and give us a treat and post the results of the painting.

Stoy

[*Deirdre*]

I second all of that! :D

[dordy]

yea me to. i would love to see the finished painting. hope you post it :D

[Classical Vince]

Hi Stoy! This is diffused lighting so I am expecting to have a lot of lost/found edges to exploit ;)

Thanks deepat and dordy, I'll be sure to post it here when its done! :D

[roslyn]

Nice! Some parts of this show the roughness of the paper. Others show some really nicely done skin tones, with such subtle variations to indicate the reflected light and shadows. Don't know whether that's from the scan or whether that's what is on your Canson, but I like the look of it.

Congrats on getting this far. I, too, look forward to seeing your finished painting.

Roslyn

[Classical Vince]

Hi Ros! Its definitely the paper, it adds a lot of atmosphere. On larger pieces it doesnt stand out as much. Still have 6-9 more hrs on this before I get my brush wet ;)

[Classical Vince]

Got a little more done. A couple more sessions to go. btw - the speck on my right cheek is a mole, lol.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/19-Aug-2004/25528-4.jpg

[Zarathustra]

Awesome as always Vince! So will you be doing this one in oils at some point? After the still life with colour I saw before, I can't wait to see the results.

Really enjoyed your abstracted work too.

[Classical Vince]

Hey thanks Gavin. Yeah, I plan on doing the self portrait for my next oil piece. A little brave of me but Im pushing myself, the limited palette was comfy. Thanks for the post.
-vince
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Probably one more update to go. :wink2:

http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/20-Aug-2004/25528-5.jpg

[Georgi]

Wow! This is tremendous, Vince! Great work! :)

I think I should go back to drawing by numbers after seeing your work! :p

Lee :)

[Classical Vince]

Hi Lee. Thank you for the kind words, please dont get me wrong but sometimes...comments like yours tend make me feel like this group doesnt like my work for this very reason. I hope my work inspires people, not make them feel less capable. I work damn hard at this and I sacrifice for it everyday. Again, no offense taken from your post, thank you for the compliment.

It just seems like the group here doesnt appreciate the effort I put into my art so I havent felt particularly inspired to keep making posts here.

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http://www.wetcanvas.com/Community/images/27-Aug-2004/25528-6.jpg

[roslyn]

Am really enjoying watching your progress on this. And look forward to your updates.

Roslyn

[K Taylor-Green]

Wonderful work. Looking forward to the oil version, but this stands on it's own.

[Gail45CA]

Wonderful job. I love the texture and the overall subtleness of the portrait, very nice!

[*Deirdre*]

Glad to see you continue to make progress, Vince as you are a good artist, IMO. Sorry to hear you don't feel appreciated in this group...but not altogether surprised as I've rarely seen you supporting any/all the others in here either. Note, this is my second comment in this thread! :p