I did the self portrait for my picture here in response to a 3 primary color challenge in the oil painting forum. It was not great and it has not encouraged me to mutilate anyone else’s features. Still, it was fun and educational.

I could have asked my wife to sit but that could have lead to divorce.

Gary

It surprised me a bit to find this question in landscapes, but then I realized that many artists are more comfortable painting landscapes than people and here is the right place for such a question.

Self portraits are a good way to keep a record of your artistic progress. If done well they show your age and capability at that age in one image. Rembrandt did several self portraits they are prized by museums and collectors as among his best works.

I do a self portrait every few years, and I occasionally use myself for a figure model for imaginary works with people in them. I have at least fifteen works I painted with me as subject or a figure in them; four of those are self portraits. One of my self portraits was done when I was in art school and marked a turning point in how I paint. As for “is it gross”, who cares? paint whatever you want.