Following on the heels of last week’s watercolor portrait, I decided to get bold and try a self-portrait in the same medium. I attempted one in ink wash a month ago, but this time I was going full-out with the paints.
I started as usual with a quick pencil sketch to get the basic proportions and the placement of everything. In past self-portraits I’ve noticed a tendency to make my face too wide, which can make me look obese or give me a childlike expression. So this time I tried more carefully to prevent that widening.
I wonder if having a dedicated drawing space would help with some of these issues. As everyone knows who has taken photos, it’s easy for distortion to creep in. Getting too close to your subject changes the features, as do lighting and angle. When it comes to drawing, it’s better not to make the drawing on a flat (horizontal) surface like a desk; it’s better to use an easel (almost fully vertical) or a drawing board or table (angled from the horizontal). What I’ve been doing about all this is positioning the mirror as far away from me as I can (which isn’t very), using as strong a light as I can, and setting up a makeshift drawing board with an oversize picture book propped on a thick novel. It works, but I often wonder if a bigger drawing table would be better, or an easel-lamp-and-mirror setup.
The finished portrait, as so often happens, both pleases me and indicates where I need improvement. The colors are all wrong; everything came out too pink, even though I used mostly yellow ochre and white (not that you can tell!). I still have almost no awareness of how water is working with my paints, so I unintentionally used very little water and ended up with a very opaque painting (like the giant brown blob that is the hair)… which isn’t a problem, but if I’m going to do it I ought to do it on purpose instead of accidentally! And as always, my shading isn’t as subtle as I’d like.
But I think the likeness is closer than any of my previous self-portraits, I’m still happy with my lines (the glasses, for instance, were surprisingly easy to do), and there’s actual dimension to the face, which is always cause for celebration. It took me so many years of drawing to figure out how to create volume in a two-dimensional space, I can’t help but feel triumphant every time it happens.
I think painting is good for me. I’m so grateful I decided to take the plunge with it, instead of waiting forever, as was my original plan!
Tomorrow’s artist date takes me in search of sunshine and fresh produce. See you then!
“instead of waiting forever, as was my original plan!” hahaha!
very impressed with your self-portrait, even if it is a little pink ๐
be sure to wear/bring lots of sunscreen if you’re going out tomorrow! all around here (peninsula, coast, etc.) the forecast is highest for tuesday. dunno if that applies for the east bay but better safe than sorry!
Thank you ๐ And thanks for the sunscreen tip!! I’ll be in SF so your forecast probably holds… and it’s actually sunny and hot here, for the first time all “summer,” so SF might actually be the same. Makes me thankful I scheduled my exercise for the evening, and reserved a City CarShare car to get me around instead of my usual walk. ๐ (Erik’s in Palo Alto tomorrow so I don’t have access to our own car!)
I love it!! I’m so excited that we’re both playing with watercolors right now, and your paintings have really motivated me to keep up with my own artistic adventures. ๐
I’m excited about it too! ๐ Hope your adventures are going well. ๐ Your mini-making at least, judging by your blog, seems both prolific and as amazing as ever!
Self portraits are hard in any medium. Good job, Lisa!
Thank you, Sherry!
I really like this self-portrait–the shading is lovely, especially given that you’re still experimenting with watercolor. Also, I’ve found it extreeeemely difficult to approximate anything approaching realistic color with watercolors–I think the pinkness reads as a deliberate choice and isn’t something to fret over.
Thank you so much, Chad! Well, I’ll keep working on the colors all the same — it won’t do me any harm. ๐
I thought I was going to have to wrestle my way into painting, but the brush feels more natural in my hand than I expected. I’m so glad I gave it a go. ๐
Wow, there’s something about the glasses that really captures you. I dont know what I mean by that but there’s something about the glasses I find very pleasing to look at. Keep it up, I love looking at self portraits!
Thanks, Lisa! I like the glasses too and I don’t know why either, except that it was really incredibly satisfying to paint them!
I hope to give you plenty more self-portraits to look at. ๐
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