Self Portrait (Selfie)

Self portraits have never really been my thing, and with results like this you can probably see why. The painting was based on a photo I took by holding the camera two feet in front of my face while I made a funny face. The painting captures the shimmering light effect and dark shadows that the flash produced, as well as the warped 'fish eye' from the lens. Does it look like me? Sort of. But it looks more like an intoxicated mannequin of an Irishman stuck in a bad horror movie.... To create realistic skin tones I use a strategy based on some advice from a magazine article written by the master of painting watercolour skin tones, Steve Hanks. His advice was to start with a layer of light blue and purples, and build layers of orange/peach tones on top. In this way, you avoid creating fake looking lobster red or canary yellow skin. Another aspect of keeping the skin tone real is to think about the reflected light, in this work the flash created white highlights on the front, while the dark surroundings (the photo was taken indoors at night) created bluish reflections on my temple.

Self Portrait (Selfie), watercolour 7.5 x11" cold press, 1999 (No. 1492)