In anticipation of my show in May I decided to paint a new self portrait. I haven't done one for awhile, and I plan to devote part of my show to paintings I've done of myself over the years. Zislav Sikora, a visiting teacher from Chicago, once told me that self portraits were an important part of my work. Though I don't know how important they are, they certainly represent a large part of the paintings I've done throughout my life. This is a little one, 8x10, done with acrylic paint. I'd forgotten how much I like acrylics and am glad I tried them again. It's a fairly good likeness, though possibly a little flattering. If that's true, it is the first one that is. I have always been pretty brutal when portraying myself. I don't know if it's because of a poor perception of my appearance (or of myself in general), or lack of ability.
This painting is the result of three days of struggle. Usually I don't have to work so hard. It could be because I almost had to chain myself to my easel to keep from going back to my origami.
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