Self portraits

Have you ever made a self portrait?

Self portraits are very interesting to look at, they convey some of the artists views and thoughts of themselves. Even if one know the person, one might get some new insight to their personality, or perhaps change some of our beliefs.

To make my own portraits is quite another thing, very interesting and it might touch ones feelings as well. The one below is tiny me, and it was very challenging to make. Mostly because of the technique, small patches of paper torn apart from  pre-paint magazine pages and of course to get a certain amount of likeness. Even though the mouth isn't right, I'm very happy with this one, and it was unexpected to meet all the feelings that came along. Quite a journey, I'd say.

This next one is done in the same technique, and was a try to locate the different values in a face. From the lightest to the darkest, and I think I did it quite well. I didn't like not to make my teeth white, but that was part of the task. Not as detailed as the baby picture, but that were out of my focus. It is me, but it feels a bit strange. I think it's the hair that doesn't feel familiar, it's too short I think.

The green one is practicing values as well, but this time with paint only. It's made on a very special paper with lots of bits and pieces in it. This is a very good portrait of me, if I might say so myself, and it amazes me each time I look at it. It feels like "we" share a secret or two.

The last one is the newest and the one one could use to point me out in a crowd. It's made with my profile pic as inspiration, have a look at the top of this post and compare them. I made it towards the end of 2016, and it's carved in lino and hand printed. I'm happy with the result even though the space between my front teeth isn't quite that big.
I still haven't tried to just paint one, too afraid to try I believe. Perhaps some other time.

If you haven't tried to make your self portrait yet, I challenge you to do so. It's unlike everything else.