Portrait Of An Odd Feeling

Another more-or-less spontaneous portrait (perhaps, self-portrait) built up from the left over paints on the main canvas I’m currently working. I started with laying in blues over the whole board… I was blending the paints right on my other canvas and then brushing off the extra here. The blob in the middle became the face I intended, sort of… I mean I only sort of intended a face… Well, what else would I do while deep in the practice of portraiture?

A few days latter, I was blending in some unbleached titanium and burnt umber onto the main work and found it could be a great abstracted form against the blues. My brush had lots of paint to unload, so I added a clearer outline to the face as well. Now I felt in it and had to toss m ore paint onto it! Along came a grey that was drying out… this gave some beautifully messy textures.

Fast forward a few days… I’m still considering skin tones for a big portrait and decided to test a bit here… so, I added a hint of pink and chromium green. With the face clear in my eye, I added hair then gave in and painted in an Outsider eye! The hair came last and Payne’s Grey delivered! I also used it for a little contouring.

When I stepped back the thought came to me that it felt odd… not off, but odd. I felt the smile on my face and the piece titled itself… like so many of my pieces.

Materials: Acrylic on board

Dimensions: 10” (25.4cm) x 8” (20cm)