I finally completed my self portrait painting and have applied to Sky Portrait Artist of the Year. What a battle this oil painting was!

The project started well with some really interesting light and shadow and a composition that I felt worked. The charcoal block-in drawing looked like me and then the first painting session was going fine, until it wasn't… My nose ruined it and that spread throughout the whole face.

I started again.

My nose still caused issues but the second painting, after 3 weeks and some extra layers of correction, turned out ok. Obviously I can still see where I would like to improve but I'm happy and have developed a lot during the painting process.

Here's a few images of the oil painting in various stages of progress.

You can see the final painting in my portfolio gallery section.

Wish me luck!