A mixed media self-portrait on canvas

As you know, I've been practising drawing self-portraits in my sketchbook this year. I decided to use one of the sketches as my reference and work on my second mixed media self-portrait on canvas (see my first mixed media self-portrait on canvas). Of course, I chose to use the self-portrait sketch that drove me nuts because I like to "torture" myself unnecessarily. *LOL*

The background is a mish mash of scrunched up wrapping tissue, gesso, acrylic paints and inks. Then I did my initial sketch with a waterbrush pen filled with purple Liquitex acrylic ink. I like working with this ink because of its transparency (lets me build layers) and open time (even when it dries to touch, I can still lighten the colour with a wet towel and vigorous rubbing).

This was how it looked mid-point....bearing little resemblance to me. *hahaha*

Here was how it looked when I was working on the details...

Moving forward, I might have to reconsider how I do the backgrounds for my portrait paintings. While the tissue and gesso added some nice texture, it also created weird bumps and uneven surfaces which made it difficult to paint over.

Plus, I might have been too heavy-handed with my inks when working on the background. See the green bits on the forehead and cheek? The green keeps emerging even after several layers of heavy-body artist grade acrylic paint. If people ask, I shall say it's artistic style but you and I know both the truth *shh...don't tell ok?*

I hung my painting up on the wall and tweaked the details over the course of a few days. Apparently, walking past a painting every day helps you see it with fresh eyes. I think I'm going to seal this painting and move on to the next. What do you think?

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