Self-Portrait

9" x 12" Watercolor pencils.

As I promised, I have painted my second watercolor over the weekend! Last night I could barely fall asleep as I debated what to paint, and I finally settled on a self-portrait (as I have tons of references photos! )

I am very pleased with the end result... despite the nose and eyes being a slight bit too high on the face. That is what I get for sketching quickly on a flat surface and not lifting the paper vertically to check if everything was in proportion! I did not realize the nose was too high until after I painted the skin on the face, and by then it was too late to modify the picture. Oh, well. A lesson learned.

I painted this piece differently than Water Lilies in Evening. Instead of putting the color on the paper by using the pencils and then adding the water, I tried a different technique I read about last night. I damped my brush first, rubbed it on the tip of the pencil, and then applied the color with the brush... the pencils never touched the paper. I found I had better control this way, and I love the result.

My reference photo was a picture I took of myself with my cellphone on 22 May 2006. My hair is shoulder-length now but that is all has changed since then.

© Jacquelyn Fisher. 18 March 2007.