done with self-portrait

i worked about 30 minutes on the self-portrait yesterday before deciding i wasn't making anything better. so, i stopped and signed it.

basically, i finished off the pattern on the shirt leaving the bottom right hand corner on the painting a lighter value as i wanted to sign it there. this is the first time that i can remember that i planned ahead for the signature spot. hmmmm, not sure what that means. i put a couple of glazes on the background to bring it up to the value that seemed right.  i painted a fairly bright warm quinacridone gold starting from the shoulders on both sides and graded up into the rest. then, after that dried a light layer of permanent rose to tone down the quin gold. lastly, a glaze of mineral violet. c'est tout.

i put some dilute washes of cerulean blue on my upper lip, lower cheeks, and chin to sort of explain the beard which was a little worse than stubble in the photo. just to add a manly edginess to the whole thing!

i tried scratching in some "gray" hairs on my thinning mane with a utility knife after failing to get the effect i was looking for with lifting color. it seemed to be quickly turning disastrous so i decided to leave it well enough alone.

i don't think there was anything else this time around.

"that ragged old shirt...and friend"  11"X15"

just a word on the title. i have had that patterned shirt, which is heavy woven flannel, for almost twenty years. it is my favorite shirt. needless to say, it is getting a little (okay, a lot) worn and thin. it has been banished to the studio with the rest of our place designated a ragged shirt-free zone. i got it from territory ahead during their (an my) younger days. an inquiry to them garnered a reply indicating that they no longer carried that particular shirt but perhaps i would be interested in another one of their fine shirt products. please. nothing can replace that shirt. so this painting is a much a memorial to that soon to be deceased shirt as much as a self-portrait. hence "that ragged old shirt....and friend".