Self-portrait

I began by setting myself up near the patio doors so I could utilise the natural light coming through, with the darker surroundings of my living room behind me. I decided on drawing a quick outline in pencil onto my canvas first just to get an idea of where to space things. I again used oils for this study going back over and blending to get lighter tones where the light is shining onto me and creating darker dull tones for my surroundings. I tried a few poses out, smiling seemed like it might be a bit hard to do and a side profile was also a bit challenging. In the end I thought I would perhaps keep it more simple with just a raised eyebrow, closed lip and my head turned slightly.
I put my finished painting on Instagram and Facebook just to see what kind of response it would get, and I was pleasantly surprised by the positive feedback. Although I cant help but think that, would the people I know be that honest in their opinion?
Some of the comments I received when talking to family members were:-

“You can tell it’s you”
“It has an old fashioned quality”
“Your boobs are bigger in real life”

I believe its easier to scrutinize your own face rather than someone else’s as you can’t really offend yourself? Its a face you know completely and look at probably every day in the mirror. I think this has helped me to be realistic in what I look like, from the slightly wide set eyes and full cheeks to the small pursed mouth. They are not perfect features but they are my own and what I recognise. When I look at this self-portrait I do think it resembles me, although perhaps the natural lighting has been a little too kind in not giving me my usual eye bags! (courtesy of my 4 month old baby).
The hardest part to tackle with this painting I would say was the hair? I can’t seem to get hair right? I also found the lips slightly hard to do as well?! There was a highlight across the top of the lip I couldn’t quite get right. I guess I have tried to tackle these issues just by letting the areas dry and adding more tones of colour to the hair and amending the top lip with a softer shade of white (not such a dazzling white).