First painting 2011....

So I haven't painted in years as you can tell. And on top of that I decided to do a portrait... self-portrait. It's BAD... REAL BAD. But I thought that maybe you can see the progress over time. My nose is off, the eyes not only off but cartoony, among other things. I'm hoping that in the next couple of days to "fix" it, that way I can "remember" my painting technique.

I'm using acrylics on paper and I love the texture the paper gives. I know that by the time I am done all that texture will be gone, but that's the nature of plastic, which is as we know all that acrylics is. I almost wish I had brought oils with me to be able to work the paint better, but acrylics are more forgiving (not going muddy so fast and keeping their pigment longer). Also I can wait a day and practically start over.

Tonight I will draw the basic portrait lines of eyes/nose/mouth, and start painting over this one. I feel like you can see that I have an IDEA of what I need to do with this one, but obviously technique is not yet there. That and I may need better and smaller brushes for some of the tiny details.

I actually can't wait to see how this progresses. And then maybe do some more. The acrylic paper pad I brought with me has 10 sheets. I have 2 weeks left. Here's to hoping that the pad is complete by the time I get back. Finger's crossed.