The process of doing a self portraiture was, in general, probably the most interesting thing I've ever done in my art journey. Studying myself for hours on end and trying to translate very specific colors, shadows, and highlights was so uncomfortable at first. In the original photograph, I was wearing absolutely no makeup and I was extremely sick and going through a rough time in my personal life, so I didn't feel as beautiful or confident while getting my picture taken.
It wasn't until I picked up a paintbrush and began the process that I felt a change. Not only in how I viewed the artwork, but how I viewed myself. All of the "flaws" or "imperfections" I saw staring at myself were only existent because I believed they were there. Society praises perfection rather than truth, and I want to change the way we view ourselves and others. I want to tell you that YOU are ART. You are beautiful exactly the way you are because you exist, period. Your purpose is not to be perfect, but to be real and honest and genuinely just you. If you're being you, congrats! You're on the right path to finding true happiness.
Besides that, however, the actual process took a couple of weeks. I didn't really keep track of the amount of hours I put into it, but it was several hours a week.
First, we traced outlines of the details, and labelled where the highlights and shadows were going to be placed. This was the quickest and easiest part of the entire process.
After that, however, the long journey of painting began to take place.
To me, any sort of art process is just like a puzzle and is actually quite simple if you change the way you go about handling and viewing the artwork. You put the colors, shadows, and highlights where they belong, and try your best to match up the colors correctly to whatever it is you are studying. Studying the artwork in pieces and sections will help to simplify the process, and will work more effectively, rather than studying the art piece as a whole. Once you get the hang of correctly establishing where the colors should be placed, then you've successfully learned the hardest part of painting. It's all about trial and error, really taking your time, studying what it is you're making, and putting your heart into it. Where there is a will, there's a way.
