Just for fun, I thought I'd make a record of a self portrait in progress, recorded rather erratically (i.e. whenever I feel like throwing it on the scanner.) Each session represents a couple of hours of work, roughly speaking.

There are now seven stages of the work on-line - starting with the original oil sketch, and ending with the completed version. They are shown on the page in descending order, from the final to the first - in order not to scare viewers off.

For those that are interested, the colours used were: Mars Black, Ivory Black, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Raw Umber, Olive Green, Yellow Ochre (light), Ultramarine, Carmine, Alizarin Crimson, and Lead White.

If you are interested in brushwork; click on an image. It should bring up a high resolution (medium quality) JPG scan - about 200 KB.
 

	Final (?) State Well, I give up! this has gone on long enough! It has been fun though...
	Current State (State 6) Well, things are progressing a bit; mostly through a little creative destruction. I'm in the process of reshaping the left eye (my right eye)and the lips and my neck. And my poor mangled ear! A cross between Spock & van Gogh that ear is... So much to do....
	State 5 Not exactly a constructive weekend! Spent most of the time undoing the effects of well meant improvements..but I did manage to fill out the head a bit. Lost part of my ear though; must be a subliminal van Gogh thing. And that grouchy look is back.  BTW - the white spot on the left of the painting is where I tend to hold it.
	State 4 Well, a busy day today, mostly "housecleaning". Straightened out the old schnozz, and that ear looks  almost ready to hear! Except for what appears to be dandruff over the top. And a bad case of jaundice & sunburn.  Ah, well, something for tomorrow.
	State 3 Well, I seem to be recovering from whatever is was I had: I'm getting some normal colour, losing the bloat - I'm even growing ears! (Though they are still a bit fuzzy). & Thanks to the barber  for taking a little off the top. But I'm not really wearing pancake makeup, and I don't really have popcorn stuck in my teeth, and I'm not naturally so grumpy looking. Guess it still needs some more work!
	State 2 Well, looks like the bits and pieces are slowly moving towards their proper places.  As for the colour, well you'd look ashen too if you had something like that stuck to the side of your head.
	The Original State This was a quick oil sketch I did to demonstrate some issues re. JPEG compression and resolution. Looks more like the compression (followed by a severe inflation) was carried out on me. But maybe it's salvageable.