Unrestrained Self-portrait

After pondering about a subject, my teacher asked what I was interested in, and I haven't done a figure painting in a while, so I decided to grab a mirror from the second floor bathroom and get to it. I started with a very basic charcoal sketch of myself. 

The next session I worked on it, I used completely unrealistic tones for the flesh to let go of attempting to keep my work realistic. I put colors I enjoyed on my palette and thought about how those colors could interact with each other to create a sense of light on a form. 

During this session, my teacher spoke about mediums for oil paint. I had been using a 'traditional' mixture that included damar varnish, linseed oil and turpenoid. It turns out, over time, that mixture will actually yellow a painting and it may even crack. He spoke about clear gel mediums for oil paints that help even the slowest drying colors dry faster. I kept working with just a brush, my medium and paint. 

During the third session I worked on my self-portrait, I was graced with the chance to experiment with this miraculous medium for oils called alkyd gel medium. It is used for impasto and holds brush marks. I brought in the use of my palette knife and I feel that it helped immensely with the form of the face, it didn't appear to be as flat as when I was using a brush and thinner medium. 

I was advised to complete all of the sections of the face because the form flows into the facial features and if I were to wait too long they would look flat and disconnected. Keeping the same lighting idea, I made the whole head one. IF I were to add the hair too early, it would also end up looking disconnected and placed on.

I am very happy with where this piece is going so far, and it feels like it has been awhile since I could say that.