Self-portrait

Oil and gold leaf on board

March 31, 2021

I thought it would be funny to paint the most egotistical self-portrait I could think of. At first I wanted to paint myself as Napoleon, but I didn't have the costume to take a reference photo in. So I made myself a saint instead.

To paint this picture, I used a comparator mirror, which you can learn more about in the excellent documentary Tim's Vermeer. There are two pictures of the process below.

Basically, you set up a photograph and a mirror in such a way that you can constantly check your painting against the reflection of the photo. It's like tracing, but in color.


Click images for higher resolution



Copyright © 2021 Sal Elder