Self Portrait with Roses

One afternoon in my studio, I caught my reflection in the mirror. I noticed the stark tonal contrast between my shirt and skin, along with particular colours of my skin that were made visible by the afternoon light. I decided to paint this imagery which had captured my attention.

Given the strong dark navy of my shirt, I chose to push the saturation of various colours in my skin to make them more apparent. I complimented the composition with two roses I had in my studio. I kept the substrate visible in the background to imbue raw qualities to the work. Rawness is something that I always wish to depict, in some way or another, in all my self-portraits.

Size: 25.9cm (W)  x 30.2cm (H) - Framed cm 28.8(W) x 33cm (H)

Medium:  Oil on Masonite

Year: 2021