new experience

This is my first attempt at painting a self portrait. I realized recently that creating a self portrait is something that I have never done before. It is a lot more difficult that I ever thought it would be. For example, this portrait is more masculine that I think I am... Other ones that I have sketched have just been off. I have written autobiographical pieces and I thought this would be similar but I was wrong. In writing where I can correctly proportion reality and illusion i cannot do the same with a representaion of my own image.

It is also interesting what happens when looking into the mirror for a long time to try and really see what I look like. I start notticing things I have never seen before (maybe I really should do something about my eyebrows... my glasses are always crooked) but I think I also get glimpses of what other people see... a strange feat when I realize I am looking at what others see while remaining behind my own eyes.