Self-portrait

(C) 2016 Dale DiMauro

Recently, I started this self-portrait. Last month, I had considered taking a local workshop in watercolor specializing in portraiture. Initially, there was a small group registered so I was anticipating which subject to focus on. Then I realized, my wife and I were scheduled to usher a live music venue the evening before which would get us home late. In the end I did not attend the workshop as the timing just was not going to work out.

However, I became intrigued by this picture my wife took of me when on vacation in Maine. There is personal significance for me as the bench is named after a relative of mine who lived to be over one hundred years old. I like the composition as much for the face as for my dangling hands in the foreground. Over the last year I have been trying to improve on the portrayal of hands in my paintings as many say that hands are the most difficult body part to capture.

The more I studied this composition, the more I realized it was an opportunity for me to practice the use of masking fluid. The wood, which the bench is made of, has peeling paint on some edge areas with textural qualities that I am looking to emphasize. The masking fluid preserves areas from paint, which can removed later on in the painting process. Defined edges or strong color contrasts can be preserved this way to great affect.