I made this self-portrait for my final project of the year in 9th grade where there were no guidelines and my class was instructed to create whatever we wanted. I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity to the fullest potential in expanding some art skills that I was not very strong in previously, which for me was painting. I never had that much exposure to painting and shading so I decided to improve that skill through painting something not overly complicated, such as a self-portrait. I started with taking a close-up picture of my face with a stream of light on one side and reflecting a shadow on the other, for which I traced the outline onto a blank page in my art book. I not only wanted to practice shading, but I also wanted to gain experience in working with color. I began mixing different dark paints with a purple hue to create a dark shade, and light paints with an orange hue to create a light shade. My first layer was a wash where I laid down the fundamental transitions in shade through adding different amounts of water to my paint. After a few layers, I then painted along the edges without water to really make the shade contrasts stand out. I evened out the transition through mixing my purple and orange hues together, which I used to make the brown line down the middle of the face. Lastly, I painted a middle grey background to allow the face to pop.