Another self portrait

I did this one from a photograph I took of myself with my smartphone. The angle was a little weird (see previous about smartphone), but it's definitely easier to work from a photo than from the mirror. I took Charles Reid's suggestion from his book The Natural Way to Paint (in which he delivers a contour drawing lesson) and started with the eyeballs this time, working my way outward, instead of starting with, say, the top of the head. I think it helps with face proportions, since it makes it pretty easy to get the distance between the eyes and use them as anchors from which to measure other points. The nose is too short, the mouth is too low and rather oddly shaped, but it's a closer likeness. I still think I like the first wonky one in the mirror better, though! I didn't really have the time to paint it, so I just laid in a background and a few shadows and let it go at that. This definitely takes practice!