Self Portrait in Black

Here is a self-portrait that I did in a portrait painting class a couple of years ago. It's hard to paint a self-portrait that doesn't look intense. This usually has little to do with the artist's inner state, and everything to do with the concentration needed to be artist and model simultaneously. Besides, the self-portrait is often an assignment rather than a choice. As for me, I love to paint portraits, and started doing portraits back in high school -- often when I was supposed to be doing something else, such as studying.