Although most of my artwork has women in it, this is the first time I try to paint myself. I must say it was pretty easy. The difficult part was to create a background that would illustrate the magic that can come out of the brush and the artist's hand. I had started with some simple swirls that are often found in my paintings, but it wasn't enough. I wanted more........ a busy background like I had never done before. So I started digging through my pretty papers drawer. The "forbidden drawer"....... the one where I save those papers that are too pretty to use! LOL I forced myself to take them out and tear some (ouch) and I stuck them on my canvass in a pleasing order and color scheme. Then I joined the paper strips with acrylic paint in strokes. I still wanted a "grunge" look so added more paint using bubble wrap as a sponge! This is definitely outside my usual work. I even used my fingers to smear the paint! Now, that's a real personal portrait!