Title: Self Portrait
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Artist: John Greenhalgh
Medium: Oil
Size: 9in x 12in
I am a design graduate. I am forty one years old and have had schizophrenia for nineteen years. I have been painting seriously ever since becoming ill. I find art a great therapy and my output usually increases when I am unwell. I have always found that there is a very fine line between the imagination and psychosis such as hearing voices.
Painting my self-portrait was very enjoyable and it was almost a sub-conscious expression of how I see myself. Unlike other portraiture, of which I have done a lot, it is obviously more personal. It was difficult to produce a realistic image without being photographic. However, it was easier to produce a non-flattering image of oneself, unlike painting somebody else’s portrait, as there was no client to please or flatter.
I find painting in oils is very forgiving as this medium allows constant correction unlike painting in water colours.
