Paintings and such

My free time is made up of a short list of activities. I'm attempting to fill my spare time with painting. Developing this skill is important to me. It scratches an itch when I paint. Even the ritual of setting up my palette is good for my mind.

Portrait painting is the road I've gone down of late. I started this past fall working with oils for the first time and decided to tackle portraits. The most difficult part is getting a likeness. The best portraits capture the spirit of the person.

Here is my latest attempt:

I'm ultra critical of my own stuff, but posting this will hopefully be a lesson in humility. Also, even though I tend to not want to share out of fear for the reaction, I'm stepping out.