I believe that there is a lot of truth in the adage, every work of art is a self portrait. Every artwork is infused with a synergy of the external (culture, events, society, etc…) and the internal (self). That being said, this is my last literal self portrait for a long while (in fact it is already two years old). I, or my countenance at least, has been a subject of my work for the convenience of photo reference creation, but also as a reflection of where I was spending the bulk of my mental capital - on myself. It is a funny irony that the internal reflection that is required to work on yourself also creates a self-centeredness - at least I have noticed that it does for me. It is time to tip the balance of my art back towards the external.