• Title: Self-Portrait as Rembrandt in the PADASOR Studio
  • Medium: Oil on Canvas
  • Size in Centimeters: 60 x 40
  • Year: 2024-2025
  • Made in: Rome, Italy
  • Available for purchase—for further details, please contact me

Notes on Self-Portrait as Rembrandt in the PADASOR Studio

Self-Portrait as Rembrandt in the PADASOR Studio was started as a demo for the class Painting the Self-Portrait: Examining Rembrandt in February of 2024.  I continued working on it through June of 2025.  One of the principal lessons I took away from this was temperature control: for the longest time the skin tones were much too warm—the dreaded carrot color—but I was reluctant to cool them.  So I took a different route: I covered the surroundings with glaze after glaze of Burnt Umber.  It made me think of a quote attributed to Titian when talking about glazes: ““velatura, trenta o quaranta!”

Final note: no one has ever told me I paint like Rembrandt, but more than a few have told me I look like Rembrandt.  Ridiculous.  I am much better looking.