As you can't easily buy a canvas that is 6x12ft, I had to stretch and then gesso my own canvas first. I then did a basic sketch of my image. To avoid accidentally warping my proportions on such a large canvas, I decided how big my nose should be and then used that to roughly measure out the rest of my proportions.

To get a sense of what the color and value structure would be and ensure there would be no white paint showing through, I quickly painted a rough version of the image. I made my hair dark brown at first so I could give my hair the illusion of depth later on.

I started adding in details from the center outward. Since it wouldn't make sense to view the painting from a very close distance I focused on making the painting read well from a step or two back, instead of making sure everything was perfectly accurate.

Once the face and hand were done, it was mostly a matter of adding highlights, and painting my hair and shoulders, which didn't need the same level of detail.

Once the painting was finished I was lucky enough to have display it in a solo exhibition for a week in Stanford's McMurtry building which regularly exhibits student and professional artwork.