Self-Portrait, Reflection 2004

Lucian Freud painted this self-portrait with oils, and you can really see the process he went through. He’s not trying to hide the messiness, he’s embracing it. The texture is so physical; it’s like he sculpted his own face with paint. Look at the brushstrokes around the eyes – thick, deliberate, almost violent. It feels like he's digging into his own psyche. It’s not just a portrait; it's an excavation. I think of Chaim Soutine when I look at Freud. Both of them had this intense, almost tortured way of applying paint. There's no smooth blending, no easy answers. Just raw, unflinching honesty. It's a reminder that art doesn't have to be pretty; it just has to be real. And this, well, this feels pretty damn real.