The expression is intentional, yes. Thank you for the nice words.

Really, really nice! Good job!  Just shows what can be accomplished using the good ol' C64 pallette :)

Helm, you have a mastery over the c64 palette and restrictions. Awesome depth in this piece.

Thanks Mirre. Now come back to pixelation and face the music about the Mermaid piece! The power of Helm compels you!

I think maybe what makes the jaw seem different from the photo and the portrait is that in the photo Helm has a stubble which makes the jaw more portruded. In the portrait he does not have this and the jawline and neck blend together more.

Anyways... You know I like this Helm, it's a really magnificent selfportrait!

About likeness, it's off, yeah, though the jaw thing is a matter of point of view (not philosophical point of view, just the degrees of rotation of the face) more than anything. I won't be touching this up but I'll keep it in mind if I rework it a year from now like I did before :P

Which goes into how long this took to draw. It's difficult to tell because it was made a couple of years ago, I'd say... 5 hours? And then retouched extensively now for a couple of hours more.

Big Brother: I read you on the impression side of things. Well if this doesn't seem to signify that it holds a bit more then it just didn't win you over on that level, it happens. Can hardly do anything about that.

This is a great self portrait Helm.  The subtle tones you've achieved on the skin are especially impressive.
How long did it take to draw? Looks like a lot of work went into it.

My words were "it seems to be a bit of an overstatement". I'm not carving that in stone, it's just the impression I get. For instance, if I make some abstract fiddly pixelwork and say it represents something grandiose, no one can say it doesn't.

I'm not trying to say that your cliff background can't represent complex aspects of your being, I'm just saying that it seems a stretch considering the information the viewer is given. And you are right: a good self-portrait doesn't end at a likeness, it tells a story.

Does this help clarify? It's just a little criticism, I'm not trying to be mean. :)

I'll agree with Big Brother about the anatomy issues. Your portrait's face just seems too slim to fit the reference in your picture. It's pretty obvious to tell( at least for me) when you look at the jaw line. In your actual photo, you have more of a square jaw, but this one seems to look as if you had some plastic surgery, and the chin would look sorta pointy if the portrait were to be viewed head on. Also, the eyes seem rather bigger than normal...I'm not even going to try to tell you how to fix the issues, mainly because you seem to understand the way of the pixel( as well as a higher vocab.) more than I do....So to sum it up, I guess it's just an anatomy issue as far as I can see. Nothing more, nothing less...Brilliant execution, however...

Instead of Van Gogh you should think Egon Shiele. Most art tells you a lot about the artist anyway. The border between what is a self-portrait and what isn't doesn't rest on if you can count two eyes and a nose in a picture.

Your idea of what is an 'overstatement' (much more, what constitutes hybris) is... interesting. You do not have the intimate knowledge to make that call, and I am not sure what you trying it anyway achieves. Perhaps you can enlighten me since you seem to know more about my intentions for this piece than I do?

You certainly have enough self portraits to rival Van Gogh's number!  Great work, though the scanlines on the eyes strike me as a little odd (since only them and the sky in the background use that style). As far as likeness goes, the eyes seem a lot wider and less heavily-lidded. Also, the nose, distance between the eyes, and face overall seems a bit thinner than they do in the photo.

The "abstract self-portrait" element seems to be a bit of an overstatement (I want to say "hubristic", but that's far too harsh). It's always fun seeing you experiment with technical limitations.

Haha "cheer up". Okay, I'll try!

The eyes are too big and he looks a bit serious. Cheer up and keep up the good work!

Yes. The attributes hold special significance.

I think I already told you how much I like it...it's definitely you, but there's something that makes it look a bit different...the eyes maybe?...I can't tell what it is.

Something I'd really like to know is HOW is the background a self-portrait? Abstract representation of your personality?