In Self-portrait Laura Knight used bright colours and energetic brushstrokes to convey her vivacious personality. In her autobiography, Knight described how she imbued her paintings with her sense of enjoyment: ‘An ebullient vitality made me want to paint the whole world and say how glorious it was to be young and strong and able to splash with paint on canvas any old thing one saw, without stint of materials or oneself’.  (Knight, 1936)