I have given my students the problem of creating 100 self portraits in 20 days on 5x7 in paper. The challenge is to create something other than an image that depicts a 'dead-pan' stare. When the brain is given a problem, it goes to work immediartely to solve that problem. I have seen some wonderful solutions. This is a tall order for teens who are sensative to judgment and still developing in thier perception. It has generated wonderful discussions of self-awareness, world view, and judgment. Those who engage in the exercise in an authentic manner have only good things to say about the experience. It is not an exercise for everyone. We are on a journey. Be Bold! Be Honest! Draw what you see. Draw what you think. -Peace
This a self portrait drawing of myself as a younger man, with a lot of shadow play on the portrait itself and a stylized background of a sky, clouds and the sun, rendered in a kind of an imaginary dream-like almost surreal scenario. Many thanks for looking.
Yet another self portrait. Whenever I am questioning my artistic abilities, I draw a self portrait to remind myself that I can draw but that I just need to familiarise myself with the subject matter.
2B pencil focusing on the eye, nose and mouth. The reflection today is a suggestion that we find what we look for, and we see what we want to see. Our family dinners include a sharing time of: 1. Who blessed you today? 2. Who did you bless today? and 3. What are you thankful for? It is suggested by some that if you focus on the abundance, you will not see so much of the lack, but if you focus on the lack, you will not be able to see the abundance so well. This was illustrated by the questions: "How many red cars did you see on the way to work this morning?" My answer was: "No Idea!" It is because I was not looking. If I was being given $100.00 for each red car I spotted, I would have certainly been looking, and maybe even getting creative with the definition of 'red'. What are you looking for? What are you finding?
I painted the background in watercolour. The self portrait was a separate pencil sketch. After a bit of mucking around with them both on my phone, I came up with this.
In case you're wondering, I have septum piercings, which is what the protruding part is, near my nose.
