today's na'art

[capri0mni]

My annual self-assessment (fuzzily... never exactly the same day each year, but always in August, since this began); drawing your portrait by hand captures your mood as well as your likeness (again, on the latter, fuzzily).

But one of these days, I'll go for the middle ground, and draw from a photo -- that way, I can experiment with different lighting and angle than the same pose in the same bathroom mirror, every year (and can go away to sharpen my pencil without having to wonder if I've changed my pose mid drawing -- epic Pencil! fail this year...)

Anyway:

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One interesting thing about the process of drawing this (interesting to me, anyway): my mind registered the shadows (and focused/bent light) cast by my glasses long before I "saw" the glasses themselves...

You know, I think I've hit almost all my arty goals, this month -- except I haven't written a geek pride song, yet, and I haven't done three-d art yet...

Comments

[vilakins]

Excellent study, full of character and beautiful shadowing!

[capri0mni]

Thank you!

[raze]

I really like this. I find faces one of the most difficult subjects to draw, and you've done just a fantastic job.

[capri0mni]

Thanks. I had a really good drawing instructor in high school, and one thing she taught me, that has stuck in my brain for 30+ years is: when you have trouble clearly seeing/understanding the thing you're drawing, focus on watching the shadows it casts, instead...

Which, if you want to stretch it, I suppose could be a metaphor for understanding life (if you really want to stretch it).

Oh, and another thing she taught, which I just remembered, typing the previous thing: draw like you're driving a car -- how you don't take your eyes off the road, but your hands on the steering wheel still follow the curves of the road -- that 85-90% percent of the time, you shouldn't be looking at your paper at all, just keep your eyes on what you're drawing (which, I'm not sure how that would work if you're drawing a ghul, but you know...)

[smw]

Ooh. I like how alive this is; I feel as if I'm looking at you in a way I wouldn't be unless we were in person. Part of this might be rooted in my loathing of photographs, but hey.

Also: your foot portrait was quite charming, as well.

[capri0mni]

Hm. Yes. Photographs are static and mechanical, whereas drawing by hand carries as much personality as handwriting, and are an expression of a person through time (this picture took about an hour and a half to draw, and I had to deal with a broken/not drawing properly pencil three times during that span). So a hand drawn/painted portrait really is like having a conversation with someone...