Pages

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Self Portrait

I was having a particularly bad day a few weeks ago. Instead of wallowing in my funk, I picked up a scrap of cardboard and started to draw my self portrait. I felt like shades of grey and brown but I mixed bright colours with my gouache. The light pencil lines and the rhythm of filling in the shapes felt therapeutic. Before too long the fog was lifting and my shoulders straightened.


It's one of the better likenesses of myself I've created. It's honest; I look tired and a bit worn.

This reminds me of  My Many Coloured Days by Dr. Seuss; a book I often read before I put my daughter down. Specifically these two passages:

Some days are yellow.
Some are blue.
On different days I'm different too.

But it all turns out all right, you see. And I go back to being...me.

.

6 comments:

  1. Hang in there! I like that book, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Michelle!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I hear you on the funk and feeling tired... but what a great piece of art that came from it. The length is a nice surprise and I like the expression on your face ~ probably as it mirrors my own right now. Take care and keep making wonderful art!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you! The whole project was a small happy accident. I grabbed a scrap piece, started mixing gouache, sketched my face using Photo Booth and went from grumpy to pleased in a day. I came across a great quote a while back that read 'paint until you feel like painting'. Wise words and very true.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...