portraiture -kes

A couple of weeks ago an art challenge was posed by an online affiliation of mine. Draw yourself. Complete it by a defined date. No idea why I agreed. I had no intention of looking at myself in a mirror or at a photo to complete the promised task. Rather than cop out, which would have been a disappointment to myself and just another excuse for not making my art that I care so much about a priority, I stepped up. Below is how the challenge ended up being fun and rewarding.

The inspiration began with a blog by Amy Maricle which included a TED talk link. To access Amy's site and read that posting go here.

The TED talk beautifully demonstrates how purpose can be enhanced, and not hindered by limitations. Below is a dissection of the portrait challenge excuses and the focused battle plan that was invented to complete the assignment.

1. Bronchitis--> This actually is a pretty good excuse but being too ill to be at work opens up some creative time. Don't overdo it. Spend 30' drawing, rest for 4 hours, spend 30' on completion, rest a day or two, spend 15-30' minutes more to wrap up details.
2. Too much work involved--> Use studio scraps. Play. 
3. No interest in studying my own exterior facial features.--> Create from imagination. No reference materials allowed, for anything, period. Take that Ego.

The results feel worthy of the effort. This is a detail photo of the central portion of the piece.

Human and bird imagery drawn on foam print block with screwdriver.

Printed with black ranger archival ink pad onto painted fabric scraps (mesh/silk paints/resist). 

White gel pen floral details (foreground).

Entire piece ~ 11" wide x 8 " high