Wally Torta's self-portrait

Wally has done a great self-portrait in pen and ink and posted it in his latest entry in his journal - which I highlighted a few posts back. It deserves a much wider audience than the huge numbers who go to look at his journal each day.

See his post "End of the Line" and take a look at the last drawing. There's a fairly gushy comment from me underneath - but it is a really great self-portrait!

And self-portraits are the hardest thing and the easiest to do. Easy because you always have a ready model to hand - and hard because you have to:

• find a mirror that's big enough
• make sure mirror won't fall over if being used where you normally draw
• look at this person with the sort of gaze which you have been avoiding for the last few years since the pounds started to pile on and the wrinkles put in an appearance
• avoid the fixed glare look of somebody who is looking very hard at something the cat just dragged in
• spend hours deciding whether or not you're going to smile or not
• faff about while you decide what's the best media for your self-portrait (posterity you understand! ;) )
• kick yourself for not having had your hair cut when you meant to - as you now realise just how much it needs a cut
• make a mental note to start going to bed earlier because those bags under your eyes are simply NOT going to be in the next self portrait
• decide it would be better to wait until summer when your skin is looking at little less pasty
• ..........and more of the same..........

All in all a very nerve-wracking experience - at the same time as probably being one the best drawing and painting exercises you can do. And wimps don't do self-portraits - you need nerve!

Well done Wally!

(Edit: Whoops - forgot the Technorati tags again!)

art , drawing , drawing people , pen and ink , self-portrait