My recent self-portrait inspired me to pull out my past mirror-images, to see how my drawings have progressed (or not) through the years. It was also fun to flip through my old journals to find these drawings — ahh, nostalgia.
What I find most interesting about these portraits is that they all have features within the drawing that represent who I was at the time. I may have not caught the likeness of my image in some of these, but if anything, I caught the mood I was in — there is no denying that drawing and the marks made from the eye to the hand are in some way a direct representation of the person making those marks. Some of those marks show hesitation, doubt, certainty, and exploration. And always, there’s the line that searches for the likeness of the person being reflected back in the mirror.
There were some evenings when I should not have picked up the pen, and other times when my concentration was so focused that the marks looked as though they would tear through the paper.
These portraits are presented chronologically, beginning with December 1993. That was so very long ago… For posterity, I included my most recent portrait.
1993
1994: The darker, more somber days of charcoal.
1995
1996
1997: I cut my hair real short! (I do that occasionally!)
1998
1999
2000 – 2005: I did not draw, and I barely picked up my journal to write. Instead, I learned to make websites.
2006: Back to the drawing board! (Sorry, I couldn’t help it!)
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Hi Trisha, Love the drawings. You are doing well finding yourself. I am looking forward to the time when you have found yourself and your picture is smiling.
Love,
Jacquie
Hi Jacquie,
Thanks for the nice comment. The lack of smile isn’t from being unhappy — it’s a result of focused concentration as I’m drawing. If you look at most artists’ self-portraits, they’re usually not smiling. Smiling takes more effort that an artist would rather put into getting the likeness of the image staring back at them in the mirror.
trish