Self-Portrait

Jessie jots...

haha OMG posting this up is so embarrassing but Hushby insist I should. I really don't like looking at myself, feel so vain every time I had to do a self-portrait. And when I did this two years ago, I had no prior experience drawing figures nor myself. I hadn't drawn since high school, actually my experience is measly, nobody even knew I can draw. That's how exposed to art I was.

Anyway, just for comparison sake, here's a self-portrait I did two years ago, in a tight-space apartment and using charcoal carelessly and not knowing how it will even turn out.

Self-portrait with Charcoal, September 2007

2 years later, here's also using charcoal but in a subtractive manner, which means all surface of the paper is covered with charcoal and then a kneaded eraser is used to carefully take out where features are highlighted.

Self-portrait 3-quarter view with vine charcoal (6 hours)

Because we were experimenting with different mediums, last one made use of graphite, fancy word for pencil. Over here, I used a 4B pencil, shading all areas of my face by looking at lines and wherever it cast shadows.

Self-portrait with a 4B graphite, October 2009 (8 hours)

If there's anything I learn, is to be comfortable in your own skin. The last one was probably the best of me because I was just that. Doesn't matter how rounder my face is, or how much my lips beginning to look more and more like Dad's... it all boils down to, this is what you're born with, make good use of it.