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Just me

Just-me

Graphite (6B) in Aquabee 9×12 Sketchbook

Tonight was painting group and we couldn’t decide whether to pose for each other or just work on individual projects. I was tired and felt like sitting in one spot so I decided to try using a soft pencil and just draw myself. Like most self-portraits I’ve drawn, it’s not quite me, but almost.

Just for fun, after I thought I was all done, I decided to try adding watercolor. I printed the scanned drawing onto the same Aquabee sketchbook paper and then applied watercolor. The inkjet ink and paper seemed to resist the watercolor. It’s a little weird, but it was a fun experiment.
Just Me, color
Watercolor over printed, scanned pencil drawing.

I was inspired to try the soft pencil sketching by France Belleville’s pencil drawings of Gunter Grass and her stepfather on her blog, Wagonized and Laura’s sketch of her father on Laurelines when I visited their blogs today. Laura has such a free, loose, but right-on stroke and France makes every little squiggley line shape and form the person’s features and personality.

I love knowing how much more there is to learn, since learning is my favorite thing in the whole world (when it’s something I want to learn–there are many lessons I would happily forego)! And it’s great knowing how much I’ve already learned, and how every bit of practice has helped my drawing and painting improve.

12 replies on “Just me”

I do love my soft pencils! You’ve done such a great job here. By painting on a scanned version of the original drawing, you’ve avoided one of the big pitfalls of the dark, soft line—how smudgy it is and how it can spoil a watercolor wash. The nuances of color and tone in the painted version are so impressive.

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BEAUTIFULLY DONE, JANA!! I must agree with Laura — I LOVE the softness of the watercolor!!!! And the way you’ve used such good, right-on colors for the highlights and shadings!! BRAVA!! BRAVA!

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Interesting results scanning and then adding the watercolor. I am looking forward to seeing how close you have come with your self portrait, I have a feeling that a lot of your mirth is missing and the one you did a while back with your red curly hair and laughing face will feel much closer to the mark. Don’t get me wrong, this is gorgous, I just like the details that give the glimpses into who the person really is and I suspect that first one nailed it!

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First of all, Jana, thank you for dissecting some of the drawings on my blog! šŸ™‚ I have to say, i like what you did with the colors. In fact i like it more the more i look at it. On the pencil version, i think you did something extremely well which is easy to struggle with: the neck. Gosh they’re a pain to draw, those necks. But you got a really nice tension going in the skin there. And some beautiful relief on the cheeks. As for your eyes, i love how you rendered the light in them. I find that eyes usually come out successful when we forget about the fact they are eyes — their round iris and all that. In fact, i would say a successful drawing is one where you shed ALL your notions of what it’s supposed to look like. Ha. Well done, Jana.

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Oh my! I think you have achieved an absolutely remarkable likeness. It’s almost a bit spooky (since I know you) Truly inspired. I see you’ve changed your blog look too, and I still mean to call some time and get help with mine. What this portrait illustrates so well is the intensity with which you approach learning in life.

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