‘Warts and all’ is supposed to have been the request of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector during the English Commonwealth (sounds like ‘Game of Thrones’, I know!) back in the 1600s, when having his portrait painted. Well, I am thankfully free of warts but have plenty of wrinkles to work with. When my parents visited last month, they suggested that I should tackle a portrait. I was hesitant because it isn’t an area that I’ve ever really fancied, but decided that I was ready for a new challenge (not that I’ve mastered any other area, but it’s good to mix it up!). I was concerned about whose picture to use; who wouldn’t mind if I made a ‘pig’s ear’ of their picture? It struck me that a self-portrait was the ideal since I could hardly get upset at myself! Incidentally, my husband, Mark, tells me that he wouldn’t get upset, whatever I do, so maybe he will be my next challenge in portraiture!
Speaking of Mark, he recently took a photo of me that I found quite pleasing. We were on a whale-watching trip out of Tofino in British Columbia on our recent vacation. It was a foggy day, so my hair is pretty damp and tousled, my cheeks and nose are quite red and, in case you were wondering, I’m wearing a life jacket (it’s not the most flattering garment, but it does suggest an exciting lifestyle that is totally at odds with reality!). I thought it might make an interesting challenge. I worked with a preliminary sketch in graphite pencil, and then did the colours and features in watercolour pencils, a mixture of two sets because each has pink colours the other does not have. I found the Derwent Watercolour ‘flesh’ colour valuable for laying down a base colour.
Things that went wrong? I did not get the mouth shape right and those lips are far too red. It looks like I’m wearing lipstick, which for those who know me will look very odd…it has never been known, even on my wedding day!. I struggled with the ear shape also…they are surprisingly difficult to get to look real. I never realised before that I have almost no earlobe. It was a fascinating experience because, at times, I almost forgot I was drawing me, and it became an abstract problem to get that wrinkle under the eye looking right, or that curl in the hair. I actually enjoyed it (I didn’t think I would, when I started) and am reasonably pleased with the outcome (are artists ever really pleased?). Mark has been kind enough to comment that it does look a bit like me from some angles, although he also suggested that he probably has a ‘rose-tinted’ image of me (aww!).
‘Selfie’, 8 x 10 inch, graphite pencil (Staedler Mars Lumograph 2B) and watercolour pencil (Derwent Watercolour, Caran d’Ache Supracolor) on 140 lb cold press watercolour paper (Canson XL).
Sandra Dennis Art 