After the oil pastel peanut which compensated for the stipples and dots experience, I felt inspired to draw two self-portraits in charcoal, also into the A3 sketchbook.
They were fun to draw. They don’t particularly resemble me so there’s room for improvement but nevertheless I like their expressiveness. The first one has a somewhat sad and tired expression, the second one is a bit friendlier. I think it would help to use an easel rather than drawing with the heavy sketchbook in the hands. These portraits remind me of the ones I did when I was in my twenties. I like the idea of not being obliged to draw every wrinkle which has found its place since then.
I reworked the second drawing on the following day because I wanted to try whether I’m able to increase resemblance. Far from perfect, but I like it. I might also rework the first drawing. I’m addressing something which I find quite important – my reluctance and anxiety to really work on a drawing. This is something I seem to avoid, probably out of fear to spoil a drawing. For this portrait, I had already used spray fixature so it wasn’t possible to “clean up” initial errors entirely. Rather, I tried to build on what I had drawn already, just working out details to what I observe. Resemblance has improved although I’m uncertain whether anyone would recognize this portrait. Still much room for improvement but I’m nevertheless glad about the tiny step forward.
