It's a gorgeous October Sunday and Luke has been at my cousin's house playing with her kids which gives me yet another precious uninterrupted opportunity to do my thing.
I only put in half an hour on the commissioned painting so far which is NOT a great start. Yesterday, I spent way more time sketching another celebrity portrait for no necessary reason and very minimal time on the painting that I am getting actual money for which is due in December. Today though. My promise to myself. TODAY. I. WILL. PAINT.
Speaking of "celebrity portraits" though, I finally added all of them on my Gallery page. My New Years Resolution in January 2018 was to complete an 8x10 portrait every month. You will see that I'm drawn to interesting dynamic faces like Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Bill Hader, and Mick Jagger to name a few. I used to consistently post them to my personal Instagram feed. It was a fun hobby that I started to take seriously around the "Mick Jagger" sketch, which is the second the last one I've done. I started to get more critical of myself, spend more time erasing and re-drawing. It turned into several months on one sketch. It paid off though (sort of) because my Dad ended up giving me $200 for Jagger.
Months before the Jagger sketch, Paul fell in love with my Jeff Goldblum and Larry David, both of whom he is a big fan of. He requested possession of those sketches, to frame and hang in his office at his place of work. I was much obliged of course.
Tilda Swinton was my very first sketch in this series. I thought it was great at the time but after about 10-15 sketches, I look back and see its mediocrity. I'm not trying to self-deprecate, but it's true. I got a whole lot better through 2018! Paid more attention to detail, but....
CONFESSION: I hate my Tom Petty portrait.
I definitely didn't do him justice. I was so "meh" about it, that it was the only sketch I DID NOT post on IG. I included it in my story and shared my disappointment in it. I'll allow it though. Shame it had to be Tom Petty that I fucked up on.
About two months ago, I decided to sketch Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Like I said, I'm a sucker for an interesting dynamic face and I have an appreciation for fine lines and wrinkles. I printed out a few photos of RBG that I really liked and had Luke choose which one I should sketch. Part of me was hoping he wouldn't pick the one where she's wearing a fishnet glove, but he did. He noticed my deep sigh when he made his choice and responded with "This one is the hardest and you need more of a challenge, Mom." I'll remind you that he's only seven.
I have noticed how therapeutic it has become for me to draw these. It's the process, the focus and the control. I had a lot negative energy and anxiety yesterday and this explains why I just needed to sit and sketch out my next celebrity portrait (I'm not telling who it is yet.) It calmed me down and brought me back to my "happy place."