Self Portrait - 28th April 2006
19th May 2006
With this drawing, I was trying to change the weight of the line with the depth of tone of the contours I was following in the mirror. I was trying a bit harder to get a feeling of the light in the drawing, just with line. Since the left side of my face was in shadow (right side as you look at the picture,) I let the line get darker there. Where the contour was very indistinct, I left it that way in the drawing too, like over the top of my head. I think there is some feeling of light falling from the left of the picture. Although I haven't used any tone, I have outlined the main dark tone block on the right of the face. Even though it's not filled in, it kind of reads as shadow. I think that must be a conditioned response.
This is a better likeness than I've got for a while I think. It's still not there, but I think at least the shape of the head is quite close, and that is my nose. And Mr. Angry has left the building. More of these drawings show me looking relaxed now, where I used to look wound up in them before, struggling with drawings that were running away from me all the time.
I think this is the first one where I can see the benefit of working just in line. After they went very strange initially, the drawings are starting to calm down now. I'm concentrating on shapes as much as I can. Slowly I'm getting better at replicating them on the drawings - very slowly though.