Self-portraiture and time

Over the years, I've drawn four self-portraits. One digital, three traditional. Only one of these three hasn't been on my blog before, and it's this first one. They are all in chronological order by the way.

It's from 2013. It's pretty sketchy, and the outlines are very strong. There really isn't much finesse to be found in it. For some reason, it reminds me of porridge. I drew it looking into the mirror. I like how I nonchalantly I handled drawing the hair. I definitely didn't have that dark a beard back then, but then again the whole drawing seems to have been done in rather heavy strokes.

This one I like and hate at the same time. It's from last summer, drawn with an Instagram picture as reference. You can quite dramatically see how a lighter grip and press on the pencil really worked out for me. The outlines are much lighter and thinner, for example. That makes it look much more serious, less like just a sketch.

The likeness is great, which I'm really proud of. The picture I used for reference wasn't the best quality, and I had to wing it a bit. Where I would've needed some more guidance is around the eyes. Along with the flat-ish nose, they really bother me. The lines are way too harsh and dark, especially the lines that make up my upper eyelids. It's a shame those two areas turned out so sub-par, they stand out so well. They're stabbing me, right in the eyeballs. If not for that, it would be great.

This one is most recent, and was on the blog not long ago. I don't know, really. Technically, it's better than both the others, but the lighting is quite flat and unappealing. The likeness is decent, but the proportions are somewhat off. It's good and bad, like the one from 2014, but for other reasons.


What can we conclude from these drawings? Well, my technique got a lot better, and so did my skin problems.


One self depicting portrait per year. I think that's more than most young artists draw. While I guess someone could think it's a bit egotistical to draw "so many" self-portraits, that's not how I see it. I think I'll be glad to have these when I grow older. One, they're my drawings, two, they're pictures of a younger me. It's like double nostalgia!

Not having to wade through pages of paparazzi-poop on Google Images for good reference pictures of people I don't even know is reason enough to draw these, the pictures I found on my harddrive (and mirror) anyway.


If anyone hasn't gotten bored with looking at my pictures already, the digital portrait can be found in this entry:

portrait, education och facebook

Coincidentally, this is also the entry with which I revealed my blog to everyone I know and the public (facebook.). It's from 2012, and the portrait is arguably the best of the bunch.