Self Portrait

Self-Portrait

I need an illustration for my next blog post. Since I am talking about how art can make you happy, I need a happy face. Or at least a pleasant one. Only trouble is, I don’t have one. Oh I could use clip art, but hey, this is a blog about art. Somehow seems a bit cheesy to use clip art for an art blog, especially when I teach drawing.

But I don’t have a happy little drawing. Hubby is out of town, so I cannot bludgeon him into posing for me. I am all alone. Feeling blue. What am I going to do?

The only face available is…horrors, Mine!

Trying to take my picture

I say horrors, because there is a reason I am always on the other side of the camera. I hate the way I photograph. Some people are beloved of the camera, I am not one of them. Pictures always come out looking like me. But I need that shot, that expression. So I give in.

Trudging off to the bathroom with my small point and shoot, I accept the necessity of taking a picture of myself, worse yet, smiling. (Shutter!) So I am going to take a picture of me in the mirror.



Taking a picture of yourself is not as easy as you might think. When you put the camera to your eye, well, that is what you get! So I have to hold the camera near my face, try to get the face and not all camera. Hold it up, hold it down, turn to the right, Take and take and take. Seven shots should give me something.



After I uploaded all the takes to the computer I remembered why I have so many photos of daffodils and so few of me. I hate my face. I hate the red-roundness of it. I hate the small mouth, the wispy brows, eyes that don’t match the long nose and the flyaway hair.



But I need that illustration and I will just have to work with what I have. I looked closely at the shape of my face. Kind of weird, actually, kind of squishy and bottom heavy, like the rest of me. I have a dent in my chin. And gravity has been no kinder to my face than to the rest of my body. My face is spreading too.



Eyebrows are disappearing. Now you can barely see them without my glasses. Actually, I look better with my glasses, they define my eyes, let you know they are actually there. My glasses are crooked. They are getting old too. I had not noticed that before. Located the top of my head, Boy is that a long way up there! When I started adding my hair, I stopped to take another look. That space looks a little slight, oh. The only thing getting thinner on me is my hair!