Silly Self-portraits

Suzan Colón was right about this...

In Suzan Colón’s newsletter today she shares a list of supportive practices for those moments when you may find yourself feeling not exactly on top of the world. I’ll be honest, the past few days have been a tad stressful (you don’t need the details - and, I’m fine, but reading her post was exactly the pick-me-up I needed).

Making a list.

One of Suzan’s playful suggestions was to draw a silly self-portrait. So, I pulled out my phone and found of shot of me in the back seat of the car a day or so after my surprise wedding to use as inspiration/general reference. I was in a pretty good mood that day - in the Bahamas after all - heading off to have some fun times with family - and, as I always do because I’ve already reached my lifetime dose of intense sunshine, I was wearing my infamous blue hat. Infamous because it’s a) not exactly a fashion statement and b) my Italian fashionista-husband can’t stand it and c) I don’t give a hoot.

Anyway, I was having fun drawing - and remembering the great trip and insane wedding and waddya know, I was able to completely put aside the various annoying things that have made my week a royal pain in the backside.

Over the past couple of months of drawing and reading about drawing and watching videos, etc., I’ve come across a bazillion tips and tricks and one of them was ‘never draw the teeth, even when someone is smiling.’ And, it’s true - it’s pretty hard not to make someone look like a Jack-o-lantern the minute you start to draw the teeth. Even the suggestion of teeth in cartoon number two is starting to look a little creepy.

In case you are curious (and don’t know me), here’s the source photo.

Obviously too many stripes and way too toothy a grin to attempt to be overly accurate in the drawing, but I think the two cartoony self-portraits capture something of the playful moment in the backseat of the car.

The other piece of cartooning advice that seems to be pretty consistent is to find some aspect of the character that you can consistently draw and which quickly identifies the person. In my case, my ridiculously long hair (initially a case of benign coiffing neglect but now the result of my morbid curiosity wondering how long it might grow before I die…) appears in all the comic versions of me. Ergo, the braid that was hidden behind my back in the photo appears in both drawings.

Suzan was right. This was a fun, playful exercise that did, indeed boost my mood. If you try this, join the subscriber chat and post your cartoon version of you!