rama hughes & henry hughes

when i was in high school, i asked my brother (pictured below) if i could draw him. "you have 10 seconds," he said. he is now and has always been a fantastic artist. so, he seemed to think that ten seconds was plenty of time. i, on the other hand, panicked and drew something awful. oh well.

over the years, we have had plenty of time to draw each other. usually on scraps of paper or corners of sketchbooks. here are two of our "i'm bored, i guess i'll draw my brother" portraits from our teenage years.

rama hughes & christine castro

christine woke me up at seven a.m. this sunday to drive to the middle of nowhere for a cooking.com shopping spree. we arrived almost two hours early. she described the whole adventure on her website. in short though, our sketchbooks and some pancakes turned the fiasco around. we took turns drawing these one minute portraits. the waitress was curious but we barely had time to answer her questions. we're drawing here, lady!

elizabeth siegel & jeanette langmead

elizabeth siegel, portrayed above, and jeannette langmead, portrayed below, "enjoy drawing different things, together." them's the passwords. welcome to the party!

nina khaschina & nadya

nina khaschina shared this portrait that she drew of her "... friend," nadya, and the one below that nadya drew of her. what i like most about them is that each drawing conveys such a distinct personality. don't you feel like you know these two or, at least, maybe what they think of each other?

rami efal & isabel

i just discovered rami efal through this portrait project. i enjoy his drawings but, what i really admire about him is his appreciation of everyday miracles. see what i mean?

here is what rami had to say about these portraits: "(above) is the drawing isabel drew of me, as part of our pact: i would draw her if she would draw me. she stressed how much it is important to include background detail into the composition, and how many sketch artists neglect to do so. she is nine. (below) is my drawing of her, as we were both drawing each other."

cindy woods & rebecca

cindy woods (portrayed above) introduced danny gregory's book, everyday matters, to rebecca who works as a recreation therapist at the nursing home where cindy lives. soon after that introduction; rebecca, cindy, and some other residents formed a drawing group called "the da vincis."

these portraits represent the first time that the da vincis drew each other. cindy was impressed. "for folks who are new to drawing they didn't hesitate at all, no inner critics spewing out 'I can't do that.' they were great subjects for me because they were so happily focused on their task and mostly holding still. i'm sure I wasn't as obliging for them as my head was bobbing up and down so much between my paper and the table of people surrounding me, I only managed to capture the three, Gerri, Larry and Rebecca."

rama hughes & danny gregory

danny gregory is a kind of celebrity in my house. my wife introduced me to his work soon after we met.

what i love most about his artwork, his books, and his website is his absolute love of drawing. over the winter holiday this year, i was surprised to receive an email from danny. he had found me through his pal, tommy kane, and just wrote me to say hi. the next time i checked my messages, he’d sent me a drawing… OF ME! that he drew from a photo he found on flickr. i hope you don’t mind, he said. “mind”?! you're danny gregory!!

it took me a few months to reciprocate but i did the same thing: browsed his flickr and surprised him with this portrait.

mister rama & madison

this portrait was drawn by one of my prekindergarten students, madison. her mom rarely picked her up until the very, very end of the day. so, she and sister were often left waiting while i cleaned up the room, swept, prepared for the next day of class, and eventually sat down to join them in whatever activity i concocted to pass their time. on this evening, i let them draw in my sketchbook.

while i drew madison and her sister, madison drew me. i was always impressed by how much she observed compared to her classmates. "why did you color my face green?" i asked about this one. because of your polka dots. i felt my face. "my polka dots? you mean my pimples?" i asked. horrified. no! your polka dots, she said and ran her hand across my stubble.

rama hughes & mandy schonzeit

i've been trading drawings with (and stealing drawings from) my friend, mandy, since we were in college together at the maryland institute, college of art. here are our most recent portraits of one another.

daniel krall & rama hughes

daniel and i were roommates for a couple of years. these are, without a doubt, our most dignified drawings of one another.

rama hughes & christine castro

my wife and i draw each other very often, not only to create art, but as a way to pass the time. here are two examples of our one minute portraits of each other. one person counts the time while the other person draws.

to be honest, this drawing of her was going so well that i stole twenty extra seconds.

tommy kane & rama hughes

i discovered tommy kane through his gorgeous drawings on flickr. he sent me the portrait below and was excited enough about the trade that he suggested (and inspired) this website.


for the record though, langston hughes is not my dad.

step one: read these instructions

this site is an open invitation to participate in the portrait party.

in order to play, you and a fellow artist must pair up and draw portraits of one another. you can leave it at that or share your portraits on this site.

use the links here to pair up with a partner, plan a real party, or share your portraits.

step two: find a partner to draw

hopefully, everyone has a buddy with whom to draw but, if you would like to make a new friend through this portrait exchange, just leave a comment that includes:

your name
your email address
a link to your artwork

by leaving this information, you are inviting other artists to visit your work and get in touch.

you are encouraged to visit the artwork of any artist who comments here and CONTACT him or her to suggest a portrait exchange. portrait swaps work best if you and your partner exchange photos and finished portraits by email.

if you would like to trade physical artwork (rather than emailed images), please note that in your comment.

if you are a member of flickr (it's fre-e-e!), i hope you'll join The Portrait Party group where you can share the photos from which you would like to be drawn.

step three: share your portraits

to share your portraits on this site, please leave a comment that includes:

your name
the name of your drawing partner
any comments that you would like to share

and ~ MOST IMPORTANTLY! ~

links to BOTH of the portraits that you and your drawing partner created.

they will all be posted along with links to your work.

if you are a member of flickr, you can also share your portraits with the The Portrait Party group.

psst...

hey mister, my old blog is just around the corner.

and my big website is here.