jeannette langmead & darryl berger

life of the party, jeannette, seems pretty delighted that red-handed darryl considers her "pure evil."

carolita johnson & mauricio salmon

carolita and mauricio found the portrait party to be "a really good experience and (they) hope to do it again" which translates ~ in my opinion ~ to "drop us a line the next time you're going to the MET. maybe we'll draw you too!"

a very special portrait party

last weekend, christine and i had the pleasure of leading some workshops for AIGA seattle's retreat, into the woods. i taught a comic strip journaling workshop and a drawing one called how to tame an angry portrait.

during the portrait workshop, i discussed a few of my own drawings before sharing my tips and tricks for fixing a portrait when it looks all wrong. then i timed the attendees while they took turns drawing each other.

after forty-five minutes of posing for each other, i asked the next set of models to sit for a twenty minute color drawing. (i would have given them breaks!) the class revolted though and nominated me for the long pose.

after class, the models went home with many of the portraits that had been drawn of them. including me! these drawings of yours truly are not the usual portrait party subject matter but they are definitely worth sharing.

these five portraits are only a sampling of the drawings that i was given and the fun that was had. you can see more, including erin hovland's sweet thank you note on the into the woods flickr group.

stephen cuffe & steve w.

steve wasn't satisfied with the good-natured fun that he found at the portrait party so far. so, he used the drawing above to pick a fight with stephen cuffe. never frightened of a brawl (or a crocodile), the cuffster returned the blow.

the battles ensues on illustration friday night.

jeannette langmead & sean duggan

return of the jeannette! she and sean met through illustration friday night.

switchsky & darryl berger

switchsky summoned the courage to ask red-handed darryl to draw. "his art work and writings makes me shiver in my boots," she said. this is the portrait party version of crossing the dance floor to ask your crush to boogie. good for you, switchsky!

fernanda fonseca & paula abreu

fernanda fonseca (above) and paula abreu (portrayed below) met through Fernanda's father and found out they had a lot in common, including drawing. they are both brazilians, but paula moved to new york. they enjoyed this opportunity to draw "together" even though they are distant now.

rama hughes & frances trombly

my college girlfriend, frances trombly, drew this picture of me when i fell asleep in her living room one night. i drew the portrait below when she fell asleep at a new year's party. the sound of my pencil woke her up.

looking back on those years, i don't remember sleeping so much. i remember it as four years of insomnia. these drawings remind me that we actually were very well rested. we just took our naps at strange times.

henry hughes & rama hughes

today is my brother's 30th birthday. he's a couple of years younger than me but he always comes across as the big sibling. when i was into my little pony, he was excited about ghetto blasters and skate boards. in high school, he went to a magnet program for fine art. his sketchbooks inspired me to study art in college. when we got ready for road trips, our parents gave him the map. i am still struggling to grow facial hair. he, clearly, is a mustachio.

below is a portrait of me that i found hidden in his room. it was painted on a large scrap of paper and he'd planned to throw it out. when i asked to have it, he considered it for a long time. he didn't like it and was embarrassed that someone might see it.

this is only a portion of the painting. click here to see the whole thing.

perriette & steve w.

perriette and steve w. have immortalized each other! "not as kinky as it sounds," reminds perriette.

aaron matthews & jon wilcox

portraits of aaron matthews (above) and jon wilcox (below). they are men of few words but fun drawings.

switchsky & perriette

switchsky (above) strikes again! this time, she traded portraits with perriette (portrayed below).

switchsky & jeff newman

switchsky strikes again! jeff newman, apparently sad to have lost a "lustrous" mullet (see below), wallowed in his grief during this portrait party.

my heart is made of gravy & switchsky

the portrait party's been crashed! people with names like my heart is made of gravy (pictured above) and switchsky (portrayed below) are showing up. they sound dangerous.

rama hughes & lauren hughes

this drawing of me and my sister, lali, was drawn by our mom, lauren hughes, during an actual portrait party. we'd been meaning to have one for months but couldn't get the whole family together in one room. my mom was so excited when it happened that she began her first drawing with a note "tonight's the night."

of course, i draw pretty much whenever i get a chance. so, when i caught my mom sleeping in the garage-turned-tv-room, i was excited to draw this picture. i was very worried that she would wake-up or stir. she slept like a crocodile though. only opening an eye now and then to moan in my direction. she woke up a long time later and i surprised her with the drawing.

this is only a portion of the actual drawing, by the way. you can see the entire thing by clicking here.

jessica dadds & rama hughes

this is only a portion of the drawing that i did of my friend, jessica dadds. you can see the whole thing by clicking here.

jessica and i used to meet every week to make dinner and watch six feet under. when the seasons ended, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. these portraits were one solution.

jose cabana & patricia m. de cabana

jose cabana and patricia m. de cabana discovered the portrait party through drawn! they used to do similar trades when they were younger. when she was in art school, patricia even got together with her girlfriends to have portrait parties of their own. she has left an open invitation on her blog if anyone else would like to trade drawings with her.

don meagher & rama hughes

my dad, don meagher, is a reluctant artist but he'll indulge me when bullied. as seen below. (be warned: i have a bad habit ~ lovable quirk? ~ of only wearing pants when i have to.)