my brother has a bold, care-free style of portraiture. he basically barrels into each drawing with complete faith that ~ even if the details are not just right ~ his many drawing skills will pull the picture together in the end. his portrait of me (above) is a masterful example. i tried his method when i drew him (below). it takes practice, i think.
this portrait swap between my sister (portrayed above) and my mom (portrayed below) reminds me of the olden days when the two of them were nearly inseparable. lali even dressed a lot like our mom.
my dad (portrayed above) loves my wife (portrayed below). he's a tough nut to crack sometimes but christine did it somehow. of all my girlfriends, she was the first who really interested him. if you're familiar with his drawings, his affection is apparent in our portrait parties.
my grandma (portrayed above) doesn't do portrait parties. she join us for the get-togethers and she models ~ does she ever! ~ but she never actually draws. so, no one went looking for her when she missed our sister's portrait party. we assumed she wasn't interested. surprisingly, barbara was really disappointed. she had taken a nap and was sad to have missed the festivity. "we can always have another one!" i suggested. so, my grandma, christine, and i had our own portrait party. barbara even participated with her first portrait ever! "it's not very good," barbara approved her drawing of me (below), "but it's the best thing i ever drew."
my dad adds bow ties or hats or mustaches, et cetera, to almost all of his portraits. it's his gimmick. don's drawing of his new son-in-law (above) was no exception. but erik turned the tables on him (below)!
A new participant, Ed Marion, just introduced me to The Portrait Party's long-lost sister-site, Different Strokes From Different Folks. Every 2 weeks, Karin Jurick posts a photo and scores of artists paint their interpretations of it.
This 3-week period, Karin has posted a portrait challenge so that approximately 65 pairs of artists will be swapping portraits. Karin seems to have opened the door for some last minute participants. Ed thought that we would all like to know about it. We would! Thanks, Ed!
happily, my sister (portrayed above) and my brother (portrayed below) are always game for a portrait party when we're all together. sadly, that doesn't happen as often as it used to.
when i was 11, my mom (portrayed above) drew a picture of me (portrayed below) in my underwear. that was my apparel of choice back then. when i was 21, she decoupaged that drawing onto a present for me. it was a beautiful box full of letters and drawings from my friends. you could say that box started this portrait party. tomorrow, i turn 34. it amazes me that we've been drawing each other for that long. decades!
alex drew his wife (on the left) and he made her draw him too (on the right) even though she was reluctant. see, gang? that's how you get a portrait party going: coercion, extortion, bribery. it's fun for the whole family!
clara from germany (portrayed above) met michael from aberystwyth (portrayed below) through twitter. they bonded over danny gregory books. it sounds like a portrait party was inevitable.
one of the things that i love about actual real life portrait parties is seeing how friends who wouldn't normally draw each other do draw each other. lali (portrayed above) and christine (portrayed below) would probably draw each other more if we saw each other more but this was their very first go at it. for a portrait enthusiast like me, that's always exciting.
morgan (portrayed above) had a portrait party with her dad (portrayed below). BZZZT ~ NO ADDITIONAL DETAILS WERE GIVEN ~ BZZZT.
the rest of our family has been drawing each other for years but the groom, our new brother, erik (portrayed above) never had a portrait party before. he jumped it with both feet though! he gave us a great, weird pose to draw and put a lot of effort into his two-minute portrait of me (below).
my dad (portrayed above) never takes his drawings too seriously. while he put hats and mustaches on the rest of us, his two minute drawing of our mom (below) was actually pretty sweet and serious. aww...
my brother, henry (portrayed above), is pretty frugal with his compliments. if he doesn't like something he'll tell you. so, it meant a lot to christine (portrayed below) when he marveled over all of the drawings she did at our sister's matrimonial portrait party. (we all liked her pose too!)
cindy woods passed away yesterday. i never met her in person. so, i can't say that i knew her well. we corresponded frequently though. we both like science fiction. we have at least a dozen favorite artists in common. and drawing... well, simply put, cindy won my friendship quickly.
what i love about cindy's artwork is (1) its honesty and (2) its compassion. you can see lots of it on this website and even more on flickr and cindy's blog, learning daily. it is obvious in her drawings and her words that cindy's heart was enormous. the world's a better place for having held her and little sadder to have let her go.
wally (portrayed above) wrote me last night to share this swap and to let me know that his portrait partner, the amazing cindy woods (portrayed below), is now in hospice care. cindy has big talent and a huge heart. she deserves all the love you can send her. if you want to read about her life and see her gorgeous drawings, i hope you'll visit her website: learning daily.
i invited all the teachers at my school to a portrait party in the art room this week. i brought a lot of snacks and stayed pretty late to host it. aileen, the social studies teacher, is the only person who showed up though. darn. but, yay aileen. we drew anyway and had a good time eating chocolate and sharing teaching and travel stories. the following morning, almost everyone said they would come next time if i did it again. we'll see.
my sister (portrayed above) asked me to host a portrait party as part of her wedding celebration. she didn't want me to post her drawings but the drawing she did of me (below) is maybe my favorite portrait of all time. so, she gave me permission.
to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his sketchbook diaries, james kochalka (portrayed above), invited friends and colleagues to draw his portrait. as kochalka's pal and bandmate, jason (portrayed below as a little white dog), is also a recurring character in the comic strip diary.
when i was feeling shy before a show, christine made this button (on the left) for me so i wouldn't have to introduce myself. this weekend at the alternative press expo, i returned the favor.
My after-school art classes started this week and, as a get-to-know-you game, I had all the students try a blind contour drawing of the kid sitting across from them. One side of the table modeled while the other side drew. It was a big hit! The following day, one of the kindergarten kids found me and said "My sister taught me the trick you taught her." Which trick, I asked. "Where you draw each other without looking." At your drawing. "Right! It's fun!" It's fun to know that the kids go home and try these games again.
sarah y. is the student responsible for the portrait party fad at our school. her mom gave me permission to post our sketches here. below is the one sarah drew of me. "in the art room because you're always there," she said.
My sister got married this week in Mexico! The one thing she asked me to do was host a portrait party before the wedding. Over the next few months, I'll post all the drawings we did but here is the invitation I whipped up: A portrait of my sister during her hair and make-up tests.
the first of many possible portraits from samuel (portrayed above) and amalie (below)!
