Grim or Grin

2/24/19 ballpoint pen

After sharing a couple of self-portraits I’d done for selfie Sunday (like this blue one and the one I showed previously), several friends on social media remarked that while they saw resemblance, my usual “sparkle” (as seen in photos) was missing. What they meant was that my selfies show the intense focus required to draw a self-portrait from a mirror image, not my “social” face. From prior attempts, I knew that trying to smile while sketching is difficult – almost impossible. But you know me; I’m always up for a challenge.

For last Sunday’s selfie, I attempted to grin and bear it (the red one). At first I thought I could cheat by drawing my mouth smiling, then move on to the rest of my face with my usual expression of dour concentration. But the problem is that the whole face – not just the mouth – smiles: the eyes (especially the crow’s feet!), the cheek muscles, even the nose. By the end of the sketch, my grin had deteriorated to a grimace, but here it is, folks – as sparkly as you will ever see me in a selfie.

3/3/19 grease pencils