100 Self-Portraits



Sketched on 11/17/11, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, Moleskine sketchbook

Several years ago when I was working toward my certificate in fiber arts from the University of Washington Extension Program, instructor Layne Goldsmith gave the class an assignment to draw 100 self-portraits. We all moaned and groaned (“What does this have to do with fiber arts??”), and I think I finished only a dozen or so at the time. (Fortunately, it was only a certificate course, so she couldn’t fail me for that unfinished assignment.)

Given that the human face is one of the most challenging subjects to draw, I decided to finish that long-ago abandoned assignment. I bought a small easel-back mirror, and for several months, looked at my face more closely than I probably ever have. (Believe me, there is nothing quite so humbling as drawing a self-portrait.) My goal was to finish 100 self-portraits and be able to find at least one among them that resembles my face enough that I could post it on Facebook as my profile picture, and my friends would recognize me.

The portrait above was sketched on Nov. 17, 2011, one of the first in the series.

Sketched on 1/25/12, fountain pen, Supracolor water-soluble pencil, watercolor paper

This one, No. 64, drawn on Jan. 25, 2012, ended up as my Facebook profile picture.