It is fitting, I think, to follow a post on vanity with a self portrait.

critical-eye.jpg

Self Portrait, February 2007, Charcoal on Paper, 9×12

This is no vanity picture, however.

Yet there is if not vanity then certainly luxury in introspection, and here, I’m looking at how I look when I’m looking at something I’m drawing — in this case, my body holding a mirror up with outstretched arms.

Morning hair, finger combed, a line on the right side of the face that did not come from a knife fight, as I sometimes joke about; rather, it’s a wrinkle from habitually sleeping on my right side and is prominent in the morning.

Oh yes. This is a mirror image. I have not bothered to digitally flip it. So the wrinkle is on the wrong side.

Then there’s my downcast mouth that has always inspired comments like, “What’s wrong?”

Nothing.

My mouth looks like that when it’s relaxed.

And those frown lines are from squinting due to myopia, not grumpiness.

But I’ve often heard that the way I stare when I’m drawing a portrait is disconcerting. I wanted to capture that. I think I got it.

It is interesting to look at the world in terms of how to recreate it.