Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Mug Shot

In honor of this being Self-Portrait Tuesday, I thought I would stop you all in your tracks with this drawing. Yup, that's me. I drew this several years ago and I am not trying to look like serial killer. That is my regular face. I was born with a droopy mouth. It runs in our family. We also suffer from the Taylor chin, or lack thereof. It is a constant battle to hide these afflictions from the world.


I try to make everyone focus on my eyes and then one day I noticed there was this brown smudge in the one on the right. Eeeuuoow. What is that icky thing? It is still there and I have no idea when it first appeared.




I try to always keep a smile on those lips and stick my chin out so no one will mistake it for my neck. The line of demarcation is vague, very vague.

About drawing: I taught myself to draw. This is not a boast. I also taught myself to tie my shoes, to find my way home from school and to fuse. The thing about drawing is that you aim for a likeness, I guess, at least that's what I did. For this drawing I sat in front of the mirror in my studio and used a soft pencil and a drawing pad. Drawing from life is way different than drawing from a photo. Life is three-D and a photo is two-D. Half the work is done for you already when you draw from a photo. But then the photo tells the whole story anyway so why draw? Because somewhere in all this drawing stuff, the artist's hand is supposed to appear. I mean the way the artist draws should have more to it than the photo. Like personality or something. So in the end, if the personality doesn't show, because it is too perfect, then it is boring and could be interchangeable with a photo. So my advice to novice drawers, don't get too perfect. Enjoy the irregularities of your drawing. That makes them much more interesting than photo realistic ones. Rilly.

I started out at three or four drawing dinosaurs on the bedroom wall. It was newly painted and just crying out for a mural. I don't remember the consequences, but whatever they were, it didn't stop me. In fact the attention I got from adults was my fuel and I kept drawing and painting until I graduated with an art degree.

Hey people, I didn't mean it. It was only for the attention!

For me, drawing is like a way of getting these ideas in my head out on paper and that's it. Like writing only with pictures. Writing I like better, because you don't have to frame them, or mat them or store them. This drawing was in a box that was under piles of paintings and paper and tablets and broken frames and glass that has no frame etc. Just a big pile of junk. UGH.

But I got it out for you. Because some of you are drawing on Friday and some of you are doing portraits on Tuesday and because I wanna play nice.

I finished Big Red yesterday just before I finished my sewing machine. I am taking it in today.
I have never killed a machine before. And I rilly hope this one is fixable. All the quilting I have to do and now I have no machine. I am miserable.


Can't see the quilting? Yeah, I know, so I took details.






If you must see each stitch, just click on the picture.
You will discover that I cannot remain consistent to save my life. I get bored (as mentioned many times before) doing the same design. It doesn't matter. In the big picture you can't make out the stitching anyway, and that is how most people see a quilt, from a distance.
I am half done with Big Green and am dying to finish it because the next ones in the series are begging to be made. If only I could send these out to a quilter who would finished for me...the way I would quilt them.

11 comments:

  1. Is there a rule that red and green have to be quilted before you start on another quilt? If so, I am breaking all the rules....get your tiny butt in the studio and start on another one of those ideas immediately. Then when your baby is back from the sewing machine hospital you will have another quilt almost ready. BTW, thank you, thank you for the button....I loves it.

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  2. Anonymous10:19 AM

    Broken sewing machine; boo hoo. FYI I have a 15 year old machine I love so much I bought another one identical to it on eBay so when one is in the shop I have a back up to use without having to learn how to use a new one. And - your quilting is awesome.

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  3. That sucks about your machine! I'd be screaming. Big Red is gorgeous!

    I love drawing self-portraits and have done many over the years. One of my favorites is me with a smirk and messed-up hair. I'll post a pic of it one day.

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  4. A Question about your quilting
    ...I love it first of all...do you mark it before you start so that you kinda know where you will be going and able to finish up your pattern in the area...have traced off your patterns to practice...but in my practice pieces I end up with no way to finish out the pattern...I just kinda of stop in mid stream, so to speak.

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  5. I love the quilting on Big Red.

    One of my earliest drawing memories is of drawing on freshly painted bedroom walls too, except I drew cats. The walls were pink and the crayon I used was purple and I thought it looked great. I couldn't understand why my parents got upset.

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  6. Hi Melody. Your new quilt is truly an inspiration...so beautiful and alive! Such wonderful movement in the quilting.

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  7. Anonymous12:19 PM

    A*M*A*Z*I*N*G!!!!!!

    And to think I have just ordered The Natural Way to Draw, hope I got the title right.

    Your quilting gives me goose pimples, it is soooo beautiful...
    and not having a machine because that Janome broke is your own fault! Why do you have just 1 machine? Now if you lived near me..........

    You are so funny.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  8. My mom has killed 3 machines . Of course they are newer plastic Kenmores, but she just cranks em up and melts em'!.They always get replaced for free but I think she is going for one of the big names this time!Nice to see your blog! I am familiar with your work thru various art publications. I have found several art quilt bloggers in the area today! I'm in NW INdiana. Just what I needed today!Thanks for the inspiration! Hope to be like you gals someday!

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  9. Anonymous7:10 PM

    I've known you for a l-o-n-g time.
    The portrait on your website is NOT you! KS

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  10. Sorry, gotta disagree with you about the drawing from photos. Isn't it a teensy bit arrogant to think if we draw from photos the drawing will look like a photo i.e. perfect? I've done a lot of drawing from photos and now draw from life, I've learned from both. The artist's hand will always show - just get two artists to render the same subject in a realist way! I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea of telling others how they should express themselves.

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Hello,
So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com