Disgruntled: A Drawing Just for Me
I’ve fallen in love with drawing. For years, my routine has been to go into my studio, set out paints and brushes, and go to work on whoever was on my easel -- a commission, a politician from the Trump years, or just someone who caught my fancy.
My backyard studio
Around Christmas this past year I started drawing. I hadn’t kept a sketchbook in years, so this was new. I found all I wanted to do was draw faces: friends, public figures … it didn’t matter as long as there was something in the face that caught me, a certain quality about the eyes or hair or shape of the head. This wasn’t so different from painting portraits, but it was quicker, newer, and in some ways more satisfying. In one or two hours I could complete what would take me days or weeks on canvas. I’ve already posted a few drawings in this journal, but I’m going to put up two of the more recent ones.
The first is this lady, whose hair absolutely fascinated me.
I don’t know who she is, but I was itching to get her on paper. Here’s the result:
Disgruntled Woman, Sketch 1 | Nicole Jeffords 2021
Usually I’m extremely good at resemblances, but this was a more stylized rendition that didn’t really catch the feel of the original. So I went in more deeply:
Disgruntled Woman Sketch 2 | Nicole Jeffords 2021
This still didn’t catch the feel of the original, not nearly as juicy or defiant or in-your-face, but even so, I’m happy with it … perhaps because, in this case, someone else emerged, a person with a longer face and a frustrated expression and a wild tangle of hair. If it were a commission, I’d have to redraw it (it ventures too far from the original), but since this is a drawing just for me, I’ll leave it as is and enjoy the disgruntled face, the fault-finding expression in the eyes, the down-turned, disappointed mouth. Perhaps it makes me think of my mother, who wore just that expression when I was about eight years old and had trampled dirt in on the floor.
Drawings/ Readings Project
I recently started a drawings/ readings project. I pick up a lot of information about people when I draw or paint them -- what moves them forward, what holds them back, what their desires and goals are, even illnesses they may be harboring. Unless asked, I don’t usually tune into that sort of personal stuff, but I’m happy to do it, so if you’d like to commission a drawing of yourself or a loved one, and wish to add a reading to the portrait, send me a photo here. Cheers.
The Details
Graphite drawing -- $100 ($200 with reading)
Colored pencil drawing -- $200 ($300 with reading)
Photos should be crisp and well-lit with as much contrast between dark and light tonal values as possible.
Only one person per portrait, please.
