Insouciant

I drew this young lady because I was fascinated by her tongue piercing -- and also by the insouciant expression on her face, so young, so provocative, so determined to look older and jaded. With her eyes slitted half-closed in a dreamy kind of pleasure, she reminds me of a cat basking on a sunny window sill.

One of my daughters got her tongue pierced when she was seventeen, and I remember slurred speech (as if she had some sort of impediment) and a lot of excess saliva. I also remember she sounded… well, stupid or a little drunk, and this was not a stupid girl by any means. When I was in my fifties I got my nose pierced, just a tiny flick of diamond, and people seemed amazed that a woman my age would do that. I never remove my little stud; in fact, I pretty much forget it’s even there, so when someone makes a comment I don’t know what they’re talking about.

See my previous post for details on how you can get one of my pencil portraits of yourself or a loved one.