This weekend was a big one for Clare, daughter of my friend, Gwen, who celebrated her very first birthday on Sunday. I remember that when Will turned one it held a lot of special meaning for me, so I’d been thinking for a long time on a way to make it special for Gwen. The idea came a few months ago while I was organizing some of my art stuff… I found a sketch that our friend Dave Brenner drew from a photograph of Paul holding Will when he was only a few days old. Even though it’s been years since I made a serious drawing, I decided then to draw a picture of Clare.
I began downloading copies of the photos Gwen posted to e-clare and printing them in black and white until I found one that gave the kind of facial detail I needed. In the process, I tried practice sketches from various photos using assorted techniques. I was very anxious. Finally, I began to remember that while I am not that great in making the perfect line, I can work with shade. Tools in hand, I used a charcoal imprint for shape and made a grid on overhead paper to make sure I was keeping in proper porportion. I used both charcoal and lead pencils, with lots of erasing with my favorite gum erasers. It was difficult to decide when to stop. I picked at it for several days before forcing myself to frame it (I shudder at the number of times I’ve gone to far with a piece!) Then I had to work on keeping quiet until it arrived at Gwen’s house and she’d opened it. 
I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out (although the picture above isn’t the greatest) and had fun doing it. I’d love to do one of my kids… just waiting for that perfect photo!
Plastic Mile | 14-Sep-06 at 9:24 pm | Permalink
whoospie. I think you linked to the wrong e-clare.
Holly | 15-Sep-06 at 5:31 am | Permalink
Doh! Brainfart. Thanks for the catch.
Cold Spaghetti » Blog Archive » Not quite as cool as the time release camera would have been. | 19-Dec-08 at 11:12 pm | Permalink
[…] So a few years ago, when I wanted to do something really special for Gwen on Clare’s first birthday, I remembered Dave’s gift. It had been years since I drew with any regularity — and more than a decade since I had drawn my last portrait sketch. But I decided I was going to do it, so I made a few practice sketches and worked up to a final product. […]