I have fifty pages to go on my first hardcopy read-thru of my novel, and a multitude of edits to be made starting next week. But throughout this week, I alternated between being a writer and a portrait artist.
If you follow my blog, you know that my self-reward for “finishing” this novel was to paint a portrait of my character Jalal. I used graphite on paper, but because I use multiple layers and fine detail, this can properly be called a painting.
There are three reasons I’m not completely satisfied with this portrait, and though I say that about every portrait I create, only one reason is because of my perfectionism. That reason is that this is not quite the image I intended to capture. It started out the way I wanted, but kept shifting slightly … sort of like the novel! So it’s entirely possible that at some time in the future, I will try harder to capture my true image of Jalal.
The other two valid reasons I’m dissatisfied are that I was out of my favorite paper and used a substitute that did not give me the result I expected in the skin texture. Plus, this is the first work I’ve done since I broke my hand last summer and because my newly crooked little finger alters the way I normally hold a pencil, I had some trouble adjusting.
I’m also dissatisfied with the digital image of the actual portrait. I’m not only a bad photographer, but I have a horrible digital camera for photographing artwork. Graphite is hard to photograph anyway because of the sheen, but even with manipulation, the contrast in this image is off and it’s too pixelated.
All that being said, if you’d care to see my image of Jalal click here.
Linda Cassidy Lewis 
As I read your post I kept thinking, she’s not going to let us see the picture. She’s going to keep us in suspense. I was all prepared to demand that you let us see it when I came to the link. Suffice it to say I breathed a sigh of relief, and then I loved it!! Now that I’ve seen it I can’t imagine him any other way. It just fits. Great work. You are so talented!
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LOL … you and Kasie commented back to back. Did she call you to tell you to look at my blog? Oh, I should have done that, kept you in suspense. I should have had a notice on the page saying, “Are you crazy? Visualize him yourself!”
I’m so glad you didn’t say “Ewww!” I want you to ENJOY reading my book.
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Actually I didn’t tell her. She wandered over here all on her own. She must’ve sensed my presence. 🙂
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You guys really are soul-twins, I think.
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he is dreamy isn’t he…and you ARE talented, no question. Thank you for letting us see him. : )
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He’s dreamy in more ways that one, sadly. Or happily, depending on the chapter. 🙂
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That’s how I imagined the character.
If you drew this with lots of photo reference, I am impressed.
If you drew it freehand without reference, I am amazed.
Very nice work.
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Thank you, Paul. I used one reference photo for the angle and lighting, so I guess you can be halfway between impressed and amazed.
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Linda, this is just absolutely incredible. Really. My goodness, you just don’t know how very talented you are, do you?
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Apparently not. I’m blushing now.
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