I painted this painting this morning with a group of artists I am mentoring in Austin. One of students is passionately in love with Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging). She brought a set of special ikebana items for our today's project. I put this small Japanese doll in the setup to create the center of focus. This class was full of laughters. You may have the similar experience: if you are not portrait painter, the face you paint would highly possible to look like yourself. That was exactly happened today. All the dolls my students painted were cute self portraits of themselves. We all had so much fun today. Can anybody tell me why this happens?
It seems reasonable that the face you see in the mirror each day is the one that is most familiar. Your sense of facial features comes each time you look in the mirror!
ReplyDeleteEven children unknowingly draw and paint themselves. I taught elementary school. I will never forget a little first grade girl who had chosen not to speak outside of her home. (Selective Mutism) She drew herself in detail, but without a mouth. In Kindergarten we did a teacher directed step by step torn paper collage portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King. In spite of the teacher direction, they turned out looking like and reflecting the personality of the child. I have no explanation, but it's fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI have read that illustrators who have short wives usually draw all of the women in their illustrations short. I guess we tend to draw and paint the kind of images we relate to.
ReplyDeleteLove this painting and the story.
ReplyDelete