A Self-Portrait for Halloween: Keeping My Hand In at Least

It’s 4.45 pm on the 31st of October - Halloween. I hope you’re cosy and enjoying the start of the chilly season. I love this time of year, especially when everyone’s snug and safe, including the puddy-tats.

I’ve just made a huge vat of cucumber soup and vegetable curry for the freezer. I know - cucumber soup? But we recently cleared the glasshouse of all that was left: tomatoes, gherkins, and a mountain of crystal apple cucumbers. They’re not the nicest, but the small ones are quite sweet, and I hate waste. So, I invented a cucumber-and-veg concoction. It’s definitely the weather for it, even if I might be the only one eating it.

Today I challenged myself to create a new piece of art to share here with you - a self-portrait, drawn on cartridge paper with pencil, and finished with a bit of watercolour pencil in black. It’s been decades since I last drew myself - probably 33 years if memory serves! There may have been one since, but I can’t recall it. Either way, I don’t usually use myself as material. I didn't muck about either. I got the easel out. Grabbed a sketch pad and a board to hang it on. Took a pic of yours truly and started from a blank page...just once, no preliminary trials. Sometimes it's like that. If I keep starting I lose momentum and might not finish it at all then. Of course I can see lots of little problems but not a bad start I reckon. At least I don't feel like I've wasted my day. Little victories keep you going..

Still, I’ve been feeling the pull lately. I’ve been watching a brilliant artist on YouTube who preaches drawing all the time - he draws plenty of diffent things but also quite a lot of self-portraits. You’re your own live model after all: no rosters, no fees, no complaints about the tea breaks. It’s a great way to practice from life, and it suits him beautifully (less so me, but still, inspiratiional nonetheless). His channel is called 'Sketch Book Skool'.

Recently, my husband and I had a few days in Limerick City and Ennis. We wandered through galleries, charity shops, and art supply havens. The Limerick City Gallery of Art was fascinating - full of inspiring work. The one piece that has stayed with me was a portrait of a lady in her best “going-out” clothes, commissioned by her husband and later donated to the gallery. It reminded me of how much I adore painting people and seeing portraits too.

Even charity shops can be goldmines of creativity - books, prints, craft ideas - materials, all waiting to spark something. In Ennis, I found a little art shop selling sets of cards featuring artwork by women, many of them self-portraits. All so different in style and approach, and all brilliant.

To top it off, I recently rediscovered an old Van Gogh self-portraits book - it’s been following me around lately. So really, how could I not be inspired to do a self portrait?

I’ve been dutifully focused on website admin and collections for months now, but I decided to give myself an hour (ha!) to get some drawing done - and here I am instead, typing away last minute before our ‘Fake-away Friday’ pizza.

So there you have it. It’s a start. I may not have hit my stride with art this year as I hoped, but next year, I really mean business — or so she says…

Thanks for reading guys, you are wonders, Amanda x

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