Portraits… and Self

As far back as I can remember Portraits have always fascinated me. I fell in love with the idea of drawing a Person’s face, their likeness, and something much deeper than that. It’s very hard to put into words, but an Artist can capture more than just a person’s likeness in a portrait. If done right a Portrait can transcend barriers and touch the public in so many ways… A Portrait can speak and tell a story.

But doing this is harder than it looks. It’s not as simple as capturing the subjects likeness to the very detail. Its in how you do it… Truth is I can’t speak much about it because I feel I’ve yet to discover my method of choice. For now I’m simply experimenting and testing my brush strokes.

I constantly get teased for all the self-portraits I do. It does seem self-absorb but I don’t really keep any of them, in fact I think I only kept five sketches through out all this years. But I do it for two reasons, one: practice, two: I don’t really have access to other faces other then mines.

But if you think about it, Self–Portraits are a tradition among Artist. Many of the great Painters have done Portraits of themselves; it’s a right of passage. Besides how can an Artist capture the likeness of others if he can’t capture his own.

Note:

If I had to categorize the Artist I hope to one day be it would be a Portrait Artist. This Blog will have portraits of me from time to time.

 

The Sketchbook

The Idea has always been the same…

As far back as I could remember I’ve always had a Sketchbook. I don’t think I ever finished one, not even sure if I ever made it past the tenth page, but I’ve always had a Sketchbook. Not much changes, not really. I still keep a book with me and still use the same tools. I’ve been drawing for a long time, since I was 5, and I’ve been using a set of tools that really haven’t change at all through out the years. Something I find comforting.

The Idea of a Sketchbook is poetic… Or at the very least it could be poetic, I journal of ideas, thoughts and feelings. Even the simplest drawing has a time, place and reason behind it.

I’ve never been one to just doodle. I like to put thought and muscle into even the simplest drawings. I have a personal goal as an Artist of where I want my skills to reach and sometimes a sketchbook can be a chronicle of past mistakes. This can often lead me to abandon my book and start a fresh one. I don’t like when this happens but I’ll admit I’ve yet to find that balance within myself to move past such things.

What I hope will happen is that I’ll be able to keep this book and work through it till the very last Page. Not every page will be worth posting; not every drawing will be finish, but I hope the basic idea behind this book will get through.

Note: I like taking pictures!

A Start… Kinda…

My name is Lupe!

I was born in Mexico and lived there for a minute, but was mostly raised in New York City. Being a true New Yorker made me a collage of contradictions; an eclectic statistic; something that confuses me at times. But the one thing that has been constant in my life has been the Arts.

Since childhood, it has been the source for my curiosity and ambitions. The foundation to seek knowledge and understanding; Art is the fire that wills me to keep pushing forward even when myself and others are pushing back.

Art is also the source of many of my sorrows. Because I find myself second-guessing my Pencil Lines and Brush Strokes, I also find myself second guessing life. I often compare myself to these before me; always asking if I’m on the right track; if I can live up to expectations; if I can do justice to the hard work before and ahead of me. Always wondering if the world will see me as I hope to one-day see myself.

I hope this Blog/Journal becomes another outlet for my creativity and record my journey through artistic discovery in hopes that I can one day call myself an “Artist”.

Note – My OCD kicked in like crazy so this is actually my third time I clean out this blog and started from scratch. I hope I can keep it together and not make it a fourth.