First of all... can we just take a moment to lament the inadequacy of most cameras to capture what the human eye can see? Because this looks so much more incredible in person. And I love it.
Okay, so to the human eye it all just looks smoother, and the "gradient", if you will, from dark to light shadow looks less grainy/patchy, and the "hard lines" don't look nearly so hard.
I'll go ahead and take the time to snap a better quality photo tomorrow, using my actual camera rather than my phone's excuse for a camera. I've done enough work on this one to warrant a true-to-life image.
It was such a good day today.
I'm grateful to have felt so Confident- with a capital "C"- today! Omar and I went to the gym, and even though I'm far weaker than I was the last time we went, I recognize that, as a person with a menstrual cycle, there will be times that I feel like I can really smash it at the gym, but there will also be other times, like this one, where I feel significantly less capable of lifting heavy weights.
And that's okay.
Lately, I've been really looking in to the inner-workings of the menstrual cycle. Please, bear with me, I promise this isn't going to get gross. I've just been starting to look into the other phases that occur, aside from the week of menses. I'm familiar enough with that one... but I've not given as much thought and consideration into the other phases of the process. I mean, it's not like... you have one week that feels like total rot, and then the other three are all roses and sunshine. So many other processes are occurring within the body throughout those other three weeks, that it blows my mind!
I won't go into much more detail on that, but I thought it was important to share a little more information about what I've been studying as I've been focused on this drawing.
It is, actually, a self-portrait. And in that, it weighs that much more heavily on my mind. A lot love and empathy is going into this drawing. Self-love, after-all, is a hot topic these days.
And I'm totally with that.
This drawing is still not done.
More to come.
What a lovely self portrait Elle. There is a feeling of soft tranquility to it in my mind. I wonder if you get the same from it when looking at the piece?
Self reflection is such an important part of the human condition and especially for an artist. It's one of the wellsprings of inspiration and I find this in my writing as well. I can exorcise self doubt through my characters, explore both the darkness and light behind the eyes. It all starts with knowing yourself... and then seeing the myriad patterns of behaviour and emotion in others.
Ha ha, anyway... I've run away with myself about my creative process. How is it with you? Does inspiration come mainly from within or from the world outside, or as so often for myself, a combination of the two?
Yeah, I think that for me, it's been heavily introspective as of late.
Almost self-absorbed, to be honest. It's almost as if I feel most "at home" in this state.
I noticed that the camera doesn't quite represent what the naked eye sees, especially when it comes to shading. My last painting has a lot of shading and it looks a bit weird when I take pics so I had to try a few different angles and with/out the flash.
Great start though! I need to find the motivation to keep painting and drawing :-/ Last month I did a bunch of stuff but I haven't done nearly anything at all this month.
Yeah, exactly.
I find that I'm very sporadic at times.
Reflection is good! Hope you got something out of it!
Also love the style of the portrait! It looks really abstract but I can feel the emotion.
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I don't know if maybe it seems abstract because it's not finished, but portraits that are intended to be realistic should be the opposite of abstract. Lol It's meant to be realism.
Thank you for taking the time to check out my work.
Haha got it! Maybe because you are still working on it!
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Thanks for the upvote!
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Hello @ellemarieisme, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!