The first time, it was your birthday and I wanted to surprise you with a sketch. You were surprised; but it wasn't exactly positive, because no matter how hard I worked at capturing your expression, you ended up looking slightly, well, mental. Something about that tall forehead, and your eyes seeming a tiny bit crossways...
Today I decided to give it another try. You sent me a photo of you reading a favorite book, and even narrated a touching story to go with it, and I thought, Here's my chance to redeem the birthday photo! So I drew slowly, and I painted carefully, and I tried hard for a likeness and...I managed to paint a pretty picture of a girl reading, but somehow, she just isn't YOU reading.
The eyes are, once again, too close together, and possible too small; the nose is a touch too long, the lips a tad too lush.... I worked it, I played with it, I introduced and took out shadows, added more eye makeup, and...
Here is "Not Quite Kirsti," today's rendering for the "People reading" series. Maybe I will have to wait until you are old and wrinkly to get it?
Uniball pen, watercolors, Bee sketchbook.
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