So, I'm head-first diving into portraits. Not wading. Diving. Why not, I mean it's a long-standing artistic tradition to make oneself the subject of your own work, right? You know the usual suspects: Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Cezanne, Sargent, Leonardo... the list goes on and on.

But I'm no Master, and that's why I'm picking on myself. Who else can I pick on? Struggling artists need subjects. In this case, any mirror will do. And that's what sketching is all about for me. That's what art is all about... the journey, not the destination. Doing it. Diving in.

So, here's my narcissistic attempt at a self-portait. A selfie (as we call them on Flickr). Aside from giving myself some Manga eyes (and other proportional wonkiness), I'm happy with how it turned out. I'll be doing more and more of these as time progresses. Trying harder and harder to make a likeness.

The catalyst is twofold: recent self-portraits of kids at my son's school; and, the Portrait Party Flickr Group. All very awesome and inspiring. I love how vulnerable and honest-feeling selfies are. I also love the courage all these artists show in doing portaits. Likenesses are hard. Posting them to a public blog makes them doubly so.

What's my ultimate goal with these? Well, to move forward in my artistic journey, of course. A journey that always begins with that first, vulnerable, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other step.

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