Self-portraiture

I've been doing some drawing lately. I've never been any good at it, and I'm probably not going to be, but it's fun to pick up the colored pencils and create something. A lot of this work has been self-portraits.

For the fat girls out there, I have a challenge for you: Get out a pencil and blank sheet of paper and draw a sketch of yourself, focusing on the body. I find it's easier to draw my back than my front, because it's less complicated, but whichever view you like is great. Side, back, front, whatever. It doesn't have to be good, detailed, or even realistic. Abstract curves are just fine.

Then, I want you to imagine a thin runway model or emaciated celebrity. Try drawing that person on another sheet of paper. It's hard, isn't it? You want to draw comfortable curves, rounded hips, generous thighs--but drawing someone who is very thin is difficult. Your drawing probably won't look quite as good as the self-portrait.

This isn't to upset the thin folks out there, by the way--it is simply to show that we can perceive ourselves in ways other than mirrors and photographs.