Saturday, July 25, 2015

MY KID'S TEENAGE ANGST

I'm a longtime fan of my daughter's caricatures of me. The earliest ones, like the one above, had a particularly sunny and happy quality, and she liked to try different techniques with each one.  Here she gave the whole face beard stubble, including the nose. "Yeah," I think to myself, "why shouldn't a nose have stubble?"

As the years went by she got more polish. Here's (above) one she did in a fast food restaurant. I asked her to draw me looking dignified and intellectual and that's exactly what she did. Haw! 


But...uh oh!...dark clouds were on the horizon. Another year passed and this time (above) I found myself depicted as old and hideous...the personification of a rigid and oppressive authority figure. It was the onset of my kid's teenage angst.


Haw! The sketch wasn't without interest, though. I like the thinning hair at the top being represented by little pubic wire worms. Interesting, eh?


I did this (above) one. It's not a very good drawing but I include it because it captures my kid in the  3 or 4 rebellious years when she stopped drawing and took herself very seriously. She read only the great Russian novels...read them in her room with the door closed, I should add.



I was despairing that I'd lost my caricature buddy when one day she asked if she could draw me. I was ecstatic when I saw the result (above). The hormones had obviously receded and my kid's charm and enthusiasm were back. She did another thinking pose, this time using a tiny little hand to convey the intention. Nice. Very nice.



7 comments:

  1. I love them all! Great post, Eddie.

    And my birthday was today, so just wanted to throw out there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roberto: Happy Birthday! I hope you got a chocolate cake!



    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous12:51 PM

    The drawing of your daughter is you at your best. I wish I could see 100 more like that.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anon, John: Haw! Wait til she reads the comments and finds out how many people like her drawing style! Geez, I might not be able to put up more of her caricatures right away. Those sketchbooks are packed in taped up boxes now. Maybe there's still some around the house.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wonderful drawings. Sorry to see you depicted as an old geezer, but that vulture nose is priceless!

    ReplyDelete