"Facebook Portraits" 1-441, David D.

A new year comes with a new set of challenges and resolutions. There's only one for me, and that is to get back to doing what I love the most. Drawing. Portraits, mainly.  There's just something about a person's face that's intriguing to me as an artist.

The irony here lies in the fact that I did most of my portrait drawings BEFORE I became an art major at UTA (The University of Texas at Arlington). Once I became focused on being a graphic designer, all my work became computer based. Being busy with school work, working to pay for school and playing guitar with my friends became more important than sitting alone and hammering out a piece.

This year, I'm making a point to draw more. Then I started thinking, "Why would I draw photos of famous people? They don't mean anything to me." So I posted this on my Facebook wall. Just to see how people would react to it.

"I need people to draw. So, from now on, instead of drawing actors/actresses, I will be picking a random friend, look through their photos and draw a photo I find interesting enough. I will post the finished piece, tag whoever it belongs to then send the original to that person. My goal is one piece a week. All I ask is in return is to have that person post their photo on Facebook holding their portrait and tag me on it."

And the reaction I got was overwhelming. First, I needed to figure out how to randomize my selection process. I noticed that when you go to your Facebook profile, click on friends, your friends list shows up in no particular order. Seems random enough, but if I just chose a friend to draw, it still wouldn't be random because its my choice. So I went here:

http://www.random.org/

I typed in the set of numbers I wanted it to choose from. In this case, a number between 1 and 523 (the number of friends I have on Facebook). 441 is the result. I then went on my friends list and counted 441, and that led me to my first person to draw. David D.

The only choice I allow myself to have is the photo of theirs to draw. So I went on to his profile photos and chose this.

Interesting enough. Good expression.

2 nights and 11 hours later....

18" x 24", graphite and charcoal on paper. David D 1-441.

Not a bad start for not having drawn in 12 years, I think. Now on to the next. =)