Self Portrait

This is probably my favorite drawing I've ever done. And I'll probably never attempt anything like it again.



First, a little background...



Starting around the age of 11 or so, I wanted to be a comic book artist.

I'd been collecting for a few years at that point and had a passing interest in art (at the very least). Despite my love of Batman, I considered myself a Marvel Zombie. As soon as I determined I wasn't gonna get any (mutant) powers at puberty (at least, no useful ones), I decided the next best thing would be to create these images myself. I picked up books like The Official Marvel Comics Try Out Book and How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way to try to learn the basics. I studied industry pros and personal favorites like Marc Silvestri, John Byrne, Paul Smith, John Romita Jr, Jim Lee, Art Adams, Walt Simonson and many others.

To make a long and boring story short, my infatuation with music eventually superseded my love of comics and drawing. I never REALLY stopped drawing, though...


Fast forward to August of 2003. I'm on my 2nd tour (of duty) with the amazing baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and on this jaunt, we're playing at the Brecon Jazz Festival  in Wales and then a residency at the historic Ronnie Scotts jazz club in London (a week that deserves it's own blog!). For whatever reason, I was dealing with some jet lag after the flight from NY/NJ (I can't recall if we flew in from JFK or Newark) and I couldn't sleep. I was sitting at the desk in my room and journaling (something I started doing when I began travelling abroad in 2002) and really took notice of the mirror in front of me. At that moment and on a whim, I decided to make my first attempt at a self-portrait. I got this far and figured I should quit while I was ahead because A) I was (finally) getting sleepy and B) I didn't want to mess up the rest of it!

I still draw for fun (and in ink) and I'll probably do a blog of my Bar Art in the near future. In the meantime, there's always this, my best and favorite drawing...


Be Good,
DLW