International Self Portrait Day is Not Today!

International Self Portrait Day is November 1st. < Not today.

I can’t seem to find who started the ‘official day’, or if it has a home online. I don’t think so? It seems to be just a meme that spread through social media.

But better late than never right? I’ve had these two sketches lying around for a while so I figured I’d scan’em up.

Actually Laurel scanned them for me, so you get to see them :)

I’ve always felt self portraits were a little silly, but as I get older I’m a little less self-conscious about it. There’s certainly more to notice in your own face as it ages. I’m beginning to understand the reason to have a yearly record you can look back on. You can watch yourself age, at the same time as you watch your artwork change. In some senses it’s keeping track of your mortality – but for artists, we usually improve with age :) so I don’t mind that.

This one is a bit of a joke. I honestly don’t know how to take a mirror selfie. I mean; the fact the camera is always in the shot is kind of weird isn’t it? It seems odd that in the millions (billions?) of selfies online we don’t see the constant presence of our phones as invasive.

It turns out the innovation of the smart phone wasn’t the the camera, but rather the idea of the *connected camera*. The ability to instantly share images is certainly a cultural revolution. My life wouldn’t have been the same without it.

So selfies! If you did one this year; why not post it in the comments. Next year we can look back, and see if our artwork is maturing faster than our faces :)