On the Nature of Portraits: Drawing Ambre Renard

 

I carve a bit of time each day to draw. The portrait as my subject. This practice has made a positive impact on my mental health—among other things, these drawing sessions offer a moment to reflect on the nature of appearance and its communion with reality. At my desk, pencil in hand, the reference image pulled up I see her face and I wonder how does this face move about the world, aware or not of their own beauty? How does the world take in this face and the person wearing it?

Of course, the answers to these questions are my own, for the questions are being asked of myself as well. I have outgrown the chase required to gain a career in the arts and now in my forties, my drawings are just the byproduct of these therapeutic drawing sessions. I draw and consider my own face and wonder how do I move about this world with my particular arrangement of features—does my knowledge and opinion of my own appearance change how I interact with the world and how it interacts with me, or how I perceive it interacts?

When the algorithm suggested a post by model Ambre Renard, I made her portrait my drawing for the day. In each of her posts, she appears elegant. Elevated above simple beauty. I wanted to draw Ambre once again and connected with her for a series of commissioned self-portraits for me to use as drawing reference.

Now, with her permission, I share a bit of what I received from Ambre. Draw these if you wish. Paint them. Find your own questions in her face. Your own inspiration or therapy. For those artists who may be professional, aspiring, hobbyist or otherwise, think of commissioning reference images from the world of the art model. It is a true investment in yourself, and this small yet personal exchange adds a hint more humanity to the exercise of drawing.