Illustration Friday: Disguise

So, this is shaping up to be a humbling experience.  

I've decided to participate in Illustration Friday--a weekly, on-line challenge to illustrate an assigned word or idea.  I hope that making a commitment to regular participation will give me an incentive to complete more art. The word for this week was "Disguise".  I drew this 60's-style girl chic-ly trying to disguise her appearance with coat collar pulled up and hat pulled down.

Version #2--Edited to add this revised picture.  The original appears below.

 I began this illustration a day or so ago and felt pleased with it right up to the end--then I started to have trouble with the nose.  I tried and painted over…tried and painted over again.  I tried using black, rosy colors, a shade deeper than the skin...Before long, there was an accretion of paint which prevented me from drawing a crisp line.  And the use of line seemed out of place.  There had been more line-work initially but I reduced most of it in pursuit of simplicity.  So I tried to draw the line of her nose more like a shape.  Still not loving it but I have a deadline to keep, so when I got to this point I decided to call it "done".  

"Disguise"--the original image.

But…oh, man.  Scanning brought out a whole new level of ugly!  Lines that look reasonably crisp on the original are horribly ragged on the scan.  Sheen and shadow are highlighted in an unattractive and unintentional manner.  Clearly, this should have been drawn in a graphics program…if I owned a graphics program.  Or maybe I should have cut friskets and airbrushed…if I owned an airbrush. You see where this is going.  

It's pretty clear that this won't be going into my portfolio but, on the bright side: 1) I gained practice; 2) I pushed through the difficulties and finished the project instead of abandoning it (my usual MO); 3) I finished on time--ready to see what new word tomorrow will bring.