Portrait party at Shulay’s

I was away for the weekend again. This time visiting my dear friend Shulay. I’m getting more and more enthused about portrait swaps since participating in Rama Hughes' excellent portrait party blog. Believe it or not, Shulay hasn’t picked up a pencil for 23 years so a pretty amazing drawing don’t you think? Before we started we set out the only ground rule – neither of us was going to be distracted by trying to flatter the other. It is the great minefield of portraiture – the worry of upsetting the sitter. So it was a great relief to draw in the same way as I draw my family – just concerning myself with trying to do the best I could without having to think about bruising an ego. I look forward to doing more portraits of Shulay – she has such an interesting face and long lean limbs and hands – none of which I did justice to this time. And I hope Shulay doesn’t leave it so long before she picks up a pencil again.
Shulay by Julie 210mm x 285mm pen and watercolour
Julie by Shulay 270mm x 300mm pencil