Shawn Oueinsteen Self Portraits
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| Smiling Shawn |
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| Mourning Shawn |
One of the characters of Mourning Dove is a portrait artist, and descriptions of Rembrandt self portraits are important to the book.
I drew the sketch on the left shortly after my father died a few years ago. I was bored and depressed. I opened a mirror app on the computer in front of me and and started doodling. Twenty minutes later, this is what was on the paper in front of me. I hadn't even noticed at the time that the paper was blue. I was shocked at how sad I looked. That was not intentional.
In early 2019, I decided I needed a self-portrait for my web page, ShawnOueinsteen.com. My son asked me what technology I used to create it. My response: a No. 2 pencil with a good eraser, a piece of paper, and an app that turned my computer into a mirror.
I think one of the most interesting differences between these two self portraits is in the mark making. In the Mourning Shawn you have shaky, flat marks that lack confidence and resolve - yet the piece does look finished and resolved as a whole in its clear sadness. But in the Smiling Shawn, your marks are very crisp, they stand up and look much more confident and decided. It's not just in the facial expressions that you can tell how the artist was feeling.
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