My last post was a portrait in charcoal of my, then friend/now soulmate, Magdalena Adamska. The charcoal portrait was from a photo reference that she used frequently for social media profiles and as a professional headshot. After that portrait, I was inspired to draw her again, but I was drawn, as always, back to graphite pencil. Since falling in love with each other, I was eager to spend the time observing every detail of her and trying to capture on paper what I found beautiful about her and express my love and admiration through the portrait. The ultimate goal for any portrait artist. So this past June, I found another selfie that she took of herself and which she sent to me, and I used that as a reference for my second portrait of my beloved Magda.
I was completely unhappy with the result. While I found that I was making some progress in understanding the proportions of the face and head, and I thought it was a valuable exercise in pencil work and value, I failed to create an expressive portrait of someone who has a particular personal connection to me. The greatest lesson, however, was experiencing first-hand that a technically good drawing doesn’t always make a good portrait. Magda graciously and kindly praised the portrait, but I know I missed what I was trying to achieve and express in the portrait – not so much to capture a perfect likeness, but to express something about my beloved Magda that I adored so much.
The following month, in July, when we were together, she allowed me to take some photos of her to use as references for another portrait. She wore a dress with many colorful stripes, which I thought was perfect to try a color portrait in pastel. I took several photos and posed her in several positions that I thought captured her quiet nature, her warmth and kindness, and the feeling of calm I feel whenever I’m near her or talk to her. I fell in love with the photos and decided against the pastel attempt because I wanted a chance to correct what I missed in the June graphite portrait. The result is the drawing featured in this post, titled “Magdalena.” It is far from a masterpiece and even farther from capturing her beauty or exact likeness, but I feel I came much closer to capturing something far more important – the tranquility she exudes and the peace she brings me.
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