Squelched Art
Oh woe. I try to do such a good job. Really looking. Making exaggerations. That’s what Caricature is supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be pretty pictures in which everybody looks like some preconceived imaginary fashion model.
There I was at a party. I started drawing the first picture you see here. It’s unfinished because the Mother of the Birthday Girl, with good intentions, quietly asked me to put it away and make a ‘better’ one of her guest. I did that, and the girl is holding the picture that came out of shocked me. My Flow was halted. I did the best I could to please my client.
But the girl was cool. Fun-loving, she came to me afterwards and asked to see the first picture. I gave her a quick glance at it, and she laughed - fully comfortable with herself.
I think the girl knew what she looked like. And she sensed that there was no animosity in my drawing. And I think that the well-meaning Mother was actually giving the girl a message that it’s Not All Right to Look Like Herself.
We all look ‘Different’. It’s the ones that can accept their individuality and go with it that have the higher self-esteem. Self acceptance. Happier. And actually ‘look better’.
