Strike A Pose

For our optional World Watercolor Month prompt of “Pose,” the first thing that came to mind was posing for a photo. These days, taking photos usually involves a smartphone of some kind and the regret that we didn’t evolve with all of this technology to grow much longer arms. Since I don’t sketch people, we have a couple of cats to demonstrate the idea. I actually think cats would love doing this, so they were my first choice. While candid photos are those taken while someone is unaware, a selfie does often require a proper pose. At least once has a chance to don just the right one and delete it if it doesn’t turn out just right. I remember taking selfies with polaroid cameras. It was the instant gratification before it actually became instant. Instead of getting an immediate result, however, everyone had to gather around while faces formed on paper like ghosts visiting from another realm. It was all quite magical and really fun. And when we had to wait, the result was always something worth keeping.

When Philippe and I first started dating, he was in Paris and I was here in the middle of the United States. We sent so many selfies during that time, our arms grew tired. Since I was trying to be impressive back then, I remember deleting several attempts while going for that perfect photo to send. I would make what I thought was my most alluring face and then when I examined the resulting photo, I realized instead that it looked more like I’d just developed the stomach flu. Indeed, I’ve never known how to create a sexy face, so in the end, I just went back to smiling like a fool. There was at least a certain charm in that to be found. I personally find smiles very alluring and a nice one will always catch my attention. I prefer candid and more natural smiles to the ones that seem like they’ve been practiced. But, I’m certainly not above practicing when it comes to sharing a photo online. The stakes are just a bit higher than a personal family polaroid.

But, like most things, my practice is just a couple of attempts and then I get bored and move on. It’s the same for my sketches, though they’re always basically the first attempt, because I barely have time to make the one you see here. So, I like to think of my sketches as little selfies, since they are always a reflection of my own thoughts and ideas. This combined with whatever I ramble on about completes the picture. A moment frozen and shared in time that even I didn’t quite expect to appear that day. That’s why this whole journey has been so much fun! For me, it’s just a chance to jump in and share whatever came to my crazy mind in the moment. That moment when I joyfully pick up my fountain pen and make a little sketch appear. Next, I colored it with watercolor and watched as things slowly start to appear like a polaroid picture as each and every day, I strike a pose.

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About the Doodlewash Da Vinci Paint Co.: Gold Ochre, Opus (Vivid Pink), Cobalt Turquoise, Terra Cotta, and Indigo. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with black ink  in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop!

Charlie O'Shields

Creator of Doodlewash, founder of World Watercolor Month (July), World Watercolor Group, and host of the Sketching Stuff Podcast. Sharing watercolor illustrations and stories while proudly featuring talented artists from all over the world!

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