Old self-portrait, new self-congratulation

I went over to my dad's place today, so that means I smell like stale cigarettes. It also means I snagged a picture of an old piece of work I did in high school. This sucker got chosen for an art show my junior year, which means it got framed for free. It's a monster of a piece, so the framing would have been quite pricey. My dad got dibs on this one as soon as he saw it. I thought it was interesting because, while he has always been supportive of my creative side, he never really expressed interest in it until then.

Another story behind this. By junior year in high school, I fancied myself a full-on artist, and my portfolio was growing. Most of the work I did in high school was done that year, in room E-105, when I should have been doing class work. So, for the "Great Frame-Up" art show, I had quite a stack of stuff to submit.

On the last day of submission, I stood next to the pile that was collecting and I drew this on a piece of butcher paper in less than five minutes. It might have taken three minutes. I quickly sprayed it with fixative so it wouldn't get charcoal all over the other people's work, set it right on top to dry, and left for the next class.

In that submission stack, I had paintings that I had spent days on, various prints and drawings that I had worked on for weeks. I had my favorite self-portrait in that stack. The blue guy with the purple background. You've seen it a thousand times if you know me. They passed on that one. They chose this sketch. There's no accounting for taste. Still, though, it felt good to be selected.