Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Illustration Friday: Flawed



This week's IF word is flawed.

Dictionary.com's definition of flawed is "characterized by flaws; having imperfections." Wow. This is the whole world. However, after contemplating on this word for a while, I realized that there is beauty within flaws. Flaws make us different from one another, and they give us something to work on. Signs of aging could be considered a flaws, but age can also produce beauty. Think fine wine, cheese, and even my husband's green tomato pickles that he canned last fall. Flaws produce humility - once we recognize our own flaws, we are more forgiving of others' flaws, which helps us to be compassionate and understanding. So while many people might think describing something as flawed is not a good thing, I tend to think of character, wisdom, humility, refinement, and compassion.

I love taking pictures of old, worn out, flawed things. They generally have great texture, and they always have a story to tell. This illustration is of an old dry cleaning sign in a neighboring town. It's missing some letters, has rust stains running down its once sleek facade, and it appears that it is no longer hooked up to power. I love these old signs. They are sad, but beautiful. My town is full of them.

The drawing took about 25 minutes and was done with India ink and colored pencil. Enjoy!

4 comments:

joseph's art and stuff said...

great sketch of an old sign. i love seeing old things like this, i occassionally draw things of this nature too. Yours is outstanding!

Focus_ret said...

I enjoyed your thoughtful prose and interesting illustration.

Amy C said...

really nice piece - I love old signs and always stop to take photos of them, the rustier they are the better

Coreopsis said...

What a wonderful post. I missed this during the "flawed' week--and so true about the flaws in aging things. I love people's wrinkles, and gray hair, and, as you said, the weathered texture of things. Beautiful drawing!