Self Portrait : Pride 2019

Sami Gattoufi made this self portrait with a pencil, and you can see the process in every mark. The physical qualities of this artwork are simple, but it's how the artist uses the pencil that makes it sing. The shading on the turtleneck has the density of charcoal, while the face and hair is more like soft graphite. Look at the way Gattoufi renders the curls in the hair, each one feels like an exercise in shape-making, not just a transcription of what's seen. There's a bit of Picasso in the way the artist models the face with simple planes, and the gaze has the weight of a Modigliani portrait. It shows that art is an ongoing conversation of mark making.