Hello! Greetings friends of HIV E, in this opportunity I want to present you a little story of how a gift started my realism in graphite.
Portada principal del album nevermind publicado en 1991-fuente de la imagen https://www.coveralia.com/caratulas/Nirvana-Nevermind-Frontal.php
On November 9, 1999, the day of my 15th birthday, I was a teenager and my musical tastes were based on rock and all its variants. My mother came home that day after her work day, I was in the living room watching TV, she came over to give me a hug and wish me a happy birthday, it was the best way to congratulate someone since at that time there were no social networks or smart phones, after congratulating me she took out of her purse the Nevermind CD by Nirvana. "I hope you like your present" my mother said to me. I couldn't believe it, I never told my mom the bands I liked, I'm sure she still doesn't know who Nirvana was, I don't know if she chose it randomly or my sister was an accomplice, the truth is that it's the birthday present that until today I have liked the most and it has a Why?
disco compacto Nirvana Nevermind- fuente de imagen https://www.coveralia.com/caratulas/Nirvana-Nevermind-CD.php
After thanking my mother for the gift, I removed the plastic wrapper from the disc, took it out of its case, and started listening to it. From "smell like teen spirit" to "something in the way" it was about 45 minutes in total and I was just sitting there looking at the inside cover, while thinking how simple the design was, just a few pictures and a writing in English that was part of the lyrics "smell like teen spirit", I was a little disappointed as I was expecting something more beyond its impressive cover art. Only one photo in particular had me hypnotized, a Kurt Cobain that stood out, he was the only one with blond hair, shorter than the rest of the band members, his eyes seemed to stare at me, I imagined if he knew he was going to be dead three years after that picture, crazy ideas were going through my mind.
Caratula trasera Nirvana Nevermind- fuente de la imagen https://www.coveralia.com/caratulas/Nirvana-Nevermind-Trasera.php
I enjoyed his songs, every time I played the album I looked at the same picture, I wanted to pay tribute to him, even though no one else knew about this tribute to his musical legacy, my art was the only thing I had, I was just a teenager starting the 4th year of high school.
Foto de una de las imágenes que forman parte de la caratula interna del disco Nevermind- fuente de la imagen https://www.coveralia.com/caratulas/Nirvana-Nevermind-Interior-Frontal.php
A month later, in mid-December, I decided to start with what I had promised myself, the tribute to his memory. Obviously I already had the reference photo, the one that inspired me to do this work, I had never tried to do realism in graphite, although I had drawn faces with a certain resemblance but I did not apply well the blurring or the effects of lights and shadows. I took two pencils (both were what I used in high school, a Mongolian HB and a 2H that I used in technical drawing) and I started my drawing, incredibly I only needed two days to finish it, the first day I made practically the whole drawing, the second day I only gave the shadows, blurring and some details. I made a portrait of a very small image, at that moment it was my greatest achievement, I really believed it was perfect, I kept it as a treasure.
Foto que forma parte de la caratula interna del disco Nevermind la cual fue usada como referencia para mi dibujo- fuente de la imagen https://images.app.goo.gl/WaPP99vKquPsjo9d6
More than 21 years have passed since that first attempt at realism in graphite, I still have it, the sheet is now yellow, the years have worn it out, but it is still my relic, my starting point in this type of art, where I made rookie mistakes, the wrong proportion, weak shading, very marked lines, hair not very blurred and yet I love this drawing so much that when I decided to emigrate I brought it with me to this country.
Dibujo de Kurt Cobain realizado en diciembre de 1999 por mi, foto escaneada en 2013
I say goodbye thanking everyone who read me, Kurt Cobain and nirvana for their music and especially my mother, because thanks to her gift I evolved my art from caricature to realism. Thank you very much. See you next time.
Foto actual 2021 tomada con mi telefono ZTE Blade A5||Current photo 2021 taken with my ZTE Blade A5 phone
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) https://www.deepl.com/translator