Have you ever noticed that half the damn commercial aimed at Women that are on TV are about age? Lotions, potions and creams to magically rid you of wrinles and lines and signs of age. I always thought this was insulting. Peoples wrinkles and laugh lines tell a story. You can tell if someone has spent their life laughing or frowning by the wrinkles etched in their skin.
I always loved drawing older people because of that. Sketches of young people show nothing but a beauty that is often superficial, skin deep and soon lost. But a drawing of an older person tells a story all on it's own. A sketch of my grandmother would show a woman who frowns often and easily, with hard lines and harder eyes. A sketch of my granfather would show a man who's spent his life laughing and grinning at the world, with sparkling eyes and an easy smile.
People are so damn fake now, Botox and Silicone and so many chemicals erasing any flaw or sign of ageing. Fake tans and fake hair, fake bodies to suit fake personalities. But as an artist you're taught that the beauty is often in the flaws, the little quirks that make a face stand out, make a person more interesting. People erase scars and lines and stories from their very skin and lose a little bit of themselves in doing so.
Sorry, rather rambly post. Just getting back into drawing recently and this is what it does to me.
Meru at 12:30 PM