Self-Portrait (2021)
Ballpoint pen on paper

This is my self-portrait from 2021, and honestly—this is my favorite look I’ve ever had. That hair. The whole presence of it. I drew this before my grandma died. Before I had cancer. Back when life still felt… intact in a way I didn’t realize I was going to miss.

I mourn the loss of my hair every day. Not just the way it looked, but what it meant—health, time, normalcy, the version of me that didn’t have to think about any of this.

What makes this one hit even harder is the timeline: it’s ten years after my first self-portrait. And the gap is obvious. This drawing is miles ahead of where I started. The curls are patient. The shading is controlled. The face actually feels lived-in. It isn’t just a better drawing—it’s proof of practice, proof of repetition, proof that showing up counts.

Practice makes progress. On paper, and as a human being.

-PERSONAL COLLECTION-