When things get busy, creating helps keep me relaxed. Creating focuses my energies and immediately drowns out any stressors. In response to Monday’s #TOSAchat with a commitment to blog weekly including an assigned blog buddy for accountability, there was a sense of urgency around creating a blogpost. As I considered topics, work-related ones came to mind until I returned to my favorite tool and pasttime, creating with Google Drawing. I decided to give Vector Portrait Drawing another try using one of my favorite early modern scientists, Galileo Galilei.

The original portrait was created in 1636 by the artist Justus Sustermans. Galileo was 72 years old at the time. He had already stood trial for his scientific writings and beliefs and was living under house arrest until his death a few years later.

Even though Galileo’s nose looks like it was in a bar fight in my vector portrait and doesn’t capture his age in the way of the original portrait, I have learned more about using Google Drawing for Vector Portraits.

Lessons Learned on this Attempt:
1) It is much easier to do a vector portrait with the original image beside the Drawing rather than tracing on top.

I placed the original portrait on the left. Using the Polyline tool within Google Drawing, I traced the shapes on the original image and then dragged it over to my canvas on the right. This made it much easier to match the colors and fill the shapes. It also provided valuable feedback along the way, even though it couldn’t save his nose!

2) Double-click on the shape to reveal the purple nodes that allow for adjusting and fine-tuning. When using the polyline tool, every click creates a node as part of the closed shape you create. When you double-click on the shape, all these nodes are revealed and you can move each and every one of them to create a more seamless look to your portrait. My first attempt had a lot of gaps between the different shapes. Adjusting the nodes are the key to creating a more cohesive look.

I look forward to further refining my skills using this technique. The act of creation is a great stress reliever and a means to focus energies towards something that I find incredibly relaxing.