Portrait #21: Alyza

I think it is rather appropriate that I took this picture of Alyza with her portrait in my parents' kitchen. Most of the time I've spent with Alyza has been either in my parents kitchen and basement eating pickles, carrots, and hummus. The place I've spend the 2nd most amount of time with Alyza is the powder room of our synagogue when we were in late elementary/early middle school (she was in my older sister's grade). In the latter scenario, Alyza taught all of us nice Jewish girls about things girls should know (dirty jokes, etc) that she learned from her teenage older brother Jason.

It was cool drawing Alyza because she and our friend Julia (post coming soon!) were having a long conversation on my bed, which allowed me a great deal of detail and ability to make corrections. For example, a lack of definition in Alyza's cheeks made them look way too big, which she was not pleased about, but her knack for telling long stories got me outta that one. The way the portrait eventually came out is a lot more accurate than it had been-- I think I'd been out of practice before I got this new drawing pad. It was a luxury to draw someone whose face I'd seen grow and change over the past 10+ years, and really wrap my head around the way her hair behaves texture-wise, and in what ways her nose is super Jewish. Alyza also really appreciated the inclusion of her turtle necklace that she got when she was working with turtles in Costa Rica.

Speaking of Alyza's travels... it is notable that they have been extremely far and wide, moreso than the average college student. I don't know how she did it (flexibility of UMass I guess) but she spent what seems like most of her college years abroad, taking semesters in Argentina and Spain and then travelling for 6+ months afterwards. She sort of disappeared from our lives multiple times but every time she comes home, we manage to still be the extended family we've always been (except for that separation when she and my sister Diane made the transition to high school... woops).