Of The True Self - A Pen Portrait

Of The True Self
Pen on paper
Jaundré M. van Breda
2018

I created this surreal self-portrait with gel- and ballpoint pen on A3 200gsm paper.

I wanted to express what I feel rather than what I look like. I feel I'm divided in two (the what-you-see part and the what-I-am part).
People see someone "normal", but OCD is a big part of what I am. It has shaped me over the years like a pebble in a rushing river.

I used two separate photos and combined them as one:

I used the final image above as a reference for my portrait. I feel that this is the best way I could represent myself on paper.

Here are pics showing my progress at various stages: