Portrait of a Man with Dan Fabric Design

While in the midst of making drawings this month, I told myself that I would resist the temptation, by my seasonal search for hearts and various other love images, to force the topic by insinuating little hearts into the compositions. But recently, little hearts did present themselves in my search for an African fabric design to finish the background of a portrait I was working on. In the original sketch I made of the model’s head, there was only a roughly indicated piece of drapery behind his head. It was a blank slate into which I could insinuate a pattern of my choosing. I did find an interesting pattern in a Dan (Yacoubu) fabric. As serendipity would have it, there were little hearts in the design. The drawing was completed yesterday and boldly goes forth as a portrait true to both cultural and seasonal accuracy. The image above is a detail from this drawing.