The people you draw-you know?

Do I know the person drawn above? No, but when you spend time staring at a person, you develop a bio for them. Many drawings are loosely based on what I see in the mirror. Most artists keep a mirror around to help with facial expressions, and I know animators use a mirror frequently. The woman above, to my mind, is a 40ish half-asian villainess of the James Bond variety. Is that what you see? Maybe not. But as I draw, I develop a background for the character. When the bio doesn't fit the story you are working on, it ends up in the scrap heap, or the back of your portfolio. I don't really have a portfolio anymore. Almost everything I draw is intended for publication of some sort, so it is all scanned into the computer and ink smudges and goofs are Photoshopped away. I haven't used white paint to correct mistakes in quite a while. Also, digital Zipatone is a miracle. Imagine having to buy this stuff and cut out adhesive sheets to apply to your art. They also had sheets that you applied by rubbing a pencil over the top of the sheet. These were quite frustrating as the dots rubbed back onto the Zipatone sheet as easily as the rubbed onto the art. I tried it once and gave up!