On the Nose

Posted 3:30 PM by Gerald So

Shortly after I joined Bluesky last year, I wanted to make my own cartoon avatar, not pay someone else to make it nor upload a photo to a cartoon generator.

First, I tried to apply my offline image editing program's cartoon filter and Inkscape's multi-scan Trace Bitmap:

Photo and image by Gerald So

Not only did it make a high-memory, complicated vector, a friend said it aged me.

From there, I studied line drawing on YouTube, adapting the techniques as Inkscape works more easily with closed shapes:

Image by Gerald So

Progressing from front-facing avatars to 3/4 view, I've found noses most challenging.

Image by Gerald So

Twice now, another friend has told me my 3/4 cartoons remind him of Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" music video, blockier than I'm going for:




Over Memorial Day weekend, I changed my blog header cartoon's nose to a squiggle, a drawing flourish. Its width and color suggest depth, its curve one-of-a-kind shape.

Image by Gerald So