For the vast majority of people, faces are just another part of our
lives. Thousands of them can pass by on a single day, yet they vanish
from our minds a second after they disappear – a fleeting moment lost in
the everyday shuffle.
For artist Claire Huber, a University of Wisconsin junior, faces can speak volumes. They aren’t just another part
of a body – they can be representations of human beings.
“Looking at
the tiny details and intricacies of faces, an expression can tell you so
much,” Huber said.
Partly because of this fascination, Huber began her art in kindergarten, eventually drawing every single person in her class. Huber then focused on drawing impressions of celebrities, noting that
high-resolution photos were easily available. Most of her pieces are based on the photos she found online. However, as she honed her craft and her
skills began to improve, she yearned for wider pastures.
“I find much
more interest in trying to draw tiny details in peoples’ faces and stuff
that might be wrong – asymmetry, little marks – rather than drawing a
perfect, airbrushed face,” she said. “In the future, I definitely want to draw more from real life…It’s something I’d love to explore. The feeling of being in real
life isn’t the same as looking at a photo, no matter how realistic or
high resolution it may be.”
Huber has already made some inroads
into moving away from celebrities. Her website already features dozens
of original works, with more on the way. According to Huber, her sketches are rarely
planned out in full before she begins drawing.
“A lot of
times, I don’t completely plan each piece out before I start it,” she
revealed. “I just don’t know what it’ll look like, but it makes more
sense as I keep going.”
This idiosyncrasy has led to some
interesting artistic decisions on her part, she confessed. One of her
most eye-catching sketches, “Bad Hair Day,” features a striking wash of
vivid red color on an otherwise monochrome drawing.
“I did that
completely on a whim,” she said, laughing. “Sometimes I’ll just feel
like drawing something in red.”
Her tendency for lack of planning
had gotten her into trouble before, when she would lose heart halfway
through a drawing. Huber went through a phase like this a few years ago, but she found that if she persevered, she would actually be quite pleased with the finished product.
Her distinctive works
have begun amassing popularity, both among her friends and the public.
In a recent post on the online hub Reddit, her sketches drew acclaim
from everyday viewers. Despite the critical success, Huber says
she still isn’t sure what she plans to do with them.
“I don’t know if
anything will happen, at all,” she said. “But no matter what happens, if
I’m doing it for me, that’s fulfilling enough for myself.”
Whatever
may be in store for the future, Huber considers her sketches to be one
of the most important parts of her life.
“There’s almost nothing that I
feel so passionately about in my life,” she said, emphasizing that this
wasn’t a mere hobby. “If I could drop everything and just draw for the
rest of my life, I definitely would.”
Claire Huber’s collected works can
be viewed on her website at www.cehuber.com.
