What I look like

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… to an enterprising Beijing street artist, who sketched most of this while walking unnoticed alongside me, and then offered to sell it to me while adding the last few strokes and the caption. Shengli Feng cheerfully bargained him down to a third of the asking price.

The air was good — blue sky and clouds were visible, which I gather is rare for Beijing these days — but it was quite hot and humid, so the artist gracefully ignored a few beads of sweat.

I haven't noticed the prominent brow ridges in the mirror or in photographs, but it's true that my genographic profile is 4% Neanderthal…

 



8 Comments

  1. MaryKaye said,

    June 27, 2014 @ 9:02 pm

    What does the caption say?

  2. Middlesticks said,

    June 27, 2014 @ 9:03 pm

    A flattering portrait (brow ridges noted), unless you are, in reality, an astonishingly handsome man.

    I wonder what I'd look like if drawn by the same artist, as my brows are at least that prominent in the mirror.

  3. Leon said,

    June 27, 2014 @ 11:52 pm

    It's his name, Mark 马克

  4. David Donnell said,

    June 28, 2014 @ 3:06 am

    You always were the cute one of the family, while your sibling was the smart one! -jk-

  5. Keith said,

    June 28, 2014 @ 4:09 am

    Nice portrait, and I find it amusing that Mark written as 马克. I wonder if this could be read as "winning horse"?

  6. Ray Girvan said,

    June 29, 2014 @ 5:47 am

    Interesting that it's drawn on a little glossy ceramic dish. Not only does that give it better value as a keepsake, but it also means it can be wiped and re-used if the subject doesn't buy – very neat business practice.

  7. bks said,

    June 29, 2014 @ 11:18 am

    A reverse image search at google was not that exciting, but here's the top hit:

    http://tinyurl.com/pbx797n

    –bks

  8. Bloix said,

    July 3, 2014 @ 12:01 pm

    What's a picture of Alan Rickman on a plate doing on Language Log?

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