Sketchy personalities

I haven't drawn for a long time again, but I figure I might add a few little pieces during #inktober for something a bit different. I used to spend a lot of my time sketching, but not very often would I finish any pieces to the point where I would say "that'll do" as much of my sketches would be to fill in the space between other activities. I drew a lot at university during lectures.

I came home a little early so that I could pick up my daughter from daycare, and I did this drawing in my home office (kitchen table) during an online meeting, using @smallsteps' taxi as inspiration. Not quite what I had envisaged, but since it is my first attempt in about 6 months, that is fine.

Most of my life though I have drawn eyes, which have always been the point that has piqued my interest. You know those eyes that sparkle when happy, or the ones that well up and the colours enhance when on the verge of tears. It is a cliche to say they are the window to the soul, but I do think they are by far the most expressive human communicator and make most of the words that are ever said quite useless.

Yesterday I wrote about how we think in space and through gesture and how I feel that the skill in reading people's expressions are being lost through the loss of nuance provided through screens. Something that can likely never be transmitted through screens are micro-expressions and when it comes to building relationships, the ability to read non-verbal cues is important - and the inability is likely to be costly.

There are some old numbers that looked at face to face communication where only 7% of the meaning was provided through the words spoken, while 38% came through the tone and 55% through the body language exhibited. I do not know how accurate those numbers are, but words are rather meaningless.

It is something that I consider when communicating with people online as online they have a great deal of support from the likes of Google for knowledge and things like gifs for being funny. I think that most of them are far from as talented or funny in real life. Because I am aware of this gap between presentation and reality, I try to make sure that there isn't a large discrepancy between my digital and analogue personality, something that I think that those who meet me could attest.

I hear stories from my friends about their dating lives online and the person who was so clever and witty in chat, were thoroughly boring and dull on a date. Having the ability and time to lean on a digital search for personality seems to kill the development of actual skills that make a person interesting. The other issue IRL is when the stories that were previously told no longer have any credibility once told face to face as the "embellishments" no longer sync with the actions and what seemed so genuine, falls apart.

Unfortunately, I don't get to go to SteemFest this year, but I believe that those who do will find it interesting to see how genuine most people are in real life, and how some others are quite different from their account persona. Some of the funniest people I have met online, don't have much to offer IRL, while some others who are more shy and withdrawn are the most fun and offer the greatest laughs. I am hoping that everyone who goes has a ball.

Oh, this is an art piece... I should stop writing.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]