Louisiana
How one Louisiana woman found joy in low-stakes, creative self-portrait fun
I have never learned to draw.
Growing up, I thought being able to draw was something you could do or you couldn’t — and no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t. For decades, I equated drawing well with being an artist.
I’ve learned that I was wrong about both. So many people I trust have told me that anyone can learn to draw. I believe them. I’ve never taken a drawing class. Circumstances have always seemed to get in the way. I’ve also gotten a better sense of the Venn diagram between drawing well and being an artist.
What I do know is that I like making things, even when I have no idea what I’m doing. Making something badly can be surprisingly satisfying.
In my latest art-ish effort, the paper goes over my face first. Then I grab a pastel and use it to “draw” my face by feel — tracing the elements of my face through the paper. I’ve done three iterations of this self-portrait and have started with my glasses on each attempt.
Jan Risher tries her attempt at a blind self-portrait.
Then I work my way around my face: nose, eyebrows, mouth, jaw.
Sometimes when I’m drawing from one side of my face to the other, I’m shocked at how far it is. I’ve become fascinated by what happens when I try to translate the three-dimensional shape of my face onto a flat piece of paper. I cannot see what I’m drawing as it’s happening — and that’s the whole point.
The first self-portrait was ridiculous. The second was slightly better. I like the third one a lot — maybe because it’s in my favorite shade of green. I’ve shared videos of all three attempts with friends. More than one has asked the same question: Why are you doing this?
My answer is equally simple: “For no reason beyond entertaining myself!”
Frankly, it’s fun.
The stakes are low. I never know what I’m going to get, and each attempt has taught me something.
When I can’t see what I’m drawing, I can’t worry about whether I’m drawing it right. There is only the doing.
I convinced my husband, who actually can draw, to try the first attempt with me. Having been with me when I bought the supplies, he wasn’t surprised. He didn’t hesitate. For the most part, he has stopped resisting when I present him with one of my ideas, supplies in hand.
That said, he shocked me when he began wadding the paper up — more than once. He explained that wadding the paper would make it mold against his cheekbones and nose.
I tried his technique on my second attempt, although wadding up perfectly good paper felt vaguely sacrilegious. The portrait was only marginally better. For my third attempt, I went back to perfectly good flat paper.
Being asked why I’m doing this has made me wonder: Why am I doing this?
I think it has something to do with the surprise. I never know what I’m going to find when I take the paper away.
Most of what fills my week runs on the opposite instinct. There are deadlines — so many deadlines. There is research. There is reporting. There is writing. There is editing. There are stories that need to keep the readers reading. Most of what I make is supposed to work.
Life is full of things that are supposed to turn out. This one isn’t.
I don’t want fun and surprise to live only in the margins of everyday life.
Maybe I like the repetition as much as anything. I put the paper up, I draw what I cannot see. There is no way to cheat it. I can’t see the drawing, so I can’t judge it while I’m making it.
Low stakes and delight are not the same thing, but I think they might be cousins.
Nobody expects a blind portrait to be good. The green one surprised me. The jaw is roughly in the right place. It captures something of the way I look off to the side. It makes me smile.
The third portrait sits on my desk right now, green face turned slightly away from the window.
I’m going to frame it.
If you want to try your own version of a blind self-portrait, please do! Send photos of your effort to jan.risher@theadvocate.com.
LSU could not have asked for a much better start to the Lane Kiffin era. The Tigers opened the season by dismantling Clemson 51-10, piling up 644 yards of offense and a school-record 38 first downs.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt accounted for 343 total yards and three touchdowns, throwing for 230 yards and a score while adding 113 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Running back Dilin Jones matched Leavitt with 113 rushing yards and scored twice.
Louisiana Tech Can’t Be Overlooked
Louisiana Tech deserves some attention of its own. The Bulldogs opened their season with an 80-6 demolition of Northwestern State, scoring touchdowns on each of their first 10 offensive possessions and finishing with 527 total yards.
Bulldog quarterback Blake Baker threw for 232 yards and three touchdowns, while the Bulldogs’ defense surrendered just 129 total yards.
Louisiana Tech also gave LSU a tougher game than expected last season, when the Tigers came away with a 23-7 victory in Tiger Stadium. But this LSU team already looks considerably different from the one the Bulldogs saw a year ago.
Kiffin’s offense showed against Clemson that it can attack defenses on the ground and through the air, while LSU’s defense was equally impressive, limiting Clemson to just 145 total yards.
Final Score Prediction
Louisiana Tech should provide another opportunity for the Tigers to show that their dominant opener was more than a one-week performance.
The biggest thing to watch may be how LSU responds after such an emotional and convincing season opener. If the Tigers come out with the same intensity they showed against Clemson, Louisiana Tech simply does not have much margin for error.
Prediction: LSU 48, Louisiana Tech 13
Louisiana Tech is good enough to make LSU work early, but the Tigers have too many answers. Expect Leavitt and the offense to create separation, while LSU’s defense eventually overwhelms the Bulldogs and gives Kiffin an opportunity to turn to his reserves in the second half.
One area that could determine how quickly LSU takes control is the Tigers’ ability to establish the run. Against Clemson, LSU showed it does not have to rely entirely on Sam Leavitt’s arm to move the football.
Leavitt and Dilin Jones each eclipsed 100 rushing yards, giving Lane Kiffin multiple ways to stress a defense. Leavitt’s ability to keep the ball also forces defenders to account for an extra runner, which can create favorable looks for LSU’s running backs and opportunities downfield.
Louisiana Tech’s defense should make that battle worth watching. The Bulldogs were strong against the run last season and opened 2026 by allowing Northwestern State little room to operate.
If Louisiana Tech can slow LSU on early downs and force Leavitt into obvious passing situations, it could keep the game competitive longer than Clemson did. The problem is that LSU showed very few weaknesses offensively in its opener.
Even when the Tigers did not generate an explosive play, they consistently stayed ahead of the chains and extended drives.
LSU’s defense also has an opportunity to prove its performance against Clemson was not simply a product of one dominant night.
Louisiana Tech enters the matchup with confidence after scoring 80 points in its opener, but the Bulldogs will face a significant jump in speed and physicality.
LSU should be able to generate pressure without constantly bringing extra defenders, allowing the Tigers to keep more help in coverage and limit the explosive plays that fueled Louisiana Tech’s Week 1 offense.
If LSU controls the line of scrimmage on both sides, the talent gap should become increasingly difficult for Louisiana Tech to overcome as the game progresses.
Louisiana Tech may keep things competitive early, but LSU should ultimately cruise to 2-0.
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