Jen Agg, enjoying her drink of choice.
Yesterday, I did my first-ever illustration for one of my favourite news sites, Torontoist, which I’ve been following for years and years. They asked me to draw a portrait of restaurateur Jen Agg (The Black Hoof, Rhum Corner), who has organized a conference tonight, Kitchen Bitches, that aims to tackle sexism in the restaurant industry. Journalist Victoria Chan interviewed Agg and gave some context for the landscape of women working in restaurants as a preview of the event.
I was so worried about this illustration! It’s only been about a couple years since I’ve drawn portraits of people – that is illustrations that aim to capture a real-life likeness. I started off with a serious trial by fire, drawing portraits of customers in the window of Type Books over a weekend, and since that event, I’ve been regularly drawing portraits. But it still fills me with a certain amount of dread. Drawing a portrait of a real person, whether living or dead, comes with a real responsibility, and it’s not one I take lightly. So every portrait is accompanied with various levels of anxiety: did I do the person justice? does it look like them at all?
These anxieties are always there, but worsen when illustrating someone I greatly admire. (Drawing good friends is nigh-impossible.) Being asked to drawn Jen Agg was an exercise in heightened anxiety. I don’t care that much about food. I mean, I like eating it, but I don’t follow chefs and restaurateurs the way some people follow film directors or authors. But I love the initiatives Agg has made to uncover misogyny, sexual harassment, and sexism in the food industry. And her Kitchen Bitches conference (you can read more about it here) is an important step toward eliminating those plagues from professional kitchens. According to Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, 90 per cent of female restaurant workers have said they had been sexually assaulted or harassed in the workplace.
In any event, I faced my fears and drew Jen Agg. I hope I did a decent job! Please read Victoria Chan’s full article here.
