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Narrative portraits

Thought bubbles

I use thought bubbles as a device to narrate the inner world of a subject - their thoughts, memories, feelings. I mostly use graphite pencil to draw the portraits, and a range of media such as ink, soft pastels, aquarelles for the thought bubble and background. Below is a selection of my favourites, including ​'Addicted to love' (42 x 56 cm) and 'Big night in' (42 x 42 cm), which ​were part of the PULP ART group exhibition at The Front Gallery in Canberra, ACT and at The Queanbeyan Hive in NSW. These two drawings, along with ​​​​'Conjuring animation upon lifeless matter', were also published in Light and Memory - journal of storytelling - Volume 2, Issue 1. Light and Memory is dedicated to exploring different aspects of storytelling, contributors (and their stories) reflect a range of disciplines and cultures​​​​​​​.​​ 

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© 2026 by Rachel Roberts 

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