Faces on Friday

Most of these are drawn from looking at pictures on my monitor - a couple of them I even traced after getting annoyed that I couldn't get placement right. 

Faces on Friday

What an interesting journey this is - drawing a face each day. I can see some real improvement. 

at a concert
I think this is my best one of the week.
It actually looks like him AND captures his expression.

at a concert

on a plane - very, very fast

at a concert

I can see areas that need improvement. I pulled out all my 3x5 faces and realized most of them have chins that are too short. 

on a plane

from imagination

in the mirror

It feels good just to be able to see what's wrong now. It gives me the opportunity to know how to fix it.

on a plane, very fast

left - airplane seat pocket, right - looking into the black screen in front of me

Want to hear something crazy and fun? On the flight back I was doodling and my seat-mate said "you're an artist?" I said yes. He eventually asked if I could draw from a photo and if I could sketch his friend as a birthday gift. From a little iphone picture I did a fair (but not absolutely fantastic) drawing and handed it to him. He seemed pleased.

from the flight magazine
a Cirque performer

Faces on Friday

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Not the people of course - just my skilz.

I found out that if you have lotion on your hands and you keep erasing and swiping the paper with your finger it just smudges. Oops.

Faces on Friday

 My four year old still doesn't want to hold still or stop making faces.

No surprise there - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 Friends at the park

 Car mirror while waiting to pick up a kid

 At the symphony

From a book of James Christensen's work

This week has been mostly in my sketchbook rather than on the 3x5 cards.

Looking back - I'm learning that all my chins are too short. hmmmm.

Faces on Friday: Figure Study

Sincerest apologies to my friends, who hopefully can't recognize themselves because the drawings don't look anything like them anyway. No - you really don't look like that. I promise.  

If you ever get the chance to go to a figure study session - DO IT! The people there don't care how good or bad you are. It is a fantastic way to get better. I'm finding quite some improvement in just a few sessions.

It begins with 30 second poses. They go by so fast I feel like I barely have time to get marks on the paper. Fantastic warm ups!

Next are the one minute poses. I've improved enough that I can get the form. I just can't get the whole thing on one piece of paper yet. I'm going to go get a really, really BIG sketch pad before the next time.

Five and ten minute poses give enough time to work harder on getting lines and proportions right.

After a break the 20 minute poses seem like a treasure. Unless things start going wrong - then it's an eternity. When that happened I simply chose a really hard feature like hands and feet and switched to working on just that.

This is my favorite. Roughed in with a pencil then lines laid in with a japanese brush pen. It occurred to me the other day that I could fill a waterbrush with india ink at half the price of the refill cartridges.

So which is your favorite? And - have you been drawing faces too? Put your links in the comments and I'd LOVE to come take a look!

Faces on Friday

Welcome to Week 4 of my year long determination to learn how to draw faces.

 At a daughter's concert. Fast sketches then longer ones... using pencil and eraser

I think perhaps next year I'm going to need to work on hands. ug.

 Same concert - this looks like her!!! Friends of the kid I drew on the other side happened to be sitting next to me and kept looking over my shoulder. I ripped it out and gave it to them for him. They handed it back and asked me to sign it. (big grins)

 Sketches at church, my own "Calvin" from a photo. (Calvin and Hobbes)

This little guy is full of happy mischief and loves to make faces!

 Concentrating on the mirror. Kids said I looked mad so I tried a smiling face - goofy.

I like my spiky haircut.

Watching TV. From my imagination.

I've always secretly wanted pointy ears.

How is your journey coming along?