Faces on Friday

Week Two of my 365 Faces 2011 goal

I wonder how long it will take before my drawings look like the person I'm drawing?

Above and below are the same two kidlets.

Length and width are something I need to work on.

 Some of my kidlets are even asking if it's their turn to be drawn each evening.

Mr. Almost Perfect looks serious in the sketch - but will NOT stop making funny faces.

My little pixie friend thought it was great fun - she really does look like a baby doll.

Neighbors and unsuspecting strangers are fair game.

These profiles actually look quite similar to the actual subjects - ah - progress!

 And yes, I can't count. I'm still enthusiastic and some nights draw more than one.

 I did spend moments here and there this week making a sweet little box to put the 3x5 cards in.

You could make one too by following Jane's tutorial here.

For Your Inspiration: Wickedly Wild Flora at the Sonoran Desert Museum

 

I love this desert.

I can't help but thinking that perhaps Dr. Seuss might have loved it too.

 

Still. I think I'm glad not to live where every green thing wants to bite you. Ouch.

Collages for ONE Fundraiser

I am so honored to have been invited to participate in Virginia Spiegel's

fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. She is someone who has most certainly made the world a better place and has made it easier for many people to serve in some small way as well.

FLY: BRAZEN

One Cause - The Fight Against Cancer

One Wednesday - February 16, 2011

One Hundred Collages

FLY: HEADLONG

These are two of the collages that I'm donating for the auction.

They are collaged sheet music and layered paint and screen printing.

Headlong has a little bit of organza thrown in as well.

Each will be mounted onto a 10" x 8" sheet of 140lb watercolor paper ready to frame.

2010: Reverse Resolutions

I've been joining my sweet sister Amberlyn for the past several years in posting my

Reverse Resolutions

We look back over the past year to see what we've accomplished then write out each accomplishment as though it were a goal we had written last January. It's nice to look and see what we've accomplished.

2010 Reverse Resolutions
Be a passably good mother and wife (hi hubby and kidlets!)

Make enough art for a Solo Show (Tues 11th - gallery walk!)

Build my blog readership (hello friends!)
Drastically cut back my sugar intake and lose 30lbs
Get my Etsy shop up and running

Schedule 2011 teaching events in advance
Book Alyson Stanfield to come teach an Art Marketing Workshop next May in Raleigh

Tutorial: How to Draw a Face

Drawing the human figure is difficult. 

But it CAN be done.

A good beginning is to learn about proportions.

I was surprised to learn that drawing a face can be like learning math.

It takes work but it CAN be done.

(shall I repeat myself again?)

I said, it CAN be done!

Faces on Friday

And so it begins.

Installment #1 of my determination to draw a face every day.

 

I've decided to draw each face on the back of an index card.

The idea comes from Carla Sonheim's book

Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun

The point is to not make it something precious... just DO it.

Maybe I'll make a sweet little box to keep them in.

Jane LaFazio did a tutorial here on how to make one.

Here are some of the faces from my sketchbook over the past week before I decided to be organized about it.

My children look so angelic when they are sleeping.

Being and Becoming and Artist

I am an artist. Sometimes I feel it takes a certain amount of gall or hubris for me to introduce myself that way.

I am confident in what I do and the work I produce as an artist. I love textiles,  dyeing, stitching and printing, photgoraphy and even digital editing. Yet, I have always had a deep desire to be able to draw well - especially the human figure.

My hidden insecurity comes because I know I have such a very long way to go with my drawing skills. 

Soar III by Lyric Kinard

Notice I didn't say that I can't draw. (Here comes my soapbox lecture.) Too often when the outcome isn't perfect the first time we try something we give up and say "I can't." We must give ourselves TIME and PERMISSION to learn. 

We must also DO THE WORK. You know how to read right? It takes a lot of time and effort to learn to read but it can be done. People, even very young children, do it all the time. The same applies to becoming an artist and learning to draw. 

I'm determined to learn to draw the human figure. So this year, as part of the sketchbook challenge I'm going to draw a lot of people. I'm going to draw at least one face every day. I'll post them on my blog every Friday and over the course of the year we'll see what happens.

A few recommendations:

The Structure of Man by Riven Phoenix

Drawing Lab for Mixed Media: 52 creative exercises to make drawing fun Artist by Carla Sonheim

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards