Day 28, Face 29 It's over!

As I said in the last post, this month has flown by, both with the art and with life in general.  Spring is right around the corner and in my neck of the woods that means rain, grey days, foggy mornings, mist and lots of green. For me it's a beautiful time of year (if you can get passed all the mud, if you focus on mud then spring it ugly around here). 

 I don't know if I'll do another month of faces this year, but I read something about doing hands in April that intrigued me, we'll see.  I will randomly post my work through out the year but I highly doubt it will be more than one or two pieces a month. 

I can say I am completely happy with what I've done this past month. I can see how much progress I've made and where I need to work on things. 

Enough blabbing, here is my #29 face, my boyfriend, who had bugged me all month to draw him.

It doesn't do his justice but I'll get better then more I do.

Day 27, Face #26, #27 & #28 Doctor Who love

It's amazing how fast the month had gone by. Yes it is the shortest month of the year but dang, I don't think it's ever gone by this fast.

The first face is a light sketch, I didn't like where it was going so I stopped and started again, this time with a different angle.

So here are two of Matt Smith, (Who plays the 11th Doctor in Doctor Who)

I've decided I need a lot more work before I can do faces at this angle.

Not perfect, he's off with his eyes and forehead, but I like him.

And seeing as I have the 10th and 11th Doctor I felt the need to give the 9th some love as well, so face #28 is Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor Who.

Now that I have them so close for inspection I see that I needed to make his nose a little bigger...

Tomorrow I will do face #29! So excited to get done and look back at all my faces :)

Day 25, Catching up , Faces #22, #23, #24, #25.

My weekend was overwhelmingly busy, I didn't have time to even have a moment to myself before having to rush to the next thing. Yesterday I was able to bring my art supplies with me and I started working on a face while my friends were tolerant of my multi-tasking. Then in the evening I had to cancel some plans because I needed to watch my dear friends children while she was at work, so I was able to bring my art supplies again. In total I got 4 faces done.

First off is David Tennat as Dr.Who.

Then while I was babysitting I did these. First is just a woman, there is no reference photo, I made her up, I'm not happy with her but she's a face.

And then I did a horse because I friends daughter absolutely loves horses, probably as much as I do :)

And then once the little one's went to bed, I realized that I had one photo on my phone to use as a reference. ( I recently copied photos to my computer and cleaned up my phone)

So this is my friend Mandy, she was celebrating discount candy day on February 15th.

I can tell how running behind and the deadline looming is effecting me, I feel like my progress has halted. Hmm, 4 more left and my week is still busy :/  I will get this challenge done, even if I have to draw a family of stick figures smiling. 

Day 23, No faces.

I am stuck. The momentum that was with me in the beginning has faded. I have been very busy the past few days. So busy I've barely had time to check my e-mail let alone create a face. However, this afternoon I have a huge chunk of free time and plan on getting at least two faces done (if not more) in hopes to be able to finish with all 29 faces in time.

I promise I haven't given up....

Day 20, Face #21 Jude Law

I was playing around with my charcoals again when I decided to try another celebrity. I really love putting my finished work side by side with this inspiration, it's showing me where and what I need to work on to improve. My proportions are getting better, I just need more practice. Once I'm comfortable with Charcoal I think I want to try doing the kind with black paper and white chalk, what is that called? I've seen some lovely ones done that way through the 29 faces.

There are a few things to unbalance him but I have come leaps and bounds with somethings, (like open mouths and teeth), his cheeks could be a little more compact, his nose shadowed a bit better and the left side shadows more enhanced  then he would look a bit more like Jude. In any case I love him as he is so I'm not going to fuss with him :)

Day 19, Face #20

 So after two very needed days off I'm starting to play with my charcoal set that I got for my birthday. They defiantly are growing on me.

I can't believe I only need 9 more faces!

Day 16, Face #19, Elvis

Today was full of energy and things not going quite as planned, I was however able to get a face done today. I haven't been able to post it until this late because my computer decided to give me some problems, so while it was running scans I wasted a few hours on my Xbox :)

hopefully  I will have enough time tomorrow to really put some time into my drawings so they don't look to rushed. 

Day 15, Face #18 Humphrey Borgart

Today it my Mothers Birthday! Yay!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Anyway, today is really busy and the drawing I was working on didn't turn out at all, so here is one that I did during the holidays. Humphrey Bogart again... I have a little thing for him  ;) 

As you can see my proportions are off, but I love him anyway. 

Day 14, Face #16 & #17, Lovers

Happy Valentines Day!

Today I did a drawing of lovers, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I'm a sucker for Humphrey in anything he is in, I think it's that puppy dog face he has, he looks so lonely and sad unless he's really smiling. I found it easy to draw him and the tip of my pencil always hit where it needed to be, Bacall on the other hand was erased a few time before I settled with her. Anyway I'm off to watch mushy movies my man, I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Day 13, Face #15 Porky Pony

Alright, I had 15 minutes to do this guy and I was using my charcoal pencils I got for my birthday to break them in. I ended up making him really fat and lopsided but I love him. He's based off of a gypsy horse. A gypsy drum is probably my dream horse, I love all that hair and feathers (hair around the feet).

Day 12, Face #14 Last thoughts.

The Next few days are busy for me so I finished a few pieces today and that is why I am late posting.

 The photo/drawing for the day is one that I've wanted to do for a while. I found it while wasting hours on Pinterest, it's link went to a tumblr page that no longer exists so I do not know the story to this photo or who to give credit  for it. There is so much emotion to this picture, and it is likely (unless this is a still from a movie) that his man died after this was taken. I hope I did him justice.

Day 11, Face 13, The God Father.

My Mother requested that I draw Marlon Brando and sent me a picture from 'The Godfather'.  Today's face isn't the exact picture she sent me (it was someone else drawing of him) but it is a very similar pose. It's done in Pencil from my Graphite pencil kit I got for my birthday, it's also on fine surface drawing paper.

 

Day 10, Face #12 Happy Birthday to me!

In celebration of my 25 years on earth today, I did a self portrait.
 I like how I did the nose but my mouth is off a little. It also doesn't help that the camera added glare to the top left of the photo, it's dark like the rest of the background.  Anyway, I'm off to eat cake and be merry :)

Day 9 face #11 Harrison Ford

 Like most people my Saturday is really busy so I'm not sure I'll get a face done today, so here is one I did last month.

I was sick on the couch, watching movies and drawing. This was my first attempt at something with a lot of shadows.

What I find interesting is that I  did his right side narrower then it should be, instead of the trend of making the faces to wide... He has other flaws but he is a huge improvement to the  cartoonish people I would draw...

Day 8, Face #10 Indian

I chose this picture because of the shadowing and his position, and frankly I think he's beautiful.   This is Three Eagles, a Nez Perce Warrior. The photo was taken in 1910 by Edward S. Curtis. Enjoy!

Day 7, Face #9, The Raven

 I don't have a lot of time today, so The Raven was done really quickly. I wish I could of spent more time on him but he is what he is, I've decided he looks better from a distance, up close detail isn't there.

Day 6, Face #8 Marilyn Monroe

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe has some great quotes out there, I remember seeing them in my teens and wondering why people idolized her so much and as a result I avoided her. I hated mainstream things and doing what was popular at the time. I missed out on some great stuff in my teens because of that way of thinking, but thankfully with age you change.

Last year I got Netflix and I explored so many movies and T.V. shows, I actually never watch live T.V. anymore. Commercials? Yuck. During my time of exploring I went through a western theme and it suggested the movie River of No Return, it stars Robert Mitchum and Marilyn Monroe. I decided it was time to see a glimpse of Marilyn and decide for myself if she was worth all the fame.  I fell in love with her in that movie and kicked myself for waiting so long to watch anything with her in it. I have sense watched nearly everything on Netflix with her in it. She was a beautiful woman, who died far to young.

     “I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

Today's face is the beautiful Marilyn. After I  finished her I realized I make my faces short. Both her and Paul Newman have longer faces. Yay! something to work on!

In all honesty I will probably do more Marilyn faces this month, so stay tuned. If you have any Ideas or photos you'd like me to try drawing please feel free to send them my way (I love black and whites or something with lots of shadows)

“We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

Day five, face #7 Paul Newman

I love older movies. They just have something that today's Hollywood films lack. I can look past bad graphic and a slower story, the best movies don't have special effects. I can watch them all day, The haunting of hill house, the magnificent seven,  and Sabrina  are movies I will never get tired of.

I think it comes down to the actors, not that today's Hollywood doesn't have some amazingly talented actors but back then it was more focused on the actors, their face, body language and speech.  Today's movies are fast paced and full of special effects to dazzle and engage us, we often lose that something special that old movies have. And for gods sake the camera was still! I can't go to the theater anymore because they shoot the whole thing in 'action' shots that give me motion sickness, yuck.

Anyway, enough blabbing, here is a sketch of Paul Newman  :)

Day four face #6 Hoo Hoo

I don't have a lot of extra time today, so my drawing needs a little more work, but it is what it is. I didn't  do any shadowing on him so he doesn't have much depth but for 45 minutes I'm happy with it.

I love owls :) they are just so stinkin' cute

Day three, face #4 and #5, Superbowl.

Today is Superbowl Sunday. I don't follow football, I love live games but Superbowl is the only game that I will watch on TV.
It is a family event for me. I choose a team, usually opposite of one of my siblings and we root like crazy. But like most people, I watch the Superbowl for the commercials and I usually pass on the halftime show (especially this year, sorry, not a beyonce fan).

Anyway I decided that my face for the day should be in honor of the sport. I googled this image and as you can see it has both teams because I have yet to decide who I'm  rooting for :)

And my drawing, done in pencil and colored pencil.

Photo was taken with my cell phone, so its not the greatest.

Day two, face #3, Joyful

I fell in love with this face. It makes me smile every time I look at it.  I wonder what made her laugh when they caught the picture.

I first did her in pencil and went over it with a black pastel pencil, I didn't think it did her justice so I added color with some colored pencils. She looks a lot better but my cameras batteries are out and I was able to take one picture, it's not the best but it gets it on here.

Face #1... and #2?

Most of the faces that I am drawing this month are based on photos that have caught my eye and inspired me. I will post the original photo and a link to where I got it and then my drawing/painting of it. Comments are welcome, advice on how to improve would be amazing :)

this is all I have to the link.

This is my first face/faces

Before the challenge

Art has always been a stress release for me, when a good book won't do I pick up a pencil or a paint brush, turn on some music and loose myself for a few hours. I feel renewed afterwards, I find myself.

 In my teens, we moved into a new house. My siblings and I were to share a bathroom, a blank canvas, white walls in need of some color.  I was allowed  to paint whatever I wanted in there.  A year later a cheetah was running above the shower stall, flamingos were next to the toilet and a giraffe ate leaves next to the bathroom sink. There was also galloping horses, a cockatoo, and a dragon to be found on the walls.  It was all in acrylic, my first tries at the medium, to this day I'm still learning the perfect way to use them.

From there I went to watercolors, I by no means have a traditional style, I don't leave enough white.
I feel really comfortable with watercolors, it is my favorite medium to work with at the moment.
But lately in my little apartment, getting all my watercolor things out and setting them up is a huge hassle, so I've been  working on improving my pencil skills and possibly getting into charcoal.

Anyway, enough history. I love art, but it is currently my hobby. This blog was created because my mother and I are taking part in the 29 faces art challenge. Click here for their info.   I hope you enjoy my work, I'm open to comments and critiques,  please don't be to harsh , if you do comment.


Here are some of my recent works.