Stopping and Asking for Directions….

I’m so glad I’m not a man, because they will rarely stop and ask for directions!  Just kidding. 

But this is exactly what I did.  I finally signed up for a “real life” art class, with a real life teacher.  And she is amazing!  Most of the students there were into painting and they were doing some amazing work. The other two, first time students today, were poised to paint pears.  Well, I just don’t see myself as a pear-painting-patron. It was a good thing that they encouraged us to bring whatever we wanted and the instructor will help us with it.  So, I’ll give you three guesses as to what I needed help with….



Bingo! Yaht-see!  That’s right… FACES!  And what wonderful tips she gave me. She told me that children’s faces are soft and smooth, that I had made my wave-swimmer’s face too angular…too defined.  I just needed to go in and soften her face up.  Done by evening out the contrasts, the shading.



I am so excited!  I was amazed at how simple her explanation of my problem was.  I needed to hear her tell me how to fix it, cuz I couldn’t fix it on my own.  I had already applied some permanent lines (remember the out-ling pop I like)….luckily I was able to work around those marks.



Bye for now!!…she’s still not done.

A Sketch with a Thousand Faces

One face in a million!  That’s what I’m trying to accomplish.  Even though they say with the 6 billion people on the planet, that we have a twin out there somewhere!  I have yet to find mine. 



Here’s the scoop.  

1. The last picture in the previous post.
2. Changed up those eyes, they were a little too wide or open.  First the right eye.
3. Now the left eye.
4. The mouth was too big (I can sure relate to that)
5. All over the face here….the eyes AGAIN, the chin, the mouth, the nose.  A little spastic.
6. Coming together somewhat.

I can see another place I need to narrow…..the right side of her head…..just straighten that whole head a bit.

Such a pretty girl.  I really hope I can keep her that way!

The Three Faces of Eve

I’m thinking I could have drawn 13 more faces and it would’ve been the 16 personalities of Sybil.  But these aren’t really Eve’s or Sybil’s faces.  They’re mine.  I came across this picture of a blind contour mirror drawing and it looked easy enough.  The rules were:

1. Look at yourself in the mirror while you draw
2. Don’t lift your pen from the paper
3. Don’t look at the paper.

Well, I broke all the rules!  This was not as easy as I thought it would be.  Number one, When I drew my first figure (red), I couldn’t believe how small she turned out.  I thought I was using the whole page.



I think I like this green girl the best….even though she is shedding some tears.  That cheek was calling for something.



Not quite sure what nightmare this blue guy came from.  He’s barely human looking.  Possibly related to Picasso.



This one looks like a Carol Burnett caricature.  Love that chin!



After I got done, the faces were just kind of hanging there….I looked again and  they reminded me of Mardi Gras masks… so that’s how they got their black strap.

This was a fun exercise to let me play with color.  Used those wonderful watercolor pencils to get that variety of color.  Then I just went in and doodled with black, green, red, blue and white markers.  Another simple fun piece.

Figuring out Flat Faces…

Yes, the whole trick to sketching is figuring out how to make the 3D figure flat (2D)…That’s the crux of the matter….  That’s it in a nutshell….That’s really all we have to do!!….haha



Yea…Yea….I know…you’re all tired of hearing me belly-ache about how hard faces are…but THEY are!! And if I’m to go forward with this sketching it’s time I took up the challenge…..(why must I always be challenging myself?)

1. Obviously a pretty poor rendition of this lovely young ladies face…but my faces always start out a little scarry!
2. Erased it all away…and redrew that mouth.
3. Turned the image upside down, and tried again in that contour way.
4. Still trying
5. Right eye too low, adjusted up.  Nose too long, shortened.
6. Mouth a little small, enlarged
7. Face narrowed a little and minor markings applied

WOW!…now I can see so much!  I can see the errors, the flaws, the work I have left to do!

If I didn’t frequent my blog too, I wouldn’t be showing this….but I need to get familiar with the two images side by side.  The eyes are too open…the nose still too long… the lips too full!  It’s like you guys are the teacher, and I’m the student! 

Thanks again

Say Cheese…again

Well, I got the other two smiles done.  I think this was a good exercise in imitating the picture dimensions.  I like that I only worked with half the face.  I can see so many things now that I’m through that aren’t quite right.  Why do I only see them at the “completion” phase?  Sure would be better if I could see it earlier, when I am still working the picture.  Possibly, because I’m concentrating on other things; such as getting the shading right (you know making it 3D).

 

This one was more difficult than I thought it was going to be….after all I didn’t have to draw teeth!  But that chin just perplexed me time and time again.  It’s another picture of a head with a slight turn.  Which I can’t seem to see correctly.  This was the first time I have done a mustache and I pretty much just winged it!



The pictures resemble who they are but, I can see so many little tweaks that would make the drawing more accurate.



I had to go back to the colored version for the male drawing.  I just couldn’t see where to shade if I didn’t.



I think I’ll do the eyes and foreheads of these same images next…….then I’ll cut them up and tape them together!  Just Kidding!!

I’m ready for some color now!!  I need a no-brainer activity.

Say “Cheese”

First, grab your favorite Graphite Pencils (for me they are F, HB, 8B, 6H), Erasers, Ruler and Brush…..Take some pics of your family…Yes…make them smile!

Then start drawing…..



I removed the color from the pictures and printed them out…(just fast draft).  By removing the color it helps to see the slight variations in the grays.



It was pretty tough to get the shading on the back teeth here….but I did my best!



Pulled in another toothy smile to sketch here.



This kid never needed braces, which made me happy!



Little overview here….The teeth could be toned down a bit.  These remind me of those little Dental Pamphlets you see at the Dentist’s office, when they want you to try some new product.  Which will make your teeth THIS WHITE!! …..Oh-evie!

I have two more smiles to do.  I like breaking down the face in this way….not so darn overwhelming! 

This is fun, you should try it sometime.  I think all my doodling and birdie drawings have helped me to learn to draw better.  It’s gotten me to use my tools.  Which has helped me to get familiar with my hand mechanics and the limits of the pencils/pens…..Obviously, still have a long way to go.  Have to work on what I'm seeing, all those little dimensions!

Sometimes I forget how easy it is to just put on a smile….I am more drawn to the smiley types, aren’t you?

Smile and the world smiles with you!