29 Faces - crossing the finish line!

Face #28 is a renaissance woman.

And for the final one, some bright colours based on Matisse's portrait of Mrs. Matisse. 

I have to say that this challenge has been fun and… challenging :) I feel like I've learned a lot about light and shadow on faces, but also that there are many ways to draw a face. I've enjoyed looking at all the wonderful art and drawing inspiration from the many artists who've joined in this challenge and left encouraging comments. I will definitely keep experimenting. 

And away from faces, I managed to track down some carvable rubber so bought a 30x30cm piece. Here are my first few stamps:

And a background made with the circle one:

29 Faces - face 27

I've done lots of faces with lines, so here's one with dots for a change. Pointillist style with Copics.

29 Faces - #26

Well, day 26 and the ideas are starting to flag. This one is made a little different by the serendipitous placement of a butterfly made from cleaning off the gelli-plate. 

And staying on the subject of gelli-plates, here is a journal page made with a gelli-print. 

                     

I liked this one so much that I didn't want to do too much to it. Here it is at the start:

This print was made using a texture stamp made from a piece of mouldable foam - the sort you heat and then make impressions into - and a piece of card with a pattern made with a glue gun. I inked the plate with mocha and teal paints and used the two stamps to lift paint and move it elsewhere. 

And here are some close-ups:

29 Faces - no. 25

I went for straight lines and geometric shapes today. A very quick sketch. Those eyebrows ended up scowly :)

29 Faces - day 24

An accidental zombie! I wanted to use some different colours today. The greys were looking OK until I added the lips and hair. Then she looked kinda… dead. My daughter said that she looks like a doctor with that blue hat. I'm sure the woman from the photo I used for reference wouldn't recognise herself :) I'm pleased with the eyes, though. I can see definite improvement.

And I'm still keeping up with Journal Fodder 365. Prompt no. 40 is meditation.

I started the page without any real idea of where it was going to go. The stencilled flowers took over and I was left with a small space to write. It made me think of how important it is to push away the world to make a space for ourselves in the busyness of everyday life; to take a few moments to meditate on what is important. It brings back balance and perspective.

29 Faces - #23

A simple pencil drawing today. Again, from a photo. This time a three quarter view with eyes down -  a different aspect for me. 

29 Faces - face 22

Today I pulled out a thin Sharpie and just went for it. This face is drawn from a photo and I think I might actually be showing some improvement :)

Only 8 more to go!

29 Faces - day 21

Today I broke out the oil pastels. I was determined not to draw an outline and just go with it, and I have to say I'm actually pleased with this one. I like the way the oil pastels can be laid down in small amounts and then smudged to wherever you want them. It allows the colour to be built up gradually so many different shades can be achieved. 

Also posting to Paint Party Friday - or in this case, pastel party Friday, I hope that's OK :)

29 Faces - face #20

I'm trying out charcoal pencils today and a profile rather than a full-on face. I hate to think how messy my fingers would have been with proper charcoal!

29 Faces - day 19 and foam stamps

So, day 19, and this face is drawn with a single line. I found it surprisingly difficult, not wanting to put a line in the wrong place. I guess it has a particular style to it, though, especially with its one eyebrow :)

And elsewhere on my desk, I haven't been able to track down any rubber-stamp carving material except for erasers which are limited in size, so I made some with foam instead. You can see them below along with a page in progress where I've used some of them. 

29 Faces - face #18

Face #18 - and the end is almost in sight! 

A pencil sketch today. Not a ten minute one as some seem able to pull out of the hat with a flourish. No, this took a little longer. I can see improvement in my technique, though. This challenge is definitely stretching me :)

29 faces - #17 and Journal Fodder 365 prompt #39

Another collage today. This is from the same photo as I used for face #8. Again, I put it through Photoshop and simplified the shapes. I'm thinking it would make a good screenprint or linocut.

In Journal Fodder 365 I'm close to the end. Only 9 more prompts to go. This one is stillness and motion.

There is so much motion in life nowadays - being constantly available with instant media makes it difficult to find times of silence and stillness.

But times of stillness are necessary to fuel the times of motion. Without the stillness I run out of energy. I make sure to get that time to myself every morning so that I can make it through the day.

29 Faces - face 16

Though the eyes are wonky on this, I'm pleased with it because I worked in paint without a pencil outline. Most of this face was done with a sponge, a way to help me not worry about precision and just think about shadows and highlights. I used a brush just to do the finishing touches. 

All in all, not the most brilliant face, but in terms of process, I'm learning a lot.

29 faces - #15

Well, an experiment in exaggerating the relationship between the features resulted in an alien lady! I've seen this done so well on many other blogs. It obviously just isn't my thing :)

29 Faces - #14

Thought I'd try my hand at graffiti-style today. A dude with attitude.

And for AJED, here's a journal page from this busy week:

29 Faces - Day 13

Day 13. Another Drawing Lab for Mixed-Media Artists exercise today - scribbled faces. As you can see, this one has crazy eyes :) Probably not a technique I would use often, but it was fun to do. 

If you haven't been to look yet, use the button in the sidebar to go and see what others are doing in the 29 faces challenge. There are some great faces and some wonderful techniques.

29 faces - face #12

Today I thought I'd try doing a face without any pencil guidelines. I had a few inks lying around and decided to try a face with layers. 

So this started out with a basic shape of head and neck in yellow. Then came the red, which was a lot bolder than I expected, hence the 'stuck on' neck. NOT my favourite part of this page. Still, never mind.  The red made some shadows and shaped the mouth. Then came the hair in brown and the outline of the eyes and the eyebrows. Finally white for the highlights.

All I can say is, I'm learning :)

29 faces - day 11

So, we're up to day 11 in the 29 faces in February challenge. Today's face is done with water-soluble graphite. Check out all the fabulous faces by using the button in the sidebar. There are some fun techniques and even some animal faces in the list. 

29 faces - face #10 and Journal Fodder 365

I had so much fun and liked the results so much yesterday that I did another left-handed drawing. This is a five minute sketch.

And in the Journal Fodder 365 series, the prompt today is brain dump.

Sometimes you just have to get everything out of your head and on to the page so you can look at it or leave it behind. I am so thankful that I can just pour everything out in prayer.

This page started with an outpouring in water-soluble graphite. A layer of gesso went over the top of that to cover and smudge it. Once the collage and acrylics and inks were added over the top, it was starting to look a bit messy. But I guess that's all part of the prompt - putting the mess on the page so your head can be less chaotic.