Saturday, February 2, 2013

29 Faces Begins!

The lovely Ayala is once again hosting her face challenge.  This time, it's 29 Faces in 28 days.  Faces are a weakness of mine, so I'm challenging myself to do this!   My friend and amazing artist Corrinne Gilman sent me this beautiful hand crafted book, and I've decided to dedicate it to the challenge.

Having never had formal art training, I watched some You Tube videos about face drawing and proportions.  I found this one useful for proportions (the instructor also has one for each feature!), and ended up doing this sketch.  

I cut out a bunch of faces from magazines, and am committed to drawing/painting/sketching them and sharing them, no matter how horrible!  Here's my February 1st face:


And my February 2 face:


Samy, my 11 year old daughter's assessment:  They don't look like the pictures but they do look like faces.  (She's always honest!)

I am open to any criticism, suggestions, tips, and hand holding, about my efforts with faces!   HELP!!  And please check out all of the amazing artists who are participating.  I guarantee you'll be inspired!

Thank you for visiting! I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

19 comments:

  1. Awesome Jessica and what a great idea to cut out pictures and paint them. Maybe next time I'll do that. Actually I already have tomorrows picture ready so it will have to wait till Sunday. Looks great. Congrats on job well done.

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  2. Wow Jessica - your faces are AWESOME! I've been working on faces lately too - I'm off to check out the challenge. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  3. Great job, Jessica! I'm a fellow "bloomer" and doing the challenge as well. You're off to great start!

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  4. Isn't it great whenyour kids totally bring your feet to the earth, had to chuckle at Samy's comment...I think they are simply marvelous and so glad you could use the book! xox

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  5. Love your idea - I have always had problems with faces. Love the 2 you have done so far.
    No suggestions - but uyou've made a great start.

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  6. Out of the mouth of babes. LOL Here's a tip I learned taking the class on Drawing on the right side of the brain.. turn your photo upside down and then draw it.. it scrambles the brain and makes you see whats there and not what you 'think' you see.

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    1. That is a fantastic idea. I am going to do that with my next magazine pic. thanks!

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  7. I think these are very good if you are new to portraits and they do resemble the photographs. One tip is that it is a very common to make the eyes too large. A front view of the head should be about 5 eye widths wide. Also, look very carefully at the shape of each eye before drawing (they are seldom both the same and the tear duct area tends to drop down a bit) and the upside down trick already mentioned can help a lot with this. I think you're doing great! And I love that book!

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    1. Thanks Melisa - yes, I am brand new. I have been drawing abstract or stylized faces for a long time, but am committed in this challenge to try for a realism much of the time. Thank you for your suggestions. I hope to improve over the month!

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  8. Great job on your faces, Jessica - Can't wait to see all the ones you do this month - you've gotten off to a great start.
    Love your daughter's comment - our kids keep it real don't they?!

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  9. Hey, those are really really good, Jessica. I think you have the flavor of Cameron Diaz. It is similar. Take a magazine face, and put it under tracing paper and follow the face. It kinda gives you an idea, then you will not need the tracing paper. Hey, I'm not good either. These are just things I have tried. My cousin, who is a great portrait artist, tells me... "you have to draw to draw, Judy". So true. Practice practice practice.

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  10. That is a great job in getting going. I am new to faces, too. I started in November.

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  11. i think your faces are great for just having started out!! i just started this past year and i am loving it. i am just looking to take a course online. i look forward to seeing more!!

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  12. I think you made Cameron prettier! :oD

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  13. Jessica you did a fantastic job on your faces!! I've only attempted twice so far but you're inspiring me to keep going.
    PS I think you made cameron prettier too :)

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  14. I love that you are doing this Jessica. I always love your faces and can't wait to watch what you do this month! I was going to do this and forgot to start. I too have no formal art training and struggle with faces but am trying. I think your Feb 2 face really does look like the photo :)

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  15. I love these 2 faces Jessica! Great blending!

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  16. beautiful faces! Love the colors! You dont look like a beginner at all:)

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  17. These are great! I think you actually made Cameron Diaz prettier even ^_~

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