Adventures in Drawing

 

Friends...Today I'm going to share all of my latest drawings...my new obsession...drawing faces.  And yes, I'm even going to share the "ugly" ones! LOL!  Now, according to Dina (Wakley) I'm not allowed to make negative comments about my art...so....I'll try and behave!  Actually the reason I want to share my first attempts is to encourage you to keep on working at your art, at what you love...it will improve and you will grow as an artist and crafter!  I seriously can't believe the difference in just a week - the before (on the left) and after (on the right) is what you see above...and that's after only one week!  Giddy!!!  (A product list of what I'm using in my journal is listed at the end of the post...and the new 5x8 Dylusions journal is PERFECT for this type of practice...LOVE it!)

 So what got me started?  I've long admired all of these great faces you see in mixed media projects, especially the sketching line drawings that are common in Dina's work.  Last week she posted a new online class...Facing the Facts on starting to learn how to draw faces.  I signed up on the spot (and I highly recommend the class)!  At the end of the introduction video, Dina asked us to create a sketch..this will be our before sketch and this is the sexy mama (see, I'm not being critical) that you see above.  I actually didn't think she was that bad...at the time...

This is my second sketch...just the second one and already my eyes look so much better!  Dina is an amazing artist and instructor...she makes it look so easy and if you sketch while watching the video you really "get it."  I like the face shape on this one much more as well and I'm kind of understanding how to do the hair.  (Hair is way harder than you might think!)

Here's attempt number four...this was my first attempt at just drawing on my own, without watching Dina at the same time.  I also jotted down a few notes from Dina's video...reminders to myself about what to do and what not to do.  This one...her neck is way too long but I'm still happier with the eyes and found that sketching them was a bit faster and easier.

 

Our next project was to paint!  Ugh...painting is super hard...at least for me and I'm finding that my real preference is for just the sketches.  I love the work of sketching and adore the look of the journaling showing through the face...definitely my favorite look!  However, it was great to learn more about how to create shadows and highlights.  And I even mixed my own skin color...not too bad!  Of course this girl's head is enormous (I mean delightfully brainy) but I was happy with the end results.  I need to learn to not be so precise...

And then there's this one...this "they can't all be winners" one! LOL!  I was actually experimenting with putting paint down first and then adding the sketch lines...yeah, not so much, but it's good to try things to see how they'll turn out and I confess that I'm having a BLAST with my stencils and paint!  Making the journal page backgrounds is so much fun!

And then there's number seven...I love number seven...Polka dots, sketchy lines, highlights of bright pink...yeah, it's all good and I'm happy!  I followed one of Dina's tips...use a reference photo, don't try to make up a face in your imagination...I mean I'm sure some people can do this...I'm not one of those people.  So I used one of Dina's sketches as inspiration and decided to try more of a tilted head.  My eyes are finally more realistically sized (and they were super easy to sketch), my nose actually resembles a nose, and the hair looks like hair...not some weird 60's wig!  **giggle**  (She's still rockin' some big 'ol lips but that's ok...) 

I'm seriously so darn excited about Dina's class and learning these new techniques!!  When I tell you I can barely draw a stick figure, I'm not even kidding!  If I can do this, you can do it!  Go for it!!!  Supply list below:

5x8 Dylusions Journal
Adirondack Acrylic Paints
Golden Acrylic Paints
Crafters Workshop Stencils (Well Rounded, Striped Leaves, Messy Circles, Echoes, Life Months, Tiny Circles, Swiss Dot, Cursive Alpha, Chevron)
Turkish Grunge

Archival Ink (Jet Black)