Three more stylized faces on gessoed chipboard today. I love catching glimpses of the text and colors underneath the gesso, as well as the great texture of the gesso. I used a combination of marker and colored pencil. This is actually going to be a little booklet which I will show soon. I'm so busy this week and finding that doing these little faces is a welcome diversion.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Pretty in Pastel

Here is another face drawn first with chalk pastel, then going in with pencil to add some detail. I really love the softness of the pastel. I'm right on schedule with the 29 Faces Challenge so far! Go take a look at some of the beautiful work being done in this challenge, or maybe even join in yourself!

Thanks so much for visiting!!

Faces in Pastel

Even though I didn't really have time for it, I couldn't resist signing up for Carla Sonheim's Faces 101 Class during the last week in January. Carla's approach to teaching drawing is so creative and fun. One technique from the class I'm really enjoying is drawing with pastel, using an eraser to draw. Here is one effort done in pan pastel on black paper. 

I'd never worked with pan pastels before and I've discovered that I really enjoy drawing with them!
The next two were done using chalk pastels, along with a bit of pencil sketching to add some definition and detail.

Most of the drawing for these faces is done with your finger, then using eraser to "draw" and create highlights, as a face gradually emerges. I'd drawn with pastel before, but never felt comfortable with it and honestly thought I didn't like it. But now I know better! Even though my faces seem gloomy, I'm feeling happy inside to draw this way.

Thanks for visiting! I'm linking this to the 29 Faces Challenge hosted by Ayala Art.

Growing Stronger - Work in Progress

Another year has started, and I feel that I am getting closer to figuring out what I really want to do in my art. Over the past two years, I've been like a sponge, absorbing and learning all I can about mixed media and collage, as well as striving for a more abstract style in my work. I'm more confident about drawing again and finding ways to integrate drawing into my mixed media pieces. Drawing brings my process to the forefront, exposing all of the messy twists and turns of the process, giving an  expressive quality and depth that I like. The imperfections are interesting visually to me. I love creating a sense of mystery in my work, leaving at least part of the meaning up to the imagination of the viewer. I've been working on my painting, too, and find that sooner or later, I come back to watercolor. I'm using watercolor over gesso in this piece, along with collage.

For all of the reasons, I feel I am growing stronger as an artist, and that feels really good!

29 Faces 2013 -- 4, 5, 6

I'm playing catch-up in the 29 Faces Challenge again with some faces I did earlier in the year, January to be exact. These two faces all started with a journal I decided to make for myself at the beginning of the year, following a quest theme.

Since quests were big in medieval times, I found this lovely portrait of Eleonora of Toledo done by the artist Italian artist Agnolo di Cosimo in 1545 for the cover. I kept looking at her face and decided to sketch using Carla Sonheim's version of a Klee Transfer painting. In this method, you put a piece of carbon paper down on your paper, and draw blindly. The goal isn't a realistic drawing, but hopefully an interesting drawing. After doing the first carbon drawing, I added some color. 

She certainly looks much different than the original! I like parts of this drawing, but I hate that her nose is so long and her chin so small. Still, it was fun to play. After this one, I decided to try another one on a prepared background in my journal. Here is what the blind carbon sketch looks like before painting.

It's actually quite interesting how similar this drawing is to my first one, and how they both are so different from the original reference. But I like the proportions better in this one. Noses are just so hard, but I will keep trying!

After this step, I added some paint and pencil.

And here she is, Eleonora for the new millennium -- older and wiser, still pensive and serious, with perhaps a bit of attitude.

Thanks for visiting!

Spicing up a Drawing with Collage

I've been participating in the Sketchbook Challenge off and on over the past year as a way to stay motivated with my drawing and develop a more regular sketchbook habit. The May 2013 theme was bowl. I don't normally draw bowls, so it was fun to do something different. Here is one sketch I did over a previously painted background.

Yet, the more I looked at this bowl, the more I thought it needed just a little something to give it some pizazz So, I sat down and added a few bits of collage. 

Bowl with Collage
mixed media
4" x 6' on paper

Now, that's more like it! I often begin with collage, and then draw, but it's quite fun to do the reverse and see what happens.

Charcoal Studies: Faces 12 and 13

So after looking at my faces so far, I decided it was time to get my old friend charcoal out and aim for softer lines  and more depth. Here are two quick studies.

I'm working from references, rather than doodling, though these two faces look very little like the originals. I need to find more interesting faces of all ages and genders to work with and push myself out of my comfort zone, though. I actually tried drawing a male face, too, but it was such a disaster I'm not posting it here!

Scenes from the Coast

This summer, my family and I have been spending a lot of time at the beach. Here are a few sketches from the beach that I'm going to put into a small booklet. This will be the cover page. We always find a lot of sand dollars on the beach.

I sat on the beach and did this little watercolor. While I was working, the pelicans came and were swooping down to catch fish. It was a fantastic sight to see! In fact, I was afraid to try drawing the birds in, but then I did it, and realized a quick gesture was all I needed to do.

I'm always drawn to the interesting, organic shapes of the seaweed that washes up on shore.

A favorite activity of ours, especially with visitors, is to climb the local lighthouse.

It was fun to practice my watercolor and drawing this way! I need to do this more often.