Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Minneapolis...Face 3 of 29


29 faces

Day 3 of 29 Faces and the 30 posts in 30 days do-over!  

I've got a face I'm SUPER happy with for you all today:

"I've been waiting for you to come back..."

I'd like to find a way to say how awesome I feel about this page without breaking my arm patting myself on the back!  Let's just say that I'm as surprised as you all are, how about that???  *insert a million angels singing and sunshine rays shining down on this page*

I picked the words for the page out of this song (Minneapolis by Lucinda Williams):




I always listen to music, especially when I'm arting it up...and I have to say that Lucinda Williams is one of my all-time favorite artists...I would go so far as to say that she's in the top three, if not number one on my list...and that's saying a lot, because I LOVE all kinds of music and it's hard for me to play favorites with singers and songwriters.  But 99.99999999% of the time, lyrics are my favorite thing about the music, and Lucinda's songs always have amazing lyrics.  That last verse especially gets to me:  "A dozen yellow roses All that's left in Minneapolis. I wish I'd never seen your face or heard your voice.  You're a bad pain in my gut.  I wanna spit you out.  Open up this wound again Let my blood flow red and thin Into the glistening Into the whiteness Into the melting snow of Minneapolis"  Can't you feel the sadness in it?  It just moves me so much!

At any rate, back to the journal page, I used a 2B pencil and black and gray watercolors (cake type...I think they are called pan watercolors, but doesn't calling them cakes make you feel so much better?  How can cakes be bad???) to make him.  You KNOW I'm happy when I don't want to even add color!  That NEVER happens!  (The pink at the right side of the picture is not on the page, it was over-spray from a previous page that got on the edge of the back cover and some of the later pages, but it's not actually on the page with this dude.)  There are only two things that bother me ever so slightly about this page, the shading on the nose...I think I could have done a little more with that...and the ear.  The ear bothers me the most...but in my defense, I couldn't see the ear in the photo reference I used; it was blurred out.  Well, let me just show you the picture I used: 


See?  That ear is all blurry and I couldn't get it right!  I will look for non-blurry ears in the future!

I know my page doesn't look like the reference photo, but I am still REALLY happy with the end result.  It definitely came out looking like a human, so that's a positive.  I'm pretty sure you can tell it's a male human...and masculine faces are harder to draw than feminine ones (at least they seem to be to me).  And I even thinks it looks like an attractive male human...not a horribly disfigured elephant man/Quasimodo...So overall, even if I stopped here (WHICH I'M NOT GOING TO DO), 29 Faces would still feel like a success for me...That's how happy I am with this face!

So before I go, don't forget that if you'd like to do my 30 posts in 30 days challenge do-over with me to please leave your link in the comments.

Also, if you've followed along with the blog for a while, you know I've been PROMISING to have a little giveaway when I reached 5,000 page views.  Well, 5,000 page views kind of blew past me when I wasn't looking!  Thank you sooooooo much for helping me get there!  Since I missed that milestone, what I decided to do is have the giveaway at the end of the month.  I have already started putting together a fun prize package...but you have to wait to see it...  On day 29 (since there's 29 faces), I will post a picture of the goodies (and of my 29th face, of course!) and then on the 30th, I will draw the winning name and announce it on the blog!  So, what do you have to do to be entered in the drawing?  If you're not already following me, it would be fantastic if you would follow my blog (I feel like I'm trying to start a cult when I say that) and then come back on Day 29...September 29, 2013, just to be clear...to see the prize and leave a comment so I know you want to be entered for a chance to win!  That's it, just two little things!  I'm really excited that you all care enough about the blog and my art that you keep coming back and checking in on what's happening...I wish I could give everybody prizes!  Big squishes and eager anticipation happening on my end!!!

35 comments:

  1. I can see why you are so pleased with him. I love all that shading, just gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you so much! I was really surprised by this face...he's significantly more realistic than I've been able to do before...I was a little shocked when I was finished with him! :)

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  2. This is awesome! You made such a great progress! I am so proud of you!
    Gabriele

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    1. Thank you Gabriele!!! I'm glad that you can see the improvement too! Thanks for being proud of me! That makes me happy, happy, happy! <3 <3 <3

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  3. Fantastic job! I can see why you're very happy with him. It's a strong drawing! Congrats :)

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    1. Thank you so much! I really am a little shocked that he came out so well!

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  4. I really like the black and white. Lovely tones!

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    1. Thank you! I am really wanting to copycat one of your portrait class drawings and use some grey toned paper and see what happens!

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  5. Great job!! Different fro the other days. I understand your happiness at your progress. I have really been working on my art, and I too can see a difference and improvement whether others can or not, so I know where you are coming from. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

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    1. Thanks Ila! I am shooting for different everyday, so thank you for seeing that too! I definitely saw improvement in your face yesterday, which is amazingly rapid improvement! Mine is a little slower in coming, but it is happening, so I'm excited! <3

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  6. Oh Sweets this is fantastic! The shading and the symmetry are perfect! What a great idea, to do a drawing with the face sort of "peeking" from the page. This so makes me want to veer away from my whimsical fantasy like faces into something more realistic......you are such an inspiration and I say Girl it is OK Ok Ok more than OK to toot your own horn! It shows great growth when we can appreciate our own work, that's just my opinion and I'm sticking to it! Love your work soooo much!

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    1. Thanks my Cheryl!!! The half face was cheating a little (so that I wouldn't have to try to make matching eyes!) You know I love your whimsical, stylized faces, but I would love to see a realistic Cheryl face too! It DOES make me happy that I can see the good parts of my work/the improvement...otherwise I would be so discouraged! Big squishes and smooches! <3 <3 <3

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  7. Wonderful drawing. Truly. Blurry ear of crisp ear, no matter to me ~ this face is great!

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    1. Thank you so very much! I always try to find some way I can improve...this time it was the ear...so that way I will keep getting better! Even with his wonky ear, I'm still loving him! Thanks for the sweet compliments!<3 <3 <3

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  8. Great work! I think the eye is just fantastic. Definitely comes across as male, I have a harder time with male faces than female faces too.

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    1. Thank you so much! Males really are harder to draw than females! I wonder if everybody feels that way or if a man can draw males more easily and ladies draw females more easily? That's an interesting thing to think about! There are some really great eye tutorials on Pinterest that have helped me a lot! I can see the improvement in the eye since practicing with those tutorials!

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  9. Great work! I like your shading. Great!

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    1. Thank you so much! I am really happy with the shading...except for the nose...I wish I would have done more with it! ...but that's the great thing about art: infinite do-overs! :)

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  10. Oh, you did awesome!! I would say yours looks very much like the reference ... and your shading is great, too. I can't draw a "manly" face to save my life! Kudos ... oh here, I'll do that ---> turn around ... pat, pat, patting you on da' back!

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    1. Thank you Cindy, for the awesome compliments and for the back patting!!! :) I don't know what it is that makes manly faces so much harder to draw than feminine ones, but there is DEFINITELY a big difference in the level of difficulty! It's part of the reason I was so surprised about this face! Now I kind of want to try to draw another man to see if this one was a fluke! :)

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  11. sweets, your drawing is absolutely perfect! I agree that you deserve to be dancing around. You did a beautiful job! Only one thing could make him be better. Any guesses? If you had used Adam as your model, instead of Marshall (MM... really?). I bet Anna agrees with me, I mean heck... we are Team Adam!

    I love it, and I look forward to the other 26 faces this month! Hugs, Pamikins

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    1. Thanks my Pamikins!!!

      I knew you were going to say that! I thought about Adam, I really did...but I thought if I attempted Adam and messed him up I would have a Pamikins and an Anna to answer to! I was scared of what the punishment might be...scared and a little intrigued! :) (I know, I know,MM...he's kind of my guilty pleasure crush...now you know my shameful secret...*bursts into tears* I can't help it, I've always thought he was a cutie!) Since this face came out so well, maybe I will have to attempt Adam! If he comes out badly, I'll just not say who I modeled my drawing after so you and Anna won't beat me up! Haha! Big squishes for you!

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    2. Just remember, if you draw Adam, you must draw the cut!!!!!

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  12. I absolutely adore him... no wonder you are thrilled with him... because your face is stunning... and loved the video clip.... her voice is so soothing... I love to listen to music too when I draw.... and find if I forget to put the music on... I start singing... without consciously thinking about it... looking forward to more of your wonderful faces...

    Jenny ♥

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    1. Thank you so much Jenny! I really am so happy with him, and you made me have a huge smile when you said he was stunning!

      Lucinda William's really does have a soothing voice, doesn't she? I really do adore her! I do the same thing if I don't have music on: start singing to myself without realizing it! A lot of the times when that happens, I will get one song in my head and will sing it over and over...then I have to go find the song and listen to it while I finish working!

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  13. Holy Cow Sweet Red! This came out awesome! I love graphite and the watercolor 'cakes' sound wonderful to use. I can say that the results are fantastic ;D I think you caught the ear just right too in light of the fact that you couldn't see it in the photo! Great rendition, go ahead and pat yourself all you like ~ that's what keeps the creative stuff flowing after all <3

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    1. Cakes are always good, be they watercolor or otherwise! :) I had always thought that doing only black and white would be harder, so I'd just done shading in color before (on my fancy faces)...I was wrong! SO WRONG!!! *sees more black and white paintings in the near future*

      In hindsight, I should have looked for a second reference photo to do the ear with...but lesson learned, I'll know for next time! Patting my own back is good, but your "Holy Cow!" reaction was a million times better! Thanks for making my day!

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  14. I always like graphite sketches, you did well in depicting his expressive eyes!

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    1. Thanks Peggy! I've been practicing my eyeballs with a tutorial on Pinterest...it's helped me a lot! (It's on my "Draw" board if you want to see it) Even though practice can be frustrating (I always want to be able to do things NOW!), it's all worth it when a completely fantastic person (like you!)notices the thing I've been practicing! *doing the happy dance!* <3

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  15. I'm glad you are patting yourself on the back because your drawing is amazing! So powerful. And I didn't even notice the ear until you pointed it out. :)

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    1. Thanks you so much, Rita!!! I should really stop pointing out the flaws...it's just like when someone compliments my shirt and I feel the need to point out the paint splatters! They probably wouldn't notice if it weren't for me pointing the flashing neon sign at it! (haha) Thanks again for the kind words! <3 <3 <3

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  16. He's amazing and you should be patting yourself o the back.I struggle with male faces :( Maybe it's a mental block LOL! I do love to listen to Lucinda too ♥

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    1. Thanks very much, Carol! He really does make me so excited...all the practice is FINALLY starting to show!

      Those male faces...they really ARE harder!!! I bet you are right, it's the mental block! :D

      I'm so happy to meet a fellow Lucinda lover! She really is wonderful! I'm really hoping to get to see her live at Rhythm and Roots festival in Bristol, TN (I only live about 45 minutes away.) I'm saving all my pennies and crossing my fingers and toes that I'll get to see her live! Maybe I'll get a good picture of her at the show and then I can try to draw it! <3 <3 <3

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  17. Wow, this is really a wonderful likeness!

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    1. Thank you so much! I know he's not exactly like the picture, but he really is the most realistic face I've done to date...he made me very excited when he showed up on the page! <3

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