Thursday, June 26, 2014

face study

I love faces. I really look at people and their faces. I am aware of my drawing limitations but have decided to embrace my style.
There is always more to learn but right now I will just allow myself to draw, paint, and play to encourage that part of me. The very fact that these are flawed is why I am sharing them with you instead of hiding them away in a file, or the circular file. I am exhibiting courage in showing what I made!

These are the materials I used today. Paintsticks, pencils, embossing sheets and some muslin precut squares left over from some long forgotten project.
Don't know exactly what I thought I'd make today, but on my walk I thought, what if instead of gray, my hair came in purple! How cool!
So I thought I would sketch a woman with purple hair.

That turned out to be the bottom one, and she looks downright scarey. Whatever. As these things go, the whole project grew into a bunch of attempts . First the ones I like best...
She looks like me in my youth. Sweet. Full of promise. I love this one and it was the quickest to make. It was also the last one I made, which might say a person needs to warm up. Another lesson here is if the first item comes out all wrong like my scarey woman, keep going.
I like her a lot. She kind of looks like I feel nowadays. I don't have purple hair but I might. I love the thoughtful way she is. She is open too, and content. I like her a lot.
Next I like the wild abandon she shows! That's kind of like me too! Her hair is blowing freely in the wind, she's laughing, she's looking ahead!
I wanted to try a blue face but she looks haggard. Her eyes aren't shaped right, but she was the second one I sketched. I don't mind some aspects of it, like her ear showing. I might even like that haircut and blue isn't a bad hair color. I like the dark eyes with the white highlight. Paintsticks with no points are a challenge to use on fabric. They grab hold of the fiber and don't mix or move or blend easily. I rubbed some blue on my finger and smeared it on her face to shadow her a bit. There are three shades of blue on her.
I am not even showing the scarey one again.
Lessons learned:
1. Just do it, don't wait til you are good enough or take a class or have confidence
2. Accept your limitations and call it a style
3. Keep going, the last one will probably be your favorite, as mine was
4. Share your process with others like me, so they will know they aren't the only non-perfect artists
5. There is beauty in non- perfection
LeeAnna







13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am not much of a drawer, either. :) I did find a video lesson by Jane Davenport online for drawing 'whimsical faces' and that has been really useful to me. It was fairly inexpensive (I _think_ it is by Interweave?) ... helped my bravery level. LOL

:) Linda

bearbuster said...

I like all of them! The windblown hair made me think of pulling your hair out over a certain pup's recent behavior. I really loved the same one you like best. But, I think it looks the most like you NOW :) Thanks for sharing the process and encouraging the rest of us. Pat

Lorna McMahon said...

Lovely work, LeeAnna. Your faces are all very well done, in my books! Yes, just do it!

Joanne said...

Hi LeeAnna!
Circular file! Like that one! Have you heard the one "file it under G"?
They're all great work! Looks like me at different times during the day!
Thanks for sharing!
Take care,
Joanne

Missy Shay said...

Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog. Did you know that you are a no reply blogger?

Amy Art Quilter & Fyber Cafe said...

I really like how you used the rubbing plate texture in the hair, and the bold bright colors. Wonderful!

Lynette said...

These are cool - I like all of them, even the one that looks scary to you. I think she's fascinating. :) Nothing stiff about any of them - lots of movement and life in each one.

Funky Diva said...

LeeAnna, as always I am amazed with how much expression you achieve with your faces. I hope you realize what a wonderful talent that is. I believe I agree with your accessment of your faces. I really like the one you chose as the second one you liked best. Great job. Maggie

Teresa Duryea Wong said...

You are so right - what you think of as limitations, others see a style! I love these drawings, they are fun and very expressive! keep going!

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

These are great LA lady! Sorry, i think of that song every time I see your handle. :) I really love what you're doing here and think they are fantastic exactly the way the are.

Here's the however - I have a thing for faces too and I'm currently working on leaning to draw them with some thought towards realism. Because it seemed like an interesting challenge,I took a stab and moving a few things around on your blue face with photoshop. I think her issues are all proportion. I moved her forehead up a bit, Moved the lips closer to the bottom of the nose, thickened the neck and switched the shading on her cheeks. It was fun and interesting to see how she changed. I don't think I can attach it here, but will email it if you want to see it. :)

Thanks for sharing them!

Pattilou said...

My goodness what fun pictures! I like them all!

Paula@TheSassyQuilter said...

Love these! The blue one has so much feeling in it and the red ones hair is on fire:) Love the way the embossing looks for the hair. Keep at it girl!

PugMom said...

I love the CRAZY hair! So much fun!