29 FACES - DAY 27

There weren't any photos of people on the front page fo the paper today.  But I found this guy on page A3 down at the bottom.

He was sketched using my new Sailor fountain pen with the caligraphy nib and colored in with colored pencils.  I almost didn't want to finish him, I found him to look very arrogant.  It might just be my mood.  Actually, I don't think he is done, he could use a little more work....some other day.

This was drawn from a photo credited to Zack Wise/ The New York Times found on page A3 of the 2-27-2014 Seattle Times

29 FACES - DAY 28

Here's a young man that was pictured in a crowd of people.  This is a pen and ink sketch with colored pencils.

This was drawn fron a photo credited to Alan Berner which was on the front page of the Seattle Times February 28, 2014 

It's been a great month  of drawings and revelations.  Thank you, Ayala for thinking this up and hosting it

I discovered that taking a few minutes out of my work day each morning to sketch was a great stress reliever - a few moments of calm and meditation. 

I'm going to keep it up....but,

I need a new sketchbook!

One of the comments left this month said they thought it would be cool to see these portraits all side by side (thank you Kristen) - and that got me to thinking.

So, while I'm getting that sketchbook at Daniel Smith I might just buy a bunch of small canvases and paint the portraits on those.  

29 FACES - DAY 26

This is a somewhat controlled contour sketch using my new Sailor fountain pen with the caligraphy nib, which I colored in with colored pencils.

Sad story, I almost didn't want to sketch him.  But, I had very little choices.

This was drawn from a photo in "The Nation" section on page A2 of the 2-26-2014 Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 25

Here's a semi-blind contour drawing using my new Sailor fountain pen with the caligraphy nib.  This time I knew better than to use water anywhere near the ink.  I went with colored pencils.

I didn't notice until I was coloring it that there was actually a halo around him in the photo.  I decided I better include it.  

This was drawn from a photo included in an article on the front page of the 2-25-2014 Seattle Times written by Carol M. Ostrom.  It says this photo is from a screen shot from this guy's bio page on his website.

29 FACES - DAY 24

I used my new Sailor fountain pen with the caligraphy nib.  It came with an ink cartridge, which I used.  I found out the hard way that the ink isn't waterproof.

On this sketch, I started out using my watercolors and the ink just ran into the color, changing it to a black version of itself.  I thought maybe the ink just wasn't dry, so I gave it some time.  But, it still was running and ruining the sketch.  I used colored pencils an the rest of it, but unfortunately those 'smile lines' are much too dark and I can't do anything about it.  Lesson learned.  

This was drawn from a photo credited to Mark Harrison/Seattle Times that was on the front page of the February 24, 2014 Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 23

This is a sketch done with my new Sailor fountain pen with the calligraphy nib.  I haven't totally gotten the hang of it yet, but it looks like it might be very useful.  I colored him in with colored pencils.

It was drawn from an uncredited photo accompanying an article by Andrew Higgens of the New York Times that was on the front page of the February 23, 2014 Sunday Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 22

This is a pen and ink semi-blind contour drawing with a little watercolor applied.

It was drawn from photo credited to Andrew Kravchenko/The Associated Press that was on the front page of the February 22, 2014 Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 21

There were no good faces on the front page so I turned to the next.  I must admit page 2 did have faces that I could have used, but when I saw this guy on page 3 I couldn't help myself.  He was the one I wanted to draw.  

Here he is, a semi-blind contour drawing with my Lamy fountain pen containing Noodler's black ink.  Then I filled him in with colored pencils.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo that accompanied an article on page A3 of the February 21, 2014 Seattle Times.  The article was written  by Frances Robles/New York Times.

29 FACES - DAY 20

There weren't any faces on today's front page, so turning to page 2...there are several wackos to choose from!  It was a bad day for children apparently.

Here is today's, a real sicko...this is a semi-blind contour drawing with my fountain pen, then colored with colored pencils.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo in "The Nation" section of the Seattle Times of 2-20-2014 on page A2.

29 FACES - DAY 19

This guy had such an interesting face I wanted to see if I could accurately capture it.  I used just a pencil.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo on page A2 of the 2-19-2014 Seattle Times. It accompanied an article written by Hannah Dreier/ Associated Press.

29 FACES - DAY 18

I didn't use my ink pen this time.  I sketched lightly with pencil and then colored him in with Derwent Watercolor Pencils and applied some water to activate them.

Drawn from an uncredited photo on the front page of the 2-18-2014 Seattle Times in an article written by Lynn Thompson/Staff Reporter.

29 FACES - DAY 17

Drawn from an uncredited photo on the front page of the 2-17-2014 Seattle Times in an article written by Brian M. Rosenthal/Seattle Times Olympia Bureau.

29 FACES - DAY 16

Drawn from a photo credited to Bob Mack/The Florida Times-Union from the front page of the 2-16-2014 Seattle Times.

VALENTINE'S DAY BOUQUET

It's been our tradition that on Valentine's Day my husband buys me a bouquet of flowers and I've been painting their portrait.  Here's this year's.  This is 11" by 14" acrylic on canvas.

HORSES DONE

I spent most of the day finishing up the printing of my Year of the Horse Exchange print.  I still need to sort, cull, stamp and sign them.  Then they get stuffed into envelopes, addressed, stamped and mailed.   It could take a while for all of that.  

29 FACES - DAY 15

This is drawn from an uncredited photo on page A2 of the February 15, 2014 of the Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 14

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Here's my entry for today taken from today's front page.  This was first drawn out with my fountain pen, then colored with watercolors.  I got the paper too wet and had to wait for a while to let it dry out.  I came back later and added some darks.  I let it dry several times and tried putting in more darks and color.  The problem is I'm using sketchbook paper, not watercolor paper.  It will only take so much water and color before it just stops doing anything.

This was drawn from a uncredited photo in an article by Kyung M. Song of the Seattle Times Washington Bureau that was on the front page of the Seattle Times February 14, 2014.

My sweetheart and I went out for lunch to one of our favorite restaurants, Shangai Garden in the International District of Seattle.  I thought I should be posting a portrait of him today, so I sketched him while we waited for our lunch to arrive.  He wouldn't hold still.  I've sketched him so many times, I don't really need to look, but this one turned out not so good.  If you want to see a nice painting I did of him, go here.  

Happy Valentine's Day Darrell - I love you.

29 FACES - DAY 13

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Lucky 13!

On the front page today was a big story with pictures of the big snow storm hitting the southeast.

On page A2 there was several good choices.  I picked this one from a story of a fallen 'hero' who lost his way (or who never had a  way and finally got caught on his twisted path).

This was drawn from an uncredited photo accompanying a story written by Campbell Robertson of the New York Times that was on page A2 or the Seattle Times of February 13, 2014.

29 FACES - DAY 12

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Another day with a tough choice for faces on the front page.  It was either our state Governer, Jay, or Shirley Temple.  Both of these people are easily recognizable which means the pressure is on to do an accurate rendition - not my strong suit, especially if I'm doing a contour drawing.  I have a hard time with children's faces - it's a whole different thing, I'm not sure why though. You just draw what you see, right?  Okay, I'll give the Shirley Temple a try.  But, then I wimped out and decided to do a semi-blind contour drawing.  I really messed up the teeth, I should have never put the lines in with such a strong line as the ink pen.  Bad, bad, bad.

P.S. She was in black and white.

This drawing was sooo bad, I decided not to post it and drew the Governer also.  What the heck, post them both.

Governer Jay was drawn from a photo on the front page of the 2-13-2014 Seattle Times credited to Rachel La Corte/The Associated Press.

Shirley was drawn from a photo credited to Hulton Archive/Getty Images that was on the same front page.

29 FACES - DAY 11

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

The Olympic Games are in the headlines and there was a big picture of a local gal, who had won a medal, on the front page.  She was screaming with joy and her mouth was wide open.  I couldn't bring myself to draw her.  I don't like doing teeth, they never look like they should.

But, there was a tiny little picture of this interesting looking guy.  I messed up one of his eyes... and with ink there's no going back.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo accompanying a story by Dominic Gates on the front page of the Seattle Times of February 11, 2014.

29 FACES - DAY 10

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

This guy was at an odd angle.  I wouldn't have picked him, but I didn't get a choice.  I think it turned out okay.

This is a semi-blind contour drawing using a Lamy fountain pen with black Noodlers ink then colored with Derwent watercolor pens and left dry.

This was drawn from a photo on the front page of the Seattle Times of 2-10-2014, the photo is credited to Greg Gilbert of the Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 9

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Today is Sunday, the paper is big.  There was a cute story on the front page that had something to do with young girls in some sort of camp.  The pictures didn't show the faces very well.  So I perused the rest of the paper, then went back to page one.  There was a little teeny picture of a very interesting looking guy.  And I love the way the photo was cropped.  Here he is.

I filled up my Lamy fountain pen (my fingers are inky even now) and used that to sketch him, then embellished him with layers of watercolors.  I had a dark almost black behind him, and several hours later I went back and covered that with Alizarin Crimson.  Much better now.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo in the Seattle Sunday Times, February 9, 2014 written by a Seattle Times writer (I forgot to write his name down and the paper has been recycled already).

29 FACES - DAY 8

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

This is not from the front page either though.  I found him on A2 of today's Seattle Times.  He looks like a judge in my drawing.  But, he's not.  He's a bad guy, or a good guy gone over the edge a little too far.  

This is a semi-blind contour drawing, meaning I only looked at where my pen was going occassionally to reorient myself.  I tried to keep my eyes on the contours and lines of the subject and 'feel' my way through the drawing.  I find you either get very interesting results, or really really embarrassingly bad results (if you're trying to do a portrait).

My fountain pen, that I usually use, ran out of ink just right after I started.  So, most of this drawing was done with a cheap black Bic pen.  Then I added layers of watercolor trying to build up the darks.  I was more patient this time.

This drawing was done from a photo on page A2 of the February 8, 2014 Seattle Times.  It is uncredited and accompanied a story from Dade City, Florida by Associated Press.

I was looking at some wonderful sketches on UrbanSketchers today.  Someone mentioned Sailor pens that have a caligraphy nib.  Note to self: It sounds like something I just gotta get.  Check it out.

29 FACES - DAY 7

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

I started this challenge out doing blind contour drawings, and every day I've gotten less and less blind and more exacting trying to get the features correct.

This drawing I really tried to get it right.  I think this guy has a very interesting face with distinct planes, lines and angles.  I started with a pencil and worked at getting the planes and shapes correct.  Then I went over them with the ink pen.  Instead of the watercolor pencils I got out my regular watercolors and used them.  I can always use practice with watercolors.  They don't come easily to me.

This was drawn from a photo on the front page of the February 7, 2014 Seattle times.  The photo is credited to Karl Eisenhower/Kaiser Health News.

29 FACES - DAY 6

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Yesterday was the big Seahawks Parade, so there was a huge picture of the huge crowd on the front page today, which is no good for me (although I must say, it's a great thing for the city, and maybe even the state).

On page 2 I found this interesting face.

I was looking at someone else's sketches yesterday, and I realized they used a pencil first...hmmm.  I've always just started right out with the pen and if I made a big blunder it was just 'oh, well'.  I always hated that part of it.  It made it almost too stressful (not fun).

So, I used a pencil to sketch out this face and get the basics down first, then went at it quickly with the ink pen.  Then I colored it with the watercolor pencils and added water.  Now that I've posted it here, I can see the streaky-ness of the strokes where I went back into the wet paper with the watercolor pencils to add more shading.  I don't like that way that looks, so I'll try harder to get it more even next time.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo on page A2 of the February 6, 2014 of the Seattle Times.

29 FACES - DAY 5

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Seattle Times from that day.]

Like I said, I live in Seattle.  Other big news today is the new CEO of Microsoft.  His picture was on the front page today.  

This is a pen and ink drawing, kind of a little semi-blind, colored with Derwent watercolor pencils which I did not apply water to.  I discovered that unlike regular colored pencils, these don't like to many layers of color.  After I had gotten the skin color sort of like I wanted I was reluctant to add water for fear of ruining it, so I didn't.  (I don't like it as well as the watercolor ones though).

This was drawn from a photo on the front page of the Seattle Times February 5, 2014.  It was credited with Microsoft.

29 FACES - DAY 4

[My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Times for that day.]

Today's Seattle Times still has football coverage on the front page (see yesterday's post).  There was a big picture of a group of people, so all of the faces are too small to draw.  On the banner was an uncredited picture of coach Pete Carroll with the Lombardi Trophy.  So, today's drawing is again of Pete.

This is a pen and ink drawing, colored with Derwent watercolor pencils with a little water applied here and there to activate them.

This was drawn from an uncredited photo on the front page banner of the Seattle Times of February 4, 2014.

29 FACES - DAY 3

I live in Seattle.  If you are tuned into American happenings, then you should know that yesterday was the Superbowl and the Seattle Seahawks won.  So, you can guess what was on the front page of the Seattle Times.  [My challenge is to draw a face from the front page of the Times for that day.]

Yes, it was a full page color photo of the Quarterback holding the trophy with the coach standing next to him.  There was confetti falling down all around them.  I chose the coach.  

This is a pen and ink drawing, colored with Derwent watercolor pencils, with just a little water here and there, mostly the background.  After I messed up the face of yesterday's guy, I didn't want to put water on this face.

This is drawn from a photo on the front page of the Seattle Times, Monday, February 3, 2014.  The photo is credited to Jon Lok.

29 FACES - DAY 2

There weren't any faces on the front page of the Sunday Seattle Times.  There were people, but most of them had their backs to the camera or were way off and too small to see.  There was one headshot of a columnist, but my paper had a smudge over him.  And there was a very small picture of the Fab Four, which I found just a little too intimidating.   

So, I found this picture on A3 and I liked the odd angle of the image.  I can definitely say I've never drawn anyone at this angle before.

This is a semi-blind contour with ink, then colored with Derwent watercolor pencils and water applied.  And, yes I overworked the nose.  I always do that with watercolors.  They take such a fine touch and I rush in too quickly.  Maybe by the end of the month I'll figure that out.

This is drawn from a photo credited to Hans Pennick/Associated Press that was in the Sunday Seattle Times, page A3, February 2, 2014.

29 FACES - DAY 1

Here I go again.  I've committed to the 29 Faces in February Challenge again.

This time the challenge for me will be to draw a face from the Seattle Times every day.  I'm going to try to do one from the front page, even if I don't like it.  

This one is a blind contour drawing of the face using my ink pen.  Then I looked while I filled in the rest of the drawing.  I used Derwent watercolor pencils and then applied a little water to blend it all.

This was drawn from a photo on the front page of the February 1, 2014 Seattle Times.  The photograph is credited to Mike Siegel.  (it doesn't look anything like the poor man in the photo).