I am in the middle of a watercolor workshop with Cheng Khee Chee so I may have some watercolors to post soon. I did finish another face. This one is inspired by the artist Ai Wei Wei. Once again the eyes grabbed me – old eyes, strong and wise. Once again tweeked – I start with a contour drawing from a photograph and then do the rest from my imagination and in response to what happens during the drawing process.
Bearded Man Drawing
After I finshed preparing for the State Fair I was sort of like a ballon deflating. I felt a strong need to take a rest and regroup. Now, like a bad penny, I’m back, a little shinier after spending several weeks reading, thinking and resting. I am ready to get back to painting, drawing and doodling. I started by immersing myself in faces. My old friends know that I love to find a face that fascinates me and then I change it to make it my own. I’ve noticed that it is usually the eyes that hook me. I put my toe back in the water and here’s the result…a face depraved and with the potential for evil. Wonder what that means!
Gangsta Man
The drawing was done with a set of warm gray markers and is about 10″ X 12″. I made the eyes green. I wanted them to glint like emeralds.
I have set aside my Yupo for the moment. I stumbled on a photograph of a man with the biggest smile I ever saw. It was enchanting. As many of you know I am fascinated by faces and frequently do rough sketches from magazines and then make them my own. I usually am intrigued by one facial feature that catches my eye. In this case it was the crinkly, laughing eyes. I started thinking about what could make him laugh – he’s having fun – why? – he’s at a festival – what’s happening? – fireworks – shazam! I can use my abstract palette of pthalo blue, quin magenta and cad yellow to make it took like he’s watching fireworks. What fun!!!!!! Are YOU smiling?
Laughing man
I have another face for your consideration. I think I was fascinated by the blowing, ruffled hair on this one and the last. 
Once again, this is a 30 minute sketch done in my Bee sketchbook with Pebeo pan watercolors and Aquastroke brushes (two of which are about worn out). Its a small book about 6″ X 9″. It tolerates wet media but I’ve noticed that I get “pilling” on the surface after several washes and I have to take it off with my finger tip.
Good morning everyone! I have been a little tired and distracted lately so I got out my sketchbook. You probably don’t remember but I worked primarily on loose sketches during the first three months of 2011. I think it helped relax my “little gray cells”, flex my painting and drawing muscles, and prepare me for more rigorous painting activity. I used my 6″ X 9″ Bee Deluxe sketchbook that will take wet media and an old copy of a magazine. I am using my Pebeo pan set of watercolor and my aquabrushes to paint faces. First I do a quick pencil sketch and then I put the magazine away and just paint. The intent is not to get a likeness of a specific person but just to achieve a face I like in about 30 minutes.
Face 03042012
I seem to be obsessed with eyes and the faces that should go with them. Yesterday I found two more sets of eyes that interested me and, because of the snow and ice, I had time to work with them. Both are done in my small watermedia sketchbook and are roughly 5″ X 7″ in size. The first is my visual idea of a business man – canny, astute, cunning, reserved, questioning. I thought he deserved a monochromatic treatment because that is what he lets the world see. Also stepping into the light – perhaps realizing that profits do not make environmental degradation right. I don’t know – sounds puffed up but here he is.
The Business Man
After completing the first face I decided to challenge myself by working with color. I used my aquabrush and watercolor crayons and was amazed at the lovely, realistic skintones I could achieve with the crayons. I used a wet aquabrush to dab the end of the crayons. This works really well for certain pastel-colored effects. In this case I like the eyes and the beard…can’t say much more…just started working and here is what happened.
Bearded man
I am trying to develop my skill by putting each face in a slightly different posture. I just realized I really need to do more/something with the background but these are just sketches…oh well!
As part of my last shipment from Cheap Joe’s I bought a couple of Sketch & Wash pencils. I bought them because I thought I heard someone say they used them to sketch their drawings on paper before starting a watercolor painting. I thought the lead was light and just dissolved and disappeared as you painted. Well OBVIOUSLY NOT! On Wednesday I tried my first work with these pencils and I now know that they are used to make a painting that looks like a drawing made from ink washes. And that is fine. Here is my first attempt.
Drawing #1 using Sketch & Wash Pencils
I tried doing a second drawing yesterday while I was at the surgery center with my husband and I learned something about where my head is right now. In the past I have focused my drawing and paintings on animals, nature, landscapes, flowers but virtually never on faces, figures or portraits. Yesterday I drew the face of a beautiful young woman and I tore it up and threw it out. Not because the technical content wasn’t good but because it looked sterile to me – nothing behind the face. When I look at the drawing I did on Tuesday, I see a man satisfied with where he is at. He has had a hard life but he values where he has been, he has had some success and he is planning for tomorrow. He has experience, confidence and history. This drawing was inspired by the eyes of an Auschwitz survivor I saw in a photograph in Smithsonian. I see a facial feature that speaks to me and I use it to start a drawing but the drawing becomes mine as I add features and expression. I need to think more about this and how to act on it. This was a revelation for me. All I know is you can expect to see more faces in the future.
Linda Halcomb's Blog 