Creative Heart Monday - Acrylic Whimsical Face - "Woman"

Happy Creative Heart Monday!!

Today, I'm painting a whimsical face, but I'm using a new technique (new to me, at least).  I saw Christy Sobelewski use this technique in her, online, class - Painted Faces 2.  I can imagine so many uses for this.  It's very easy....just acrylic paint and dishwashing liquid.  But, you end up with a rainbow of colors.

I did have a little mishap while recording this video.  While applying the third layer to the hair, I knocked over the bottle and was unable to show the entire process on that layer.  However, it's exactly like the first two hair layers, so you're not missing anything pertinent.

Here we go............



Supplies

Strathmore Bristol Mixed Media Paper
Daler Rowney System 3-Titan Buff
Daler Rowney System 3-Flesh Tint
Daler Rowney System 3 Titanium White
Daler Rowney System 3-Neon Pink
Daler Rowney System 3 Cadmium Red Deep
Daler Rowney System 3 Cadmium Yellow
Daler Rowney System 3 Cyan Process Blue
DecoMedia Paynes Gray
DecoMedia Burnt Umber
Prismacolor Pencils
Winsor & Newton Masking Fluid
White Sakura Gellyroll Pen
Any kind of dishwashing liquid (dish soap)

Have a great Monday and a wonderful week.

Peace!

Cyndi

Butterfly Face Video

Still working on faces.  I remembered to turn the camera on for this one.

I love, love, love the Prismacolor pencils.  They are the wonderful for making a colorful, whimsical face.

Allright, I'm going to tell the truth......the flowers and butterflies were an after-thought.  The forehead was way too large....no worries....I covered them with flowers and butterflies!  Which reminds me of something that I learned a long time ago.  I managed real estate for years and our motto was:  "If you can fix it, fix it, if you can't fix it, replace it, if you can't replace it, paint it, and if you can't paint it, plant flowers around it".  If we want to get deep, we could probably use this in every aspect of our lives.

Supplies:

Prismacolor Pencils - various colors
Ranger Distress Stain - Broken China, Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze, Dusty Concorde (for background and hair)
Liquitex White Gesso
Liquitex Matte Medium
Pigma Micron Black Pen
Montana Paint Pen - White
Tim Holtz Stencil - THS006 (for purple dots in background)
Flowers cut from scrapbook paper
Butterflies from a roll of decorative paper

Peace!

Cyndi

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How to Learn to Draw Faces

As I've mentioned before, I have been learning how to draw faces.  I've always loved to draw and doodle, but I've always been a geometric doodler.  I would draw three dimensional shapes and expand from there.  I rarely ever tried to draw a person or an animal.

A couple months ago, I watched All About Faces by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  She taught me the basics about drawing a face, like eye spacing, lip shape, and shading.  Julie has lots of videos on You-tube and on the Interweave website.  She has a fun personality and takes her time to really show you what she's doing.

I bought Mixed Media Girls by Suzi Blu.  She draws the most adorable, round-faced girls.  She taught me about using the Prismacolor pencils to build a beautiful complexion.  What can I say about Suzi Blu?  She is crazy.  She is so animated, happy, angry, sad....  Her girl's faces are just so pretty!

I also got Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts.  I enjoyed that book.  She didn't focus that much on faces, but I learned how to draw angelic girls.  She also shows you how to do a lot of great backgrounds.

I recently took Tracy Bautista's Girlie Glam Faces online workshop. This was fun because I learned more about decorating a face with whimsical doodles and flowers.  Her work is so colorful.  Love it!

Last week I ordered The Whimsical Face by Jane Davenport.  I finished my first real face from the workshop.  Her faces are a little more realistic than what I have been doing.  Still, certainly not a totally realistic drawing, but slightly less cartoon-like (I can't think of any other word for them).  Obviously, the eyes and lips are over-sized, but that's what I like.  I'm not really looking for total realism.  Jane has a beautiful British accent.  She is detailed about showing you everything she does.  There are a couple times in the video when her head gets in the way of seeing the drawing, because of the camera angle, but still well worth it.

So, I'm very pleased with what I have learned from these women.  They all have different styles, but I feel like I'm learning something from all of them and will develop my own style.

My Jane Davenport-style face.

 

Suzi Blu-style face

 

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer-style face

 

Kellie Rae Roberts-style girl

 

Traci Bautista Girlie Glam-style face

 

 

I know that I still have a long way to go with my faces, but this is proof that anyone can learn how to draw faces, even someone with a history of just drawing straight lines.

 

Goodnight.

Cyndi