Last day: face 29!!

Wow, the end of February is here! And I'm in a rush today! But I managed a sketch, phew. Would be sad if I didn't make the end of the month now!

So here she is: graphite and nothing else. Still have some work on her, but it's all I can do for today. So  it'll have to be enough. Tomorrow I hope I'll have some more time, so I can watch all the new faces from the other participants.

Bye for now! And thanks for taking a look!

Day 28: almost done!

Well, just one more face after this one and the challenge is done! Finitos! Over! I don't know how I feel about it. In one way glad, because it was getting a bit much in the end. On the other hand: it was fun connecting with a group of people who were trying to do the same thing, and to see all the different creations.

But I'm also starting to feel as if I'm doing the same thing over and over again. I want to try some new things, but I don't always have time for it, and in the end I just make something that I've done before and therefore is less time-consuming. So I'm really looking forward to having more time to try other things as well, and not having to post every day.

I will also be sharing some pictures of my progress in Flora Bowley's workshop. Although: progress!? My "paintings" look different every time I do something with them, but I'm not at all sure where it's leading. That's normal, Flora says. I just have to trust in the process ....

Meanwhile, here's my 28th face! It's a drawing in graphite, with some watercolours and markers to finish it off, and as a background I've used a pattern in Photoshop that I've made from one of my paintings. Her shirt is also a self-created pattern.

Day 27: quick lyrics-girl

Again struggling for time... It's getting to be quite annoying. I guess I'm not a very organised person. Or maybe I plan too many things in one day.

Anyway, here's a very quick lyrics-girl with a long neck. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to post earlier in the day, and take a look at all the other blogs as well.

But for now, I'll dive into my bed ....

Here she is:

lyrics from Adele, markers and panpastels

Day 26: Not really satisfied with this

I made another "gut"-painting. I saw 2 figures emerging out of the background and had to paint them. But now that they're done, I don't really like it. I don't know why, I guess I'll just have to leave it alone for a while, and maybe then, when I look at it with fresh eyes again, I might know what's wrong, and more importantly: what to do about it.

But for now, they'll have to do...

It's painted on a canvas, I might call it: "where do we go from here?" Thought that's a fitting title for it ...

Day 25: quickie!

It's bedtime, and I'm practically falling asleep typing this. So I'll make it short. Today is an experiment again with markers and watercolors. I did the background in Photoshop. It's a pattern I made from a small part of one of my paintings. I kind of like the effect. Love making my own brushes and patterns in Photoshop, although I still have a lot to learn. I mostly use it for backgrounds for one of my sketches, so that I can make postcards out of it.

Well, here she is. And I'm diving into my bed. See you tomorrow!

Day 24: another sketch

Only 5 more days and February is gone! Can't believe how fast time flies! It's going to be strange not to have to post a face every day. Of course I don't really HAVE to, it's more that I WANT to, since I've set myself this challenge. But I must admit it's going to be a lot less stress. Although, it's not really stress either, I don't know how to put it, but I'm sure that all the creative souls out there that are also participating in this challenge know exactly what I mean.

The last days of the challenge I'm a bit stressed for time, so I started a few faces already, which I'll just have to put the finishing touches to. Maybe that way I'll be able to post every day. See? STRESS!

For today I made a sketch again. Not much to say about that ;-)

Day 23: lyrics and necks

Lately all of my faces seem to have pretty long necks. Didn't have time to paint today, so I made a lyrics-girl with stretched-out features again. I wanted to try out some more new techniques, but time isn't on my side this week. So this'll have to do for now.

She looks a bit arrogant, but actually she feels hurt and the arrogance is just an attitude to hide the sadness. So I thought the lyrics from The Cure fitted her well.

See you tomorrow!

Day 22: redhead

I love long red hair, I think it looks beautiful on a woman. So today would be a redhead.

I tried to let the paint decide which hairdo she would get. It's not completely the way I wanted it, and I had to refrain myself from getting in there with markers. I love playing with watercolours, the results are really unpredictable. And it's often only after it dries that some patterns arise. But I'll have to practice a lot more.

So here she is: lady number 22!

graphite, watercolours, markers for the background

Off to bed now. Late again!

Day 21: the long necks are here again!

Felt like making another long-necked girl. Can't believe I've been posting 21 faces already! It sure is a lot of work, but it's also really good practice. I've learned some new techniques and feel a bit more confident using watercolours. I just have some work to do on my backgrounds. Somehow they always get neglected. When I'm ready with a drawing I don't feel like putting too much effort in the background (well, usually I don't have time for that anymore, and the next day I move on to another project and the background never gets done...).

So here she is: markers and pan pastels and lyrics from Keane (changed it a little bit...), girl number 21!

Day 20: hairy

Did another pencil-drawing and played a bit with my watercolors. Went a bit overboard with the hair, so it's almost like another wild hairday. Oh well, it's good practice. Now I'm gonna have a look at what the other participants have been creating...

Day 19 (well: actually 20 ...)

Okay, so I didn't get to post a face yesterday. We were gone all day and exhausted by the time we came back. But I still started one, I just didn't finish it. So now that it's finished, I'll post it as day 19, and tonight, if I manage to finish another one, I'll post it as day 20. So far so good ;-)

This one is a pencil sketch, finished off with marker and watercolour. I thought the text (lyrics by Adele) fitted well with the expression on her face. Have to go now, see you tonight!

Day 18: watercolour sketch

Just a quick sketch today. Very busy weekend, am not even sure whether I will be able to post a face tomorrow. I'll try though!

I've discovered I quite like the combination of graphite with other media. So my next faces will probably be experiments with graphite.

This one is a graphite pencil on top of a watercoloured background. Should be a bit darker I think, but didn't have time. Will continue working on her.

Day 17: Alien love

Thanks so much to everyone who bothers to come and take a look at my blog. I appreciate all of you coming here and commenting on the pieces I make. And I've discovered so many great new artists out there, I could just spend forever glued to my computerscreen. Alas, not enough time for that, I also "have to" paint ;-)

As I was saying in one of my previous posts, I had fun with painting some new backgrounds. As I was looking at one I finished, I thought that the purple in the bottom left corner would look great to use as hair. Here's the original background:

So I turned it around, and that's when I saw her. Or him. Or it. Whatever you want to call it. Do you see it?

And once you've seen something, you cannot "unsee" it, right? So I knew I just had to bring her/him/it out. And while I was doing that, I discovered another figure close to her/him/it. So all of a sudden I had two figures without planning it. I love it when that happens. Also because I sometimes want to paint "weird" persons, but I have a hard time letting go of "normal" features. This way, you just follow what you see, and the end result is always different to what you would've been able to come up with yourself.

So here they are: 2 faces for day 17! Did you find them in the background?

I call these my gut-paintings. I made a few paintings like that in the past, and I really should start doing it again, it's so much fun. Basically, you start with a background with different colors, just splash some paint on it with different techniques, then you try to "find" figures and forms in there and you pull them out by painting over them. Here are 2 examples of former gut-paintings of mine:

the very first one I ever did, in my journal

The first one on canvas. This is easily the painting I've had most fun creating.

Have a great weekend all of you!

Day 16: Scribblerday

I went to play with Scribbler and I remembered again why I became frustrated with it last year. The thing is: I am right-handed for most things, but I simply cannot draw with my right hand. I use my left hand for drawing and cutting (with scissors). Which used to be a problem when I was studying, because for some subjects I needed to switch hands all the time when taking notes. But I'm sidetracking ...

So, in Scribbler you use the mouse to draw. And I cannot draw with my right hand and I cannot use the mouse with my left hand. So that's a problem. The only solution I could come up with was buying a (cheap) tablet and drawing on that. But I needed time to get used to it, and I didn't have that, so I forgot about it and I forgot about Scribbler. Until now.

Last night I decided it was time to unpack my tablet and try again. And I made some drawings. Although I must admit that they are not that much better than the ones I did with the mouse. I still have to get used to the tablet, the pen doesn't always do what I want it to do. How some people can make such beautiful drawings using a tablet is beyond me. I much prefer using a pencil or paintbrush. But I still think Scribbler is an amazing tool.

Anyway: here she is. I used Photoshop to put her on top of a background I am in the process of making in Flora Bowley's workshop. I quite like the contrast between the two.

And just for the fun of it: here are 2 drawings I did last year using the mouse, and thus my right hand.

 

See you tomorrow!

Day 15: Wild hairday

I felt like drawing a girl with really wild, crazy hair. That was fun! I could have kept going, but, well, enough is enough, right!?

Saw some Scribbler-faces that some of the other participants in this challenge did, and of course I will have to try that. I discovered it last year already and was quite crazy about it for a while. But then I totally forgot about it. Until now that is. Great tool. And free as well! Go try it out! Tomorrow's face might be a Scribbler one...

Here she is, face number 15!

graphite and markers

Day 14 - face 14

Okay, I'll admit right away that I don't like her. I don't know why. Is it the hair, the eyes, the mouth, the posture? No idea, but I really don't like her. First didn't want to waste any lyrics on her, but then I figured I had to post something for today's face. So here she is anyway.

I had a lot of fun today working on my 2 canvases from Flora's workshop. There are no faces on there, at least up until now, so I couldn't post it for this challenge.

I know now that I better don't wait until evening to start something. She was done in a hurry and it's visible.

Oh well, better tomorrow ...

lyrics from Evanescence, markers and pan pastels

Face number 13 is emerging ....

Here she is, another emerging face. I so love doing these kinds of faces. I painted this one on a small canvas, so I can build up a stock again for future markets and fairs. That way I can keep up with this challenge and at the same time make sure I have some things to sell.

You may notice that I put my website on top of it. That's only for the picture of course, it is not really on there. Why? Because I read a post today on Michelle Allen's blog, about Pinterest being such a big hit these days, and then finding your picture somewhere on Facebook without any reference to where it came from of who made it. I must admit I don't like the sound of that.

I don't know Pinterest very well, and I surely wouldn't know how to find out whether some picture of mine has been pinned. And I would feel flattered, that's not the point. Point is that I want credit for my work. So just in case, from now on I'm gonna put my website on it.

Just another quick question (I'm really not very good with all these social media things....): when you click the "like" button somewhere, what happens then? Does it appear on Facebook, or somewhere else? Does it stay personal or does it get shared? Because I've had quite a few "likes" on some pictures I posted on a ning-site, and I've always wondered what that means. And now that I have a blog, I must take advantage of the knowledge of the wonderful people that regularly take a look here ;-)  There just might be someone out there who can give me an answer to this... Please!?

This painting was done with acrylics, inks, and Inktense pencils. I think I'll call it "Desire".

Another quickie: face number 12!

Just a verrrrry short post today,  no time! But I finished her!

markers and watercolours

Numero 11

Okay, I'll admit right away that this drawing was done a few months ago. Not that I didn't make a face today! I did, but it's not dry yet and I want to put some text on it. But first of all I want to go to SLEEP! And I don't want to go to sleep without putting a face on my blog. Am I addicted or what!?

So, although she's not really done in February, she made her first appearance on my blog in February and that's okay too. For me at least. And now I'm off to bed. AGAIN! Really have to stop writing these midnight posts on my blog ...

graphite, coloured pencil, titan buff
Didn't colour the background, because with some of these faces, I make the background in Photoshop, paste the drawing on top of it  and then  make postcards or calenders out of them. Lots of fun!

Number 10!

Spent the evening catching up with what the other participants are doing in this challenge. So many nice works, and a lot of people are keeping up with the challenge. Way to go!

I have a question. Since I'm pretty new to blogging, I was wondering what the difference is between following a blog, and subscribing to a feed. Until now I always subscribed to the feed of blogs that I wanted to follow and that works perfectly well for me. They are on my iGoogle-page, so I can immediately see whether there is a new post. Does it work the same way with Followers? Do the people that were so kind to become followers of this blog get a message or something when there is a new post? Or do you still have to check my blog to see whether there is something new?

Just curious. I hope someone can enlighten me ;-)

Today's face is a sketch again. I always like to change mediums every few days. Although I must admit I'm pretty obsessed at the moment with "emerging faces". Working on some backgrounds now, so there should be some new ones coming in the next few days/weeks. Although I also feel like doing some lyrics-girls again. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow. So many ideas, so little time ...

Here she is. Have a great weekend y'all!

graphite pencils

emerging: face 9

Another emerging face today. I really like doing these backgrounds and then let a face appear on top of it.

I used acrylics, inks and Inktense pencils. Now I'm off to bed!

Day 8

I had fun today with Flora Bowley's workshop. Ah, it felt so good to be painting on a big canvas again. And the way Flora teaches is a bonus. Her videos are great to watch, and the fact that there is no wrong or right way is very liberating. I'm looking forward to the next painting lesson.

In the meantime I'm working on different faces, to keep up with this challenge. Started this one yesterday and finished her today.

acrylics, ink, Inktense pencils

different kind of face: number 7

I felt like exaggerating some features, and she turned out a little bit like a Nefertiti-head. All done in markers, didn't have time for painting today.

When she was finished, I thought she looked a bit bitchy, so figured the lyrics of Meredith Brooks' song fitted well with her. Here she is, now I'm off to bed ...

markers and panpastels

Day 6

Experimented with a new technique today: trying to let a face emerge from a coloured background. Had loads of fun getting the background ready, with painting, stamping, spraying, dripping, etc...

I think it might be a bit too dark. That's the problem with me doing a background like that. I get totally carried away and in the end it looks much darker than I want. I'll have to remember that for next time: start with very light colours, and try not to mix too many colours on one page. STOP in time!

Well, here she is, girl number 6:

acrylics, ink, watercolour pencils

Day 5

Sleeptime again, but I managed to do my daily face. Not much time today, because we were at the beach all day (ah yes, it is summertime here in Australia, while Belgium is suffering from snow and freezing temperatures... Sure glad I'm not there right now!).

I did a lyrics-girl again. Only markers, so didn't have to wait in between to let the paint dry. Goes a lot faster that way. Here she is:

lyrics from Neil Young, Pitt brush markers

Day 4

Has it really been only four days!? I feel as if I have been spending way longer on this challenge. Not that I didn't have fun, mind you! I just hope I can keep it up. Because you know what? I will be starting my online workshop with Flora Bowley on Monday! Well, for me it will probably be Tuesday, since I'm in Australia and Flora is in the US.

I'm really looking forward to it. Since I got to know her work (sometime last year), I have been looking with great envy at all the pictures of her workshops, wishing I could've been there. So finding out that she now has her first online workshop was great news. Signed up as soon as I read about it and have been looking forward to it ever since. I haven't painted on a canvas since last March, and I miss it so much. But with the move to Australia and trying to get settled here, there just wasn't enough time.

Set up my easel today (it was still in the cupboard!), bought some plastic to put on the floor, because painting the way Flora does can get pretty messy, sorted out my supplies, and now I'm all ready to go.

So I hope I can squeeze in some time to do my daily face as well. This one was kind of an experiment. I wanted to use different colours and not blend so much. But it didn't really turn out as planned. I started out with watercolours, but soon discovered that the journal I was using wasn't reacting too well to all that water. So I had to call in the help of my trusted Inktense pencils and my gesso, almost made a hole in my page, and ended up with more blending that I had planned. The background was fun, I spread the paint with my fingers, decided it was too dark, spread some white gesso on top and then discovered it was real thick and very nice to scribble in with the back of my brush. Don't try to read what's written there though, because I don't even know it myself. I just made marks and sometimes a word came out... Just don't think it makes sense ;-)

boring-meeting-doodle-girl

I happened to look into an old notebook from work today, and was amazed by all the doodles that were in there. I remember sitting in those boring meetings that just kept going for hours on end, and then slowly regressing into my own world and starting to draw, or doodle, or whatever you want to call it.

When my notebooks started to have more doodles in there than notes, I knew it was time to quit ...

Anyway, inspired by all those doodles, I decided to use this for my face-drawing today. I first wanted to put some colour in there, but then decided against it, because I really want it to be like the doodles you make when you're bored out of your mind, and you only have one pen or marker.

So that's what I did. And like in my notebook, there are parts that I don't like or that are overdone, but hey, it's a doodle and it is the way it is. Can't use an eraser on those markers. So I'll post it anyway. I had fun, and that's the whole purpose, right?

 black markers

2nd day!

This challenge is fun! I've decided to try out new things and do as many different styles as possible. Not really different drawing styles, but more like different mediums.

For today it's a pencil drawing with a coloured background. I've noticed that I tend to do things a certain way when I use a certain medium. And I want to change that. Venture out into the unknown. And play!

graphite, watercolour and Inktense pencils

1st day of the 29 faces challenge!

Yep,we have a leap year this year, so 29 faces for the 29 days of February! I'm lucky that I usually do faces anyway.

I felt like painting today, so I took one of the pages in my journal where I had been trying out different inks and paints, and I painted a girl on top of it. Wow, that took ages! I just couldn't get it right.

I might put some text around her head or something, but for now I'll leave it as it is. When I see it tomorrow I will know what to do. I think ...

Derwent Inktense pencils, gesso, watercolour