Face no.7: another sketch

Today, I worked on my painting (which I'll show in my post tomorrow for Paint Party Friday). So I didn't have much time for anything else. A sketch it is then.

I struggled a bit with her. I first dressed her in a turtleneck sweater. But I didn't like it. I almost started collaging over her (now that I've discovered the joys of collage ☺). But then I decided to get rid of the turtleneck and give her a normal shirt.

Better.

Then I scanned her and found that her neck was waaaayy too long. I like long-necked ladies, but only when I mean for them to have long necks. Not when I want to draw a "normal" woman . So out came the eraser again, and her shoulders went up.

Hmmmmm.

Still not sure about her, but time's up, so here she is, ready or not:

Still a bit of a long neck if you ask me .... I actually like the detail photo much better ....

Thanks so much for visiting! See you tomorrow for Paint Party Friday, and my 8th face!

Face no. 6: Colourful girl

Today's face was pure play! I had so much fun with it. I just smeared colours around with paint and oil pastels and felt like a little kid.

Despite all the colours, I felt it lacked something, although I couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. So I got out my map with all kinds of images to use in collages (which I never do because whenever I try to do a collage it ends up looking like a very bad imitation of Teesha Moore ...). Just for fun I put a picture of an eye over her painted eye, and voila, the image completely changed. I love when that happens. Played around with some more bits and pieces, and ended up with this:

Found the picture in the left hand bottom corner and thought she fitted in there, although she looked quite mad. And now that I've scanned it and seen it on my computerscreen, I suddenly know why I wanted her there: she is like the wicked witch, telling me every so often that what I'm doing is not good enough, not perfect enough, not unique enough. And blah blah blah.... I think you all know the wicked witch, who puts your head full of self-doubts and frustrations. I know she has been visiting me a few times this last week... In fact, I just read about her on another blog, and I couldn't agree more with Kristin.

But on this page, she is small and gets totally ignored. Which pisses her off immensely, hence the look on her face. Ha! Whenever she's visiting me again in the future, I'm gonna take a look at this page in my journal and remember the fun I had in creating this. Who cares if no one likes it, who cares if it isn't perfect? We should just enjoy what we do and be happy that at least we have the enthousiasm to create things and try things out. Which is a whole lot better than just hanging in your chair and do nothing because you think you're not good enough.

Well, after this rant I'll try and visit some more participants. Oops, it's very late already, might have to do that tomorrow ....

Thanks so much for visiting. I really appreciate all of your kind comments. They too help chase away the wicked witch ... ;-)

See you tomorrow! ♥

Face nr 5: watercolour windy day

Oh, thanks so much for all your encouragement and sweet comments. They gave me the push I needed to get going again. I looked through my inspiration files and wrote down everything I wanted to try out. So I guess for the next few days I'm safe ☺.

I made a whole bunch of backgrounds today, although I'm not even sure I will use them for this challenge. But if I want them, they're ready. And then I went playing with my watercolours. It's been a while since I used them, although I'd bought a new box full of yummy colours. It took a bit of getting used to again. Working with acrylics is so different from working with watercolours, and I have the tendency to use very little water. Which is not what you need with watercolours of course.

I decided to blow her hair in her face with a straw. Which was a bit scary, because if I ruined it I wouldn't have a face for today. But all in all it came out okay I think. I like this technique. Easier than dripping and you have a bit more control.

Here she is: 

Off now to try and visit everyone! Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow with face no.6!

Face nr 4: journal girl

When I started this challenge, I had plans to try out all kinds of (new) techniques. My head was full of ideas and I couldn't wait to get started.

And now .... I'm having artist's block ..... I don't know anymore what I wanted to do, I can't find any inspiration, I get stuck in everything I try, hell, I don't even know how to paint anymore! At least, that's how it feels. I've been struggling with the simplest things and getting quite frustrated in the process.

Great timing, right? Just when I need to produce something every day ... I really hope tomorrow will be better. For today, one of my trials is a girl in my journal. What I like most about it is the background ... ☺

Here she is, face no. 4:

Thank you so much for visiting and leaving those wonderful comments. I'm off now to visit as many of you as possible! See you tomorrow with face no.5!

Face 3: in trouble already ....

Wow, I had kinda forgotten how much time it takes to keep up with this challenge. Only the third day, and it's already past my bedtime and I have only just finished today's face. Guess I'll have to start a bit sooner tomorrow ....

Thanks so much for all the comments and visits. I'll get back to you all this week, but I won't be able to keep up visiting everybody every day. But I'm guessing I'm not the only one in this situation ... ☺

Here's my lyricsgirl for today:

I'm not really happy with her, but that's what you get when you have to hurry. Don't have anything else to show, so she'll have to do. Made with markers, background with pan pastels. Lyrics are from Loreena McKennitt.

Off to bed now! Thnx for visiting, I'll be back tomorrow with my fourth face ....

Face 2: sketch

Usually, I don't get to paint in the weekend. Too many other things that need to be done. But I managed to make a sketch. Long time ago since I did that, and I really enjoyed it.

Here she is, my second face:

59 people signed up already for this challenge, and in the Facebookgroup there are 185 already! This challenge is getting biiiiig! Should be too, because it's so much fun.

Well, I won't write too much today, am going to visit some other participants.

Thnx for visiting and see you tomorrow with my third face!

Start of the 29 faces challenge, and discount on my calendar!

Yes, my favorite challenge starts again! The first time it was on was February last year. Because it was a leap year, Ayala Art challenged us to make a face every day, for 29 days. Any kind of face, any kind of material, human or animal, it doesn't matter. This year is not a leap year, so we will have to do one face extra. If you want to join in the fun, go to this blog, that Ayala Art set up specifically for this popular challenge, and you can read all about it there.

I love this challenge, because it makes me create every day. The 3 times that I've participated were my most productive months ever. I admit, it's not always easy to find the time, and I'm always a bit relieved when the month is over, but on the other hand, I learn a lot because I push myself to try out things and to not dwell too much on details. And that's what it's all about. Not to mention the great people you "meet" and the awesome blogs that you would otherwise maybe never have found.

So I made a face in my journal. I didn't have much time, because I also wanted to work on my bigger paintings. And it's not only a face, I had to add a bird ☺. Actually, it was the bird that gave me the idea for the face. It was sitting there visible in the paint splashes on the page, I just had to outline the form and it was almost ready.

Yesterday I used my painting time to work on my canvases. Two small ones that are in the ugly teenager phase, as Flora Bowley so nicely put it ...., and the last one from the 3 canvases with the sand underground. Didn't get very far yet, when I haven't painted in a while it always takes me some time to sort everything out again and remember how to paint .... ☺

 

 detail of painting in the ugly teenager phase ....

detail of my sand painting ...

One more thing: since it's February already, I decided to discount my year 2013 calendar. When you buy it now, you get a 20% discount. You can still use it for the remaining 11 months, or you can buy it just for the prints. It's nice sturdy satin-gloss paper, so perfect to use as prints. You can buy it here.

I also want to take the chance to thank all the people who have bought it already. Except for the people who have told me they got one, I have no idea who the other buyers are.So if it was you: THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy!

That's it for this week. I might have to resort to making lyrics-girls in the weekend, or maybe even one-liners, because during the weekend I get very little chance to paint. And I really don't want to start lagging behind already!

Linking this to Paint Party Friday. And guess what: they've told me I'm the featured artist this week!!  Go check out their blog, and while you're there, visit the blogs of the participating artists as well. It's worth it!

I hope your Friday is happy and sweet, and your weekend will bring whatever you need to relax! Thanks for visiting! It is so much appreciated! See you tomorrow with my next face ☺

♥ ♥ ♥