30 faces/30 days - to the finishing line!

OK, let's try and post the rest of them before I lose my enthusiasm

Day 14 - the missing day - coloured pencils is not something I do much, but it was actually quite interesting

Day 19 - using a dark background definitely helped cope with the profile. Again, I don't normally use pencil, but it was really interesting to work the shading gradually.

Day 20 - cross-hatching with a biro is something for people who are more patient than me. In the end, I grabbed my watercolours and applied a wash! By the way, I really like the colour mix - ultramarine, alizarin crimson and sap green! (over black biro cross-hatching)

Day 21 - one colour - keeps things simple, particularly as I was travelling with minimal supplies.

Day 22 - a different interpretation of using a dark background to define the profile - now that I look at him, I think he looks a bit devilish!

Day 23 - minimal lines with a pen - I don't know if you've noticed but I'm really starting to look at ears - they are fascinating!!

Day 24 - still travelling - this one was about leaving the forehead quite blank. I should have used that advice for the other wrinkles!

Day 25 - drawing the hands - that was tough, but using negative space did help a bit! And I'm back from my travels and I can use white gel pen for the reflections in the eyes. I really missed that gel pen!

Day 26 - challenge fatigue - why did I use blue pencils for the forehead wrinkles? Plus the face is completely wrong. The model was so handsome, I swear!

Day 27 - this was about using your imagination - I was running out of time and added the first thing that came to my mind, hence the nun/mother-of-god look!

Day 28 - patterns were so relaxing - I normally don't have the patience for this but it was much more enjoyable than I expected!

Day 29 - nearly there - patterns again, but on the skin this time! My beige Ecoline went green with the ink. Not a good look!

Day 30 - can't believe I've finally reached the finish line! My favourite of the 30. I would never have been able to draw a portrait like this 30 days ago! Thank you to the wonderful Sktchy instructors!

More faces

So, I've been very good with this January challenge. Actually, it was perfect for the month that's in it - you get a sense of having achieved something in a month that's often so busy you can't even get started on your goals for the year! Drawing a portrait every day was made easy by two things: the photo to work from is already chosen for you, so you don't have the "what will I paint?" syndrome; and then there is a video with a specific tip given to you by an experienced artist, so you don't have to worry about whether to use a pen, a pencil or watercolours, and how to tackle the task! And for me, there was the extra bonus that I don't normally do portraits, so my expectation of what I could achieve was low!

I also drew our bear Christmas decoration before its long hibernation in the attic!

Day 8 - creating lively blacks with a blue, a red and a green

Day 9 - an unfinished drawing - it got lopsided!

Day 10 - Negative space - that cat was too scary to draw!! and I applied a few things I learned from previous lessons, like leaving the drawing unfinished!

Day 12: don't be afraid of teeth. Where did day 11 go?

Day 11 - there it is - sculpting with white space - I was rushed, so I didn't draw the face, nor the ice-cream cone in the hand.

Day 13 - this is one of my favourites of the whole series

Day 15 - it seems I have lost day 14? It's in my sketchbook, but I'm stuck with Sumi in my lap, so I can't get up to photograph it! This one looks ok if you only look at the eyes!

Day 16 - Drawn with my left hand! With a charcoal pencil!

Day 17 - trying to get the rhythm of the lines!

Day 18 - fountain pen and a bit of Ecoline shading.

30 faces/30 days

I'm taking part in the 30Faces/30Days challenge on #Sktchyapp. It's a bit of a struggle to keep up, but weekends are my catchup time, so I'm hanging in there. It's so much fun! I don't normally draw or paint faces. I tend to prefer skies or the sea. But it's hard to paint full watercolours when you have a kitten who keeps jumping on the desk. In fairness, he's just 6 months old and he's settled quite a bit!

So, here are the faces I have done so far! 6 great instructors. 30 wonderful models. I might be converted to portraiture after all!!

 Blind contour. The cat jumped on the desk as I was doing one of these

Proportions - There were some corrections to the proportions after I did this - the bottom of the nose should be a little higher than the quarter line, for instance

Mapping lightest light and darkest dark

Shading in one direction

Vanishing point

Add words

Drawing with a time limit

Cross-hatching in pencil and in pen

I've been avoiding cross-hatching all my life. Well, it's a bit like putting people in my sketches. If I don't practise it, I will never get better! Followed the Cross-hatching tutorial from France Van Stone on Sktchy Art School. Cross-hatching potatoes in pencil and pen, then a nose. I even tried it with Sumi, while he was quiet for a few minutes (not Sumi ink, Sumi, our kitten). Then graduated to drawing a person from the Sktchy app. Well, not quite ready for graduation! My hope is that all this work will help me to observe better and see the lights and darks (and everything in between), and eventually paint them better in watercolours!

I have a chunky 9B graphite stick that I decided to use for this. It was messy, but so satisfying. Also used 4B and 2B pencils.

Sktchy portrait

Embarking on my next adventures - portraits have never really been my thing. Through lack of skill more than any other reason, really. But I heard about 30 faces/30 days on Sktchy, a course with a different tip every day for 30 days, with 6 different teachers. And it was too good an opportunity to pass, despite January being a busy month. I might not get to do much watercolour work this month, but that's been the general trend for me in the last 3 months anyway, due to the presence of our wonderful kitten Sumi who likes to jump on everything, including desks with paint and brushes and water! He is starting to settle at long last. But I have to choose my moments if I want to play with acrylics!! Now if we can only get Timber and himself in the same room ...
So there was an introduction video by France Van Stone, a famous American-French Sktchy portrait artist, also known as Wagonized, with 4 useful tips. I watched the video first, then I watched it again and drew along. Frankly, I don't think I would have been able to draw this on my own, but following the video and drawing at the same time was a good way to learn, as I am no expert at drawing faces, nor cross-hatching.

The portrait is unfinished, as she ran out of time. I decided not to venture any further on my own, as I knew I would struggle and probably make a mess of it. That unfinished look works out quite well anyway, don't you think?

A few more Sktchy people

When there isn't enough time in the day, or energy in me, to paint. 

One week 100 People - Days 4 and 5

I knew that if I wanted to achieve my target, I needed to draw faster. So I turned to Sktchy!

Simple line with a Pilot Kaküno and the Pilot ina-ho colour, which translates as 'rice field'. It's not waterproof but it blends beautifully with any colour you throw at it! 

And by the way, (more or less) all of the sketches were done in my beloved Firmo Diário Gráfico!

I got to 85, but I still had an evening of life drawing to make it to 100!!