FACE NO 29 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY

FRIDAY, 28 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 29

'PER ARDUA AD ASTRA'
RAF Motto - 'Through hardship to the stars'
- by Jez

I found a photograph of a pilot that appealed to me, partly because I'm always drawn to strongly shadowed faces.  I changed the features a little and simplified the image to provide the stark contrast of black and white.   I used Pitt Artists' pens, which come in 4 tip sizes - superfine, fine, medium and a brush tip. These are my favourite drawing implements.

For this drawing I used the fine tip for the basic drawing, then the brush tip for the dark areas on the face and goggles and for a thick line around the image.  I then took it into Photoshop and filled the rest of the square with black using the bucket fill.  The final touch was to make a frame around the image on Photoshop because I like my digital pieces 'framed'.

My last face of the 29 Faces Challenge - it's been a struggle but I have enjoyed it so much.  Thank you Martha for the Challenge.  And heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to leave comments that have cheered me and given me so much pleasure.

And here are the faces I created during the rest of Week 4:

SATURDAY - An I-pad drawing aiming to get the effect of making the face with coloured wires:

SUNDAY - Watercolour pencil painting of King Edward III of England:

MONDAY - A pretty girl with a  couple of doggerel verses to explain what she is thinking:

TUESDAY - Visit to a Matisse Exhibition resulting in an I-Pad drawing of one of his pictures:

WEDNESDAY - Inspired by a Modigliani drawing:

THURSDAY - Up-dating Philip the Good

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014, PAINT PARTY FRIDAY, PAPER SATURDAYS, ARTISTS PLAY ROOM

FACE NO 28 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

THURSDAY 27 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 28

"Philip the Good - Duke of Burgundy"
Pen, Watercolour and Coloured Pencil
- Jez

I drew this handsome fellow from a portrait, by an unknown artist, of Philip the Good, who was Duke of Burgundy from 1419 to 1467.  The original half-length portrait shows Philip dressed entirely in black, and his rather weird hat extends about a foot to the left of my picture.

This was my original drawing, and I thought that after almost 550 years of being dressed in black he deserved a chance of some bright, jazzy clothes.

Not only that, but it must be pretty boring being Philip the GOOD for over 500 years, especially when you have relatives called Philip the Bold, John the Fearless and Philip the Terrible.

He looks a bit happier in his new outfit, so let's give him a new name to go with his up-dated style.

How about Philip the Colourful?  What do you think?

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 27 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

WEDNESDAY, 26 FEBRUARY - FACE 27

From drawing by Modigliani
using marker pens - Jez

The starting point for this was one of my favourite drawings by Modigliani.  I love the clean, sculptural lines of the drawing, so reminiscent of his sculptures.

I have copied this drawing a couple of times in the past as an exercise in observation, but for 29 Faces I decided I would quickly sketch the main outlines and then take the drawing in a slightly different direction.  I used marker pens in different colours, added lines and dots in different places, and filled in the eye and earring with colour.  Quick and easy to draw, and very satisfying.

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 26 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY

TUESDAY, 25 FEBRUARY - FACE 26

Great day today - we managed to get out, it was sunny and we were able to go to the Matisse exhibition at the Atkinson Gallery.  This is the first time we have been out for almost two weeks because of minor health problems for my other half.  Minor it may have been, but it involved so much time that I have been very slow in visiting other '29 Facers' and commenting, and I do apologise for that because I love visiting.  I set aside yesterday afternoon to visit and comment …….. and then we had visitors, welcome visitors, but once again no commenting.  I'll be with you asap.

So I doubly enjoyed the Matisse Exhibition and the chance to sketch in the Gallery.  Today's Face 26 is drawn on my I-Pad with the Brushes App.  Not exact, but I was pleased to manage it using Brushes.    I'm sure Matisse would have loved an I-Pad, especially when he was older and in a wheelchair - but probably it would have stopped him doing his cut-outs.

I can't make out whether the poor girl has grown two sets of horns, or is perhaps wearing a helmet, and I don't think her necklace design is going to be stocked in the jewellery section.  With her lush, thick plaits and those horns she looks a bit like a Wagner heroine to me.

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014 and the TAKE A WORD 'Blue' theme

FACE NO 25 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

MONDAY, 24 FEBRUARY - FACE 25 

'SUSIE' - by Jez
Coloured pencil and Pit Artists Pen
Another 'Doodling the Day Away' Doggerel Verse

SUSIE'S SEARCH

Susie's joined a dating site

To meet the man she'll marry.

She checks her 'matches' every night

- Scans Nigel, Damian, Barry.

She tried a few, but quickly knew

That none was just quite right.

She didn't know what she should do

- Till she was 'matched' with Dwight. 

What happened next, I think you'll guess,

They met, they matched, Sue fell for Dwight.

The dating site had brought success,

She'd found her perfect Mr Right! 

29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE 24 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

SUNDAY, 23 FEBRUARY - FACE 24

KING EDWARD III OF ENGLAND
Watercolour Pencils and Pitt Pen - by Jez

This is King Edward III.  He came to the throne at the age of 14 in 1327 after the pretty ghastly death of his father, and reigned for 50 years.  He married Philippa of Hainault when he was 16 and she was 14.  She had 11 children, 6 sons and 5 daughters.

Edward was a direct descendant of William the Conqueror, and one of his sons was The Black Prince.  If you've seen the movie 'A Knight's Tale' you may remember that Heath Ledger was supposed to meet the Black Prince in the Lists', which gives a rough idea of the period.

The starting point for this drawing was a statue of King Edward in York Minster.  I gave him reddish-orange hair because he was a Plantaganet King, but he really should change his hairdresser.  Those silly sausage curls make him look pretty daft, and you'd never think that he was a great king, a clever politician and a brave soldier.

I love history, and the period of the Plantaganet kings is my all-time favourite.  What a family!

So, that's today's history lesson.

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 23 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

SATURDAY, 22 FEBRUARY - FACE 23

'ALL WIRED UP AND ON A SHORT FUSE'
Digital drawing on Brushes App on I-Pad
by Jez

When I was young, there was a craze for making bracelets and necklaces from the various thin, coloured electrical wires that were inside an electric cable.  We would cut away the black outer casing of the cable to reveal the coloured wires.  I don't know whether children still do that today.

For today's face I had the idea of a lady created by twisting that kind of coloured electrical wiring and creating a 2-D 'sculpture'.  In the absence of any wire, and reluctant to cut the cable from the TV or toaster, I created the face by drawing on my I-Pad using the 'Brushes' app.

So easy to draw and she came out just as I had imagined her, and really gives me the feel of tangled wires.

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 22 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY

FRIDAY, 21 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 22

Pit Artists Pen and Coloured Pencil - by Jez

Face 22 was inspired by a newspaper photograph which I cut out and kept for a future drawing.  The photo accompanied a funeral report in the local newspaper of Rabbi Sidney Kaye who died December 2013.  He looked a kind, caring, compassionate man, who perhaps had seen more sadness in his life than he should have done.

In this case, I do mean that I was 'inspired', not just by the photo but by a brief summary of his life story which formed part of the report.  Rabbi Kay, who was not then a rabbi but an ordinary soldier, was involved in the liberation of Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp at the end of WW2, and was able to give comfort to people who were sick and/or dying by speaking to them in their own language.  It was later in his life that he became a rabbi.

When I had completed the sketch I remembered that a couple of years ago I drew a quick sketch of the very same person, when his photograph was in a newspaper report about a local social event.

It is interesting to see the changes in his appearance two years later - the glasses, the fuller beard and a few more age lines delineating the structure of his face.

AND HERE IS THE ROUND-UP OF THE WEEK'S FACES

SATURDAY 15

Painted entirely with my fingers

SUNDAY 16

My attempt at cross-hatching

MONDAY 17

Flourishes in Shades of Red

TUESDAY 18

Drawn entirely with a sewing needle and ink

WEDNESDAY 19

Faces found in a watercolour scrap sheet 

THURSDAY 20

LINKING TO 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014, PAINT PARTY FRIDAY, PAPER SATURDAYS, ARTISTS PLAY ROOM

FACE NO 20 AND 21 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

THURSDAY, 20 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 20 AND 21

Pen Sketch and Digital Colour-filling - Jez

I was attempting something a little different today, but I don't think it has come off.  I was aiming for the kind of image that features in psychology books - when you look at it first it looks like one thing, and then suddenly it can switch and look like something quite different.

Never mind,  I'm happy with it.  At least I've achieved another different approach, and the attempt took me out of my comfort zone once again.

Yesterday I painted three faces in one picture, but only counted them as one face.  Today I shall count this image as two faces.

Having two heads like this must have advantages for a chap.  For instance, he can -

              - look both ways when he's crossing the street without turning his head
              - talk to two people at the same time
              - wear a pleasant expression when he's talking to a bore, but make silly faces on the other side
              - eat strawberry ice cream with one mouth and chocolate ice cream with the other
              - watch football on one television and his favourite soap on another
              - paint pictures on his i-pad while playing computer games on his i-phone
                 
Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE 19 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

WEDNESDAY 19 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 19

'FOREST FOLK' - by Jez
Mixed media on cheap horrible paper!

Something a little different today, a picture that came from nowhere!  There are three faces on the image, but I'm only counting it as one, just the Elf King and two of his henchmen, his Forester and the Commander of the Guard.

As I was wondering what to draw or paint today, I came across a loose sketchbook page with splodges of yellow and green watercolour paint on it - probably left-over paint I swished across a handy sheet of paper one day.  Here's what the pre-painted page looked like when I started:

I looked at the page and the faces of the three Forest Folk jumped out at me.  I always find it surprising how faces do this.  It's not a slow process, they just suddenly form and ask to be released from the paint that is holding them in.  I quickly sketched around the shapes I saw, and you can probably just see the pencil lines on the photo above.

In the next stage I drew over the pencil lines with a black Pitt Pen.  At this point I didn't quite know what I should do next, because the paper was definitely not good enough to take paint without buckling even more than it already was.  As always when inspiration fails, I picked up a coloured pencil and started colouring, and from there the Forest Folk themselves told me what to do.

I'm very pleased with the result, and as always am surprised at what can emerge from blotches of paint. I could never have drawn this straight from my imagination.  Hope you like it.

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 18 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

WEDNESDAY 18 FEBRUARY - FACE 18

'Adellia' - by Jez
Drawn on mount board
with a Needle and Ink

The idea came to me that it would be quite a challenge to draw a face with a needle, using the eye of the needle as a sort of 'reservoir' for the ink.

Adellia is the result, drawn entirely with the needle, dipped very frequently in the inks.  The white side of the mount board proved to be rather absorbent which gave a slightly fuzzy effect, but I decided that I liked the effect and continued the drawing.

It was a terrible day for photography (isn't it always lately), and the photo came out rather dark.  I managed to delete the area around the head in Photoshop, but when I tried to delete the background to the face and clothes it had a bad effect on the image.

This is the size of needle that I used.  You may be able to see a little of the blue ink on the side of the needle nearest the matchstick.

I considered taping the needle to a stick or pen, but decided that would be cheating, so I held it between my thumb and forefinger - pointed end upwards of course.  It wasn't the easiest way to draw, but the problems of controlling the amount on ink on the needle and using the needle gave a nice free effect. 

I have to say I was quite amazed at the result.  It was well worth getting out of the comfort zone and setting myself an extra challenge.

Are you prepared to try it?  It would be so interesting to see your 'needle-face'.

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 17 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY

MONDAY 17 FEBRUARY - FACE 17

'Flourishes in Shades of Red'
Mixed Media - by Jez

Today I combined two challenges, creating a face that matched the So Artful challenge of 'Flourishes in Shades of Red', as well as the 29 Faces theme.

When I had drawn the girl's head, I intended to add quite a bit of collage, but as soon as I had stuck down those two red grid pieces I knew that was my starting point for the flourishes.  I'm quite pleased with this.

Linking with 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014, SO ARTFUL CHALLENGES

FACE NO 16 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

SUNDAY 16 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 16

Pitt Artists Pen - by Jez

This is my first attempt at cross hatching.  I can't say I am particularly pleased with it, but I am pleased that I attempted it because it is way out of my comfort zone.  What I am pleased with is the fact that I have attempted it.

One of my favourite blogs is Coreopsis at Occasional Musings and Scratchings, where I am always entranced by the skill and artistry of the cross-hatched shading.  Do visit the site and see how different the work is, just marvellous - my inspiration to give it a try.

You can see quite clearly on my sketch that I have used a ruler to draw the hatching lines. the reason being that I have a wobbly hand, and there is no way I could draw straight lines.  I shall try to be brave enough to draw freehand next time I do hatching, and not worry about wiggly lines, to see what emerges.

This was my original sketch, from an Egyptian painting in a history book, and at this stage I was happy and liked it.  It was a real challenge to me to start drawing hatching lines on it and 'spoiling' it.  You can just see faint pencil lines where I decided to draw the shading lines.

Another thing I'm pleased with is the number of 'comfort zones' I'm taking on, thanks to Martha at Ayala Art who challenges us with '29 Faces'.

Linking to29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014, AYALA ART

FACE NO 15 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

SATURDAY, 15 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 15

'ERMINTRUDE' - by Jez - Acrylic paint
Finger painting on A3 watercolour paper

ARE YOU HAVING ANY FUN?  

I had such fun painting this, and it only took me just over half an hour.  OK so it looks like it, but deciding to paint her and actually starting to paint took me much longer than half an hour.

Ermintrude was painted entirely with my fingers - my first ever attempt at this approach.  And she was definitely out of my comfort zone.  This was mainly because I HATE getting my fingers messy.  I decided to try it wearing tight latex gloves, which worked beautifully, so that solved the messy problem.

What an enjoyable and free-and-easy way to unwind.  I'd describe it as drawing with the paint rather than painting, and I loved creating those creamy thick textures.  The most difficult part was the eyes, trying to work on a smaller, finer scale.  I had started then painting with my index finger, then continued with the middle finger, and the ring finger.  Finally I used the tip of my little finger for those eyes and if I'd had a fifth, smaller finger I would have used that instead.

I do encourage you to have a go if you've never tried this, I was quite surprised that I could even produce something that looked like a person.  And I did have fun.

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FACE NO 14 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

FRIDAY 14 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 14

'TIME TO BREAK THE RULES
Sketch and Collage by Jez

Abby, in this post at her blog talked about the work of Annie Higgie and her unusual black and white collages.  Abby had created her own brilliant version, and this inspired me to try my hand at my own interpretation of the style.

Definitely way out of my comfort zone, but I was so excited thinking about it all the time and how I could approach it.  Having looked at Anna Higgie's work on the net, I shut my mind away from her images as completely as possible so that I could do something that was my own, not a poor copy.  For a start I decided on a male face instead of a female face.

Searching through magazines for black and white patterns turned up very little, just about enough to create this sketch/collage.  Since I'd like to do more of these I had better start collecting for future efforts.  I was lucky to find the words jump out at me from one magazine, and I'm always happy to be working in my favourite 'colours' of black, white and red. 

The most difficult point for me was when I had drawn a face I was happy with ….. and then having to do something to mess it up, but having done it once I shall be able to do it more easily next time.

Here is the round-up of this week's other faces, starting with …..

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014, Three Muses Challenge, Paint Party Friday, Inspiration Avenue, Paper Saturdays,

FACE NO 13 FOR 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014

THURSDAY, 13 FEBRUARY - FACE NO 13 

Quite a few people have painted Picasso-type faces for the challenge, so I thought it was a good idea to offer one myself for today's post.  Because time is very tight today with various commitments, I hope you will forgive me for using a face from my sketchbook.

Sometimes I host imaginary dinner parties with people from the past that I'd like to meet.  Last night I invited Picasso, and he turned up looking a bit grumpy because, after all, who am I!  Thankfully it was obvious that he was just glad of the opportunity to get out for a change and have a good meal, and he soon softened.

I told him I was thinking of creating a painting along the lines of his silly distorted faces.  OOOPS, that was a mistake.  He went quite red and threw his Black Forest Gateau directly at my favourite Chagall print.  SPLOSH!!!!     'Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that'.

I explained that the painting was for the 29 Faces Challenge, and since he's been following all 200 or so blogs on the challenge, and getting quite a few good ideas, he showed more interest.

I showed him a quick pencil sketch of my idea, and he said 'Well OK girl, you go for it ….. but don't put my name anywhere near it'.  Well I did, didn't I, but it's too late for him to do anything about it now.

And with a quick colour-change, I can show you one from my 'Blue Period'!

And with a filter change on the Glaze App, I produced this.  Now there's something Pablo couldn't do, because he didn't like new-fangled technology and wouldn't buy an I-phone while he was down here.

I cut this cartoon out of a newspaper years ago, and stuck it in the front of one of my sketchbooks, and it makes me smile whenever I happen to come across it.  Hope Pablo doesn't check in and see the cartoon.

Linking to 29 FACES FEBRUARY 2014