It's not all about the pretty and likable...

I have been working for two days on my week 3 project for Tam's Fabulous Faces class and I can honestly say that I am less than pleased with the results, yet they deserve to be posted because it is not all about what my inner critic thinks is pretty and likeable.

The first picture is stylized more or less after Tam's lesson, except, I couldn't get the ears right so I turned them into pointy elf ears.

Her skin was also supposed to have a blue tint to it but I had some serious issues with painting and shading this picture.
My portraits never come out smooth, polished, and pretty like some of those that I see on the forums. So, obviously I haven't mastered the art of coloring with what ever media I am attempting with.
I tried acrylics, and watercolor crayons & pencils. This mish-mash of media really took a toll on the picture itself and left me burnt out and tired. I went to bed really unhappy with the project but knowing that I could start over today!

And so, I started over today. I wouldn't say that I love this finish picture either.
But I will say that I think watercolor pencils might be the media for me, at least right now.
I had a much easier time with them, I enjoyed the coloring and diluting process much more with less give of myself and painting takes, takes, takes.
I am really only unhappy with some of the dimensions and that it does not meet my expectations. Little bubble head here doesn't match what was in my head when I started drawing this picture.
But, it is close! For that I am thankful because I am still yet a beginner.
So I will take what I can get and move on to finishing this as a journal spread tomorrow maybe.

I am seriously considering copics at this point. Or looking into some watercolor marker of some sort...

Oh! And I am joining in on Effy Wild's Book of Days project and I can't wait to do a spread for last week. I have already been working on recording something in my day planner everyday, would be a great chance to incorporate this into a journal spread!
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Updated: 1/11/12 9:28pm
Ah I realized tonight where I had seen a bubble head picture before, I was pretty sure it was one of Tam's pictures I had seen somewhere along the way, and it very well may be that she has bubble headed girls as well but I couldn't find them when I started looking again.
However, tonight it dawned on me!
My good friend Mika over at Motley Soul has done something very similar but by far much more beautiful! I remember seeing it as one of the very first things I found when i started searching for information on art journaling. I would like the exact picture but I think she may be attaching it to one of her future classes, so I will refrain but you can find it on Motley Soul!
Just wanna give credit where credit is due!

What have I been up to?

Well, for starters, I missed What's on your Workdesk Wednesday, AGAIN!

But I did take a picture for it, I just forgot to post and link it.
This was my desk on Wednesday.

Sorry for the slim pic there, due to living conditions at the moment my desk is situated between my bed and the wall in my bedroom and my bedroom was a wreck!
That's what I get for drawing and painting all day!

Anyhow, what you see here is my art journal and what I had set out preparing to finish the outside flap of my first page for my Life Book 2012 class.
And here it is, all finished!

Can't say I am SUPER pleased with it, I feel if I re-did it I would do better.
But we aren't doing that.

Then I retouched a picture I had drawn for practice on the above project and had started painting. I figured it would be a good opportunity to practice more instead of letting her just sit in my journal, unloved and incomplete.


And lastly I have my finished portrait for my Fabulous Faces Class, week 2.
It is a front view of a face with color.
I had quite a bit of trouble with painting her. I took some advice off the forums and gesso-ed my journal (a simple hardbound sketchbook) page with a credit card and let it dry before I started drawing her. I LOVED the surface for drawing and I think it will be great for painting, it was just something I wasn't used to and it really showed.
I found that too much water removed color from my picture so it went back and forth for a long while, color, apply too much water, wipe all color away, start over.
Sigh.
Eventually I got tired of painting her and let her be, then moved on to shading. I really wanted her to be turning away from the light so that's what I was shooting for.
Shading is difficult for me still.


And lastly, I have been taking my time with my Draw Happy class by Jane Davenport.
It's really a cute class and I have been having fun with it. Right now my homework is to create a tool page, which I am excited about but haven't had time to set up.

Fabulous Faces Week 1

The graphite portrait...
scares me.

I don't know if it is that I bought the cheapest pencils I could, not wanting to invest to much in case I was an epic failure. Or if this is just what happens, but I found shading to be ridiculously tough to understand and accomplish.
And yet...
I am pleased with this picture!!


She has got two eyes, a nose, a mouth all where they should be, roughly.
For my second face, I am pretty darned happy with how it turned out and now I want to do another in color!

I am off to get some watercolor paper shortly to work on my Life Book page.
I am meeting some insanely great people in this class already and I haven't even spent much time on the introductory thread blog hopping!