faces, faces, faces

Not long after I started art journaling I decided I wanted to learn how to draw faces. I vaguely remember liking to draw as a child/teen, but had never "officially" learned.

One thing I know about myself is that I'm a visual learner. Tell me how to do something? It's like my brain has short-circuited. SHOW me how? I can just about do it immediately. So, I knew I needed to watch videos and take classes.

The video/class that made the most difference was from my favorite artist, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. She has a DVD in the Interweave Store called "All About Faces: How to Draw, Paint, Stencil and Collage Faces in Mixed-Media Art". (It can be purchased as a DVD or downloaded to your computer. I did the latter.) I learned SO MUCH from this video. She talks about everything from the proportions of the face to shading and different products you can use. I love her philosophy that perfection is overrated. So freeing!

Another favorite is "The Whimsical Face" with Jane Davenport. She is so much fun, and I could listen to her accent all day!

After these and a few others, I began to feel more confident when drawing faces. I still feel like they need a lot of work sometimes, and I DEFINITELY need to work on the hair, but overall I like how they're turning out. I now have one journal that I've pretty much exclusively done faces in. My own "facebook" if you will. LOL

Here are most that I've done so far...

I have a little "funny" to share about this girl, but I'll save that for another day. ;)

This is the one I did after watching Jane Davenport's video.

I did this girl with one of my favorite products, Faber Castell Gelatos. Originally, I had intended to define her features, but found I really like her like this!

There are still a few classes I'd like to take, mainly "FACEcinating Girls" with Andrea Gomoll. I love her style and can't wait to see what I can learn from her to incorporate into my own art.

Thanks for stopping by & I hope to "see" you again soon.