Faces, Faces

I really want to learn how to draw and paint faces, so I've challenged myself to do the 75 faces in 75 days, thing.  During the past week I've sketched ALOT, trying to capture as many kinds of faces as I can.  I've learned some things about light and shadow, and the planes of the face, as well as some things about proportion and symmetry.  I can recommend Suzi Blu's online portrait class as a way to get started, because even though she works with stylized faces, she is very clear about shading technique.  I've just begun and am excited to see where the class will lead.  Ultimately some of these faces will turn into journal pages using her mixed media approach.

I took a trip by train (and home by plane) to SoCal over the weekend for a lengthy meeting, where I sketched in my journal and all over my notes and agendas.  Nice way to pass the time, I have to say, and I was still able to listen and contribute : )  I have a ways to go, but am really pleased with the progress.   Besides, I'm having enormous amounts of fun.  Some of these are from photos, and certainly don't look much like the person that they are supposed to represent, but still were really enjoyable to draw.  Most are from my imagination and are just for practice.

In March, I hope to take a gesture drawing class, and am looking forward to being able to capture more spontaneity and the essence of a person's expression.  For now, though, I'm happy to be learning some things about technique, and hope to be able to transfer the learning to watercolor.