New Sketch . . . Feeling More Free To Be Messy

Last night while Lou and I were watching the finale of American Idol (anyone else watch?) I grabbed my sketchbook which had a bit of dust on it. I always have it out in the living room along with a couple of my graphite pencils just in case the mood hits me which it hasn't in a very long time. And since the finale show was so darn long I started decided to start moving the pencil around.

Lately I have been telling Lou that I long to be messy in my art work. I want to paint and draw recklessly, just letting my muse lead me. But what happens is I am wound up tighter than a knot and am constantly trying to achieve perfection from the get go with each piece I attempt. I feel like it would be more fun to just let go and be messy! So that is just what I did with this sketch. I was making crazy marks laying down shadow areas on the face, and where the eyes, nose and mouth would be. I just tried to keep the pencil moving and not stop to correct anything. There was a lot of correction that came later but I have to say that it felt so freeing to draw that way. And the end result is so different than any face I have drawn before. Even the nose which usually makes me crazy cause it is so hard to draw came easier somehow. I cannot stop looking at her!

Have any of you felt that way with your art? Hope you guys like her as much as I do! I so want to try and paint her. And paint her messy and imperfect! Not sure about that yet. Maybe I will stick with the pencils for now. . .

PS . . . For those of you who watched AI, I was secretly hoping Lauren would win. Was shocked and a bit bummed that it was Scotty ;)

Sketching . . . Trying More Realism

I have been having fun sketching the stylized faces but for this one I wanted to go for more realism in the features . . . especially the eyes. Although I am unsure about the nose and mouth I like how the eyes came out. As you can see from the smudges I changed the hair. Originally I had it just down on both sides. Then late last nite practically in my sleep I saw hair swept over her shoulder on one side. I like that better.

Funny how with the realistic eyes I feel as though I created a face and now wonder who she is and where she has been . . .

We shall see if I have the courage to put her on a canvas!

Oh, and I made my first blog header! I made it from the photo of my "Love Me" abstract. What do you guys think?

Sketching Faces . . . My Grandma

Thanks to everyone for all the great comments on my last post! I am still trying to figure out what is next for her! I may like her just the way she is! I will keep you posted on that one!

Before I tried to paint a face I did some face sketches. This one is a recent sketch I did from my grandma's wedding photo. I used graphite pencil which helped with the shading. It is one of my first attempts at a realistic face sketch so it is rough although you are all so kind that I feel as if I can share freely here! I am proud that I tried it and I feel like I captured the light in her eyes and her sweet smile that I will never forget.

Here is the original photo I sketched from . . .

This next photo is the last one taken of her and I. It was Christmas day back in 1999, two years before she passed away in 2001 while I was in the middle of my chemo treatments. It was very tough to loose her. But I keep my fond memories of her very close to my heart.