face 28 and 29

Whew! I made it through another 29 Faces challenge! This year was easier after I decided to work on a “theme” … it took away at least a little of the stress of “what to draw??”

Thanks to Martha for pulling this together again. Bravo!!

I’ve met a few new blog friends this year … that’s one of the things I enjoy about 29 Faces.

So today, I end with the last two faces.

This was supposed to be a hat with Roses. After it was done, I thought, “it looks like she’s got a bit rotary dial on her head!” Oh, well. That’s art … full of surprises!

Then my last face. Simple!

face 27

She’s ready for the beach!

Wish I was going to a beach … instead, we are getting ready for another round of ice and snow.

Yippee

face 26

Karen reminded me yesterday that Mardi Gras is coming. So here is my attempt at a feathery hat.

I probably should have given her some colorful beads, too. She’ll have to earn those herself!!

face 25

Ok, I think this is my favorite face and hat so far!!

She just looks so grouchy … even though her hat is big and be-ribboned and fUn!

Every day I think, I have no more ideas or I’ve done that hat already, or whatever. It’s probably a good thing that I only have a few more to go.

face 24

Another face … with a feather in her bonnet!

face 23

Only a few more faces to go. Here is #23.

Our local paper features a daily postcard. Usually it’s an image of an old building or part of town that’s been gone for ages. This was in the paper the other day and I thought he belonged with one of my hat ladies.

So here is Mr. Washburn, and a lady with a wide-brimmed hat.

face 22

Not sure if this counts as a “face” since it’s only a chin and a funky hat. Oh, well.

I had big plans to spend ALL day in the studio. So far, the day has been wasted on chores around the house!

Maybe if I didn’t put off everything until the weekend. Will I ever learn?

So, now … off to do one last chore and then the fun begins!!

face 21

I cut this heading out of a magazine. Apparently, I liked the heading better than the article because I didn’t save that!

Number 1 on this list should be: always wear a snazzy hat!! ☺

face 20

This background is from the beer I had with my pizza last night!

I make most of my alcohol choices on the label design. ☺

face 19

I can draw these little faces in about 10 or 15 minutes. Tops.

Sometimes, it takes me 30 minutes to decide on a background!! I messed with this. Then messed with it some more. Oh, to heck with it. So I just plunked down some paper and an image I had from an old calendar!

Sometimes, I just make my life harder than it should be ☺

face 18 and fairy tale paintings

First off, Face #18. When life gives you lemons, make … flowers??

And finally, I’ve finished (well, for now) my illustrations for assignment number one. Our first story was The Frog Princess.

I did lots of research on clothing.

I did lots of research on frogs!

I had to add a cat in the story somewhere!

I tried to draw a swan flying at night.

And last, the Prince and Princess, living happily ever after.

Our next assignment comes out on Thursday … I’m so excited!!

face 17

She has that “get me to a beach” look about her, I think!

face 16

Face #16 … past the half-way point … woohoo!!

face 15

Today I’m working on some paintings for the Year of the Fairy Tale. I’ll share them early next week.

Unless I mess them up. I’m trying to use a new method of painting with mixed media. Learning something new is always hard.

So today, just a quick face.

And back to the studio!!

face 14

Happy Valentine’s Day to you!!

My husband and I agreed no gifts this year. Just a card. But he always slips in some chocolate which he says doesn’t count as a gift ☺

I think I’ll keep him.

And today is a special day at our house. Dobby turns 1. When we got her at the shelter, they told us she had been born in February, so we assigned February 14 as her birthday. She’s a real sweetheart so it seemed fitting.

I’ll try to make it round to everyone’s blog tomorrow at 29 Faces and Paint Party Friday.

face 13

I tend to go toward the “too little” side of the foo foo drink scale!!

I usually only drink on vacation. It’s not that I object to alcohol, it’s just that I don’t need the extra calories! But vacations are for splurging a little.

One drink makes me chatty.
Two drinks make me angry!
Three drinks … well, I’ve only tried this a few times, because I fall asleep. That’s no fun!
Four drinks … I’ll never know. Since I’m asleep after three!!

My husband says it’s either 1 or 3, since all I want to do after 2 drinks is argue!!

face 12

Window shopping … you can’t have too many hats!

Changed out the background today. I was getting tired of the “junk mail” collage so I took a break!

face 11

It was the feathers in her hat. They made me think of birds.

face 10

I did this face and hat with the pretty flowers and it made me think of butterflies.

But after I added the butterflies, her expression just looks like she’s freaked out by the giant winged things!!

Can’t win them all.

Which pretty much sums up my morning so far.

• I had insomnia last night. I think I got MAYBE 4 hours of sleep.
• My morning latte got licked by the dog. I went to the bathroom and came back to find her sitting there licking her lips with a “who me?” look on her face. The large puddles of latte on the desk and floor were a dead giveaway.
• My computer locked up twice this morning and I found that I hadn’t saved in about an hour. This only happens on days when I have to meet with clients and every spare minute is crucial!!

A restart seems to have helped. Too bad I can’t restart this day. Hope yours is going better than mine.

faces 8 and 9

I did these two faces yesterday afternoon thinking I would get a day ahead. Then last night as I got ready for bed, I remembered that I hadn’t scanned or posted.

Oh, well.

Two flower-themed faces using magazine pages as cut outs for flowers.

face 7 and more flowers

Happy Friday.

I love Fridays….I only work half-days on Fridays so I have the afternoon to play in the studio.

Here is Face #7. I have an old (replica) of a Sears Catalog from the early 1900s. That’s where the horse image came from. They used to sell some very useful items back in the day. Actually, the horse was not For Sale…just the horse blanket.

I don’t want any confusion there!!

And because it’s Paint Party Friday … here is my weekly flower garden. I’m starting to get quite a collection of flower gardens!

I have one large frame and I keep changing out the images so I can see the gardens while I work. Maybe I ought to invest in additional frames?? Nah … that would be too easy!

First, I’m off to visit some of your sites … at 29 Faces and Paint Party Friday … then I’m off to the studio.

face 6

Thanks to everyone for your comments. Kind words are what keep me going. I need the encouragement!

I try to visit as many sites as possible and leave comments when I can. I don’t have Google Plus … and can’t figure out if I can leave comments without getting a new account. So sorry if it seems like I’m ignoring some of you. Think of me as a silent admirer ☺

How am I keeping up with 29 Faces AND Fairy Tales? Well, it’s been snowy, see. And I hibernate when it snows. I literally “go to bed” at 8 pm.

I take sketchbook and paper and pens and markers to bed with me. Sort of a mobile studio. (Fortunately, my husband stays up to watch TV, so I get to hog his side of the bed for a while!)

So far, I’ve been able to keep up. But it’s only Day 6 … so plenty of time to get behind!

Happy Thursday to everyone. See you tomorrow.

face 5 and lots and lots of thumbnail sketches

Today’s hat lady needed a garden scene. I cut out large “flowers” using a glossy magazine ad.

Making small faces is helping me out time-wise. They are quick to do. It’s the background that takes me so long!!

Check out other artist’s faces here.



I mentioned before that I’m taking Carla Sonheim’s Year of the Fairy Tale course.

Here are some doodles from my sketchbook. It takes a lot of doodles (I mean a lot!!) before you can find the right character.

Here are just a few of my princesses. Most were pretty scary! I’m showing you the “good” ones.

I decided on the one in the bottom right corner….so I copied her head several times (using Photoshop) so that I could decide on facial features.

The story we are drawing has a frog. I don’t normally do frogs so I had to practice drawing them from a reference book. (There were snakes in the book, too!! I hate snakes!)

Then I have to find my Tsar and his young son, Ivan.

I think I like Tsar #4 (top row)…I like the goatee, don’t you? For Ivan (bottom row)…I like that “flip” in his hair. But I may change my mind again. This is hard work!!

Tonight, I’m going to work on clothing for all the characters. I haven’t figured out what time period just yet. More research. More thumbnails.

I’m loving this course. It makes me think!!

face 4 – just dreaming

As the sleet is tapping on my window, I am dreaming of some place warm.

Found a sunset beach scene in a magazine…that’s where my mind is today.

face 3 – sail away

When I drew this face, the hat reminded me of a pirate hat.

After I put it all together, I thought she just looked freaky!

I don’t think I’d get on a sailboat with her. Oh, well. They can’t all be beauties!

Go to 29 Faces for to see what this is about...

some stuff going on around here

• Here is face #2. I’m having fun playing with my Pantone markers…I have 11 shades of gray. These are leftover from graphic design school. I don’t use them much anymore. I’m surprised they aren’t all dried up!

• It’s snowing outside today. Darn that Groundhog!

• We have FINALLY achieved world peace. Well, not world peace but in our house at least we have peace. The dog got a snootful of cat claws, so there is finally respect for the kitties! We’re not “getting along” so much as “staying out of each other’s way.” I’ll take that.

• I did a thumbnail size doodle every day in January. I drew 1”x1” squares and did a doodle every morning while waiting for my computers to boot up. 

• I visited a lot, but not all, of the 29 Faces yesterday. More later.

• I’m going to make myself a latte and go hibernate in the studio.

• Later, I’m going to eat soup and watch the Super Bowl (commercials only). I don’t care much about football. Well, I don’t care AT ALL actually. (Does anyone watch Colbert Report? I’ve been enjoying the stories this week for Superb Owl…he cracks me up!!)

• Happy Sunday ☺

better late than never…face #1

I had so much fun today playing in the studio! I nearly ran out of daytime to scan and post.

I got this idea in my head that I would draw faces with fancy hats for this year’s 29 Faces. Sort of a cross between “Downton Abbey” and Panem in “Hunger Games.” After I drew this face, I decided she looked like a city girl so drew the background separately. I think I’ll try and do this type of thing all month.

We’ll see how it goes.

And today…being February 1…a new lesson came out for Year of the Fairy Tale. My alarm cats woke me up early, so I watched the new videos in my jammies!! I spent the day doodling ideas for the next assignment.

These are two ideas from the first part of the assignment. The story is The Princess Frog so I’m trying to make my princess and frog resemble each other a little bit.

So I made her cloak like the frog’s skin. Her hair is supposed to have the same shape as the frog’s eyes. Then I carried over the red bangs to the frog’s head as well.

This may not be my final princess…I have drawn at least 50 different ones! And as many frogs! It’s so hard to decide on who to pick!!

Thank goodness for basketball season. My husband is in front of the TV and I can squeeze in extra time painting and doodling.

See you tomorrow for face #2.