Show your face Friday

Morning peeps, happy Sunday everyone. I'm sharing a face I created last week using soft pastels by Sennellier. They are fabulous to use, very blendable, which is what you need for faces.

I'm going to link this to Kim Dellow's show your face, which she blogs every Friday. I've been very neglectful lately, as time always seems to run away with me. I was fortunate to meet Kim in December and she is as lovely as she appears on her her blog.

 

here is my girl

Again once I sealed her and she changed slightly as she did look like this!

I love both versions, but I'm more drawn towards the darker of the two!

I have no step outs, as I forgot to take photos however, the basics are always the same. Below, I show how I start my faces.

I draw a basic oval shape, although if I'm doing a whimsy girl, I usual go more round. Whatever the shape, I set out my eyes, nose and mouth by deviding the face as you can see above. This is only used as a guide.

I add the eyes, nose and mouth, again these are only roughly sketched in. I usually use a graphite pencil but if using pastels I will change to a white pencil or a white pastel.

Once I am happy with the position of the features, I start to block in some shade. For this purpose I've kept to pencil but I will have changed to whatever medium I am using.

I then add more details, shades and highlights. By now the face determines its self. The size and shape of features will work together to give character to the face as she comes alive.

 

I am no expert at faces by a long way, and everyone will do them differently but this is how I start mine. The key to getting it right is practice. I rarely use a reference photo as my faces seem to live in my head, but occasionally, I might want a certain angle that I cannot achieve and will then use a reference. There is nothing wrong with using a reference photo, many artists do, I currently choose not to.

I would suggest that soft pastels are a good medium to start with, as they are very forgiving, easily removed to correct mistakes etc. Another thing I do, is take photos, as this helps me see things I cannot see looking at the picture.

Kim Dellow along with some other great Artists such as Tracy Scott Clare Lloyd and Trish Latimer have a new workshop teaching faces on DVD which you can order from Traplet.

 

I'm off to have a crafty day, see you soon

Hugs Debs xx

 

Deborah's Designs