Faces of Lola

Here are progression photos of a piece I started yesterday and finished today.

16x20 acrylic and pan pastels on gallery wrapped canvas.

I titled her, "Lola".

She started off as a sketch of a sweet and innocent young lady 

Then she quickly turned into a very scary looking person.

This is a common, known as the scary or ugly stage, to go thru.  It has been known to frighten someone from continuing.

I've been at this long enough to know to keep moving forward.

Added first layers highlights and shadows.

Refining the features.

Continue to refine the features and adding more color.

She went to the hair salon and had hair extensions added.

This is the final piece.

I wanted to knock off some the preciseness about the painting so I sanded the entire piece down.

I really like the affect.

I'm doing cartwheels!

I am so frickin' excited over here!!!!   I'm doing cartwheels!!!! (in my mind, of course)  

I just learned the portrait I entered into the Cloth-Paper-Scissors Mixed Media Portrait challenge was accepted as one of the finalists. 
Wanna do a "hApPy DaNcE" with me?

using my non-dominant hand

There is an amazing artist, Ivy Newport, that I take on-line classes from and follow regularly on FaceBook.  I am in awe of her talent along with her persona.  I've learned lots from her!

For a while now,  Ivy tells us she has been starting her drawings/paintings with a contour drawing, one continual drawing without lifting the pencil.  Here's the kicker... using her non-dominant hand. 

I believe she surprised herself with the results and found this practice to be valuable.   She says that she starts most of her paintings this way now.  

I had my super-artist cape on Saturday and thought, "If Ivy can do it maybe I can, too."  I was willing to give if my full effort.  I smudged my studio with Palos Santos, said my intention prayer, and put my headphones on to listen to mellow music.  Stood up to my easel with pencil in hand, took a deep breath, and off I went.  I finished this drawing within 2-3 minutes.  The big challenge was to not lift the pencil.  

Yep - she's a little wonky.  Which is to be expected.

Most of the placements look good.

It was freeing to not spend so much time on the beginning sketch which is what I find myself doing.

This just may be a technique I implement for the future.

I switched to my dominant hand and the extra fun part began as I got out my

charcoal + chalk pastels + pan pastels.

Here is the finished piece.

Thank You, Picasso

The first time I heard this quote by Picasso I knew it to be true.

Sorry if I seem to repeat myself but this quote resonates deeply within my soul.

Here is another portrait I did today. This marks 5 days in a row.  

I think I'll keep going...

Wanna see how far I can go?

Better yet... let's do it together. 

Create something every day.  Large or small.  It doesn't matter the size.  Just begin.

Message me if you want to play along.  I'd LOVE to see what you create.