November Exercise- Facial hair, et al

Message 12 of 578

Sticky Message

As a special project for our newest teacher, and because she mentioned lacking certain prowess in this area, I invite you all to draw, mouse or paint- as the Big Bad wolf is quoted to have said..."by the hair of my chinny chin-chin"...

Paint eyelashes on those eyes you drew last month, or a moustache under that nose you created last month, or above those lips you sketched last month, try eyebrows, different hair styles, partially bald heads, take out that prom or wedding photo from WAAAAAAAAAAAYYY back then and draw for us that "beehive" you once thought was the best fashion statement you ever saw in the mirror. Draw DAs, Elvis's dooo, military cuts( sometimes called sidewalls), dredlocks, pony tails, braids, "Shirley Temple" golden curls, peach fuzz, goa-tees, full beards, "Cookie Burns" sideburns, (Route 66, remember?). For grins and giggles, try ARM hair, or "knuckle hair" (I'm sure that the hair that grows between the knuckle and first joint of a man's hand has a name but I really don't know what it is)...

I want to see HAIR, not the Broadway play, nor of the "mons pubis" or an athlete's underarm. If we were European or Eons less restrictive, I might have included these since "nudes" aren't always portrayed with bikini-waxes. I am leaving this paragraph right now...

Try different media- water colors, oils, pen and ink, CGA artists- scan in a photo of someone without facial hair and create some or include a different hair style. You got the idea. And just as importantly, do me a favor. Reach out to one or two of the inactive members via a PM (private message) and invite them to try their hand at this exercise.

And so, Terry, HAIRRY UP, it's a short month...

posted by artistinmaine

Replies 31 - 40 of 55

« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next »

That creates a dilemma. If his eyes are paler than the rest of his face, due to wearing sunglasses, how does she make that area both pale and shadowed?

posted by GRM
20 days ago

Interesting question..to answer that- may I refer you to the shadow construction exercises I had you all try. Mary didn't establish a light source. In fact, very few of you do this. Most of you simply use a photo for reference, try to re-create it, and leave it at that. Or you try to imagine the structure and re-create an imaginary aspect of a face with substance, depth, or form. What I have to ask is that you go beyond the model and establish an atmosphere, an ambiance, something that approaches the character of your model and your art.

In this case, for example, if Mary had placed the light source in front facing the individual, the redness of the facial tones would have been less distinct. Had she placed it left of center, the shadow cast by the nose would have been one of many prominent features of the portrait. Had she placed it slightly above and behind the subject, certainly, the forehead would have cast a shadow, thereby darkening the eye area. And even with tan lines, the very small area above the upper eyelid and beneath the glabella bone (where your nose meets your forehead) would need to be in shadow or at the very least defined.

posted by artistinmaine
19 days ago

Well, hell. This is getting complicated. I know, I know. It's these sorts of technical details that separate the wheat from the chaff.

Keep working, Mary. You'll get there.

posted by GRM
19 days ago

this started as a pencil sketch on canvas board and then became a lesson.

I'm sorry if art seems complicated but if you consider that each thing we try here when added to the previous one will build into something you can remember when you're on your own, so to speak.

posted by artistinmaine
19 days ago

Oh, I agree. My comment wasn't meant to be a complaint even though it sounded like one. Complications are challenges. I love challenges. I'm not about to bail out due to complications. I love that I am learning from the complications.

Just for the record, I was in a middle school classroom recently and sort of embarrassed myself. The teacher had posted portraits that she had done in graphite on her bulletin board. They were poorly done and I assumed that they were done by students. I said "I love looking at student's artwork!" She said sheepishly, "Oh, I did those. I haven't been doing portraits very long."

One of them was dated 1997.

posted by GRM
19 days ago

And middle school is such an akward age anyway to put foot in mouth to the teacher :-)

posted by suzieb
19 days ago

Hey! Not fair! I missed the shadow lesson and that is a big problem for me-light and shadow.

posted by Lizloveslight
18 days ago

Liz...
view link
Robert

posted by artistinmaine
17 days ago

Well, yes, I was working from a photo and a very poor one at that and not done as a portrait, just a quick grab shot. So I should have established a set of shadows, which would have been, had the light not have been mostly directly from the flash, filling in any nook and cranny in his face . I was so happy to have established a likeness which was recognizable, that I did not worry about the lack of shadows. I have been working for weeks on one of my son which has all the shadows, but just does not capture the likeness of his face in some way. So it is back to the drawing board. Or since it is 3:40 in the morning, perhaps it should be back to bed.

posted by MarySmith18
17 days ago

I can see beards not going to be my forte. lol Shadows and perspective-I did view the link and watched the video but am not sure this is all correct. Had a problem with the circle, the light directly overhead stumped me (flat circle only 2 edges) I am going to keep trying though. Needless to say a book about perspective is on my Christmas wish list!