Friday Face OFF -- Man Waiting For His Wife

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a graphite drawing

I did earlier this year of a man

patiently waiting on an outdoor bench

for his wife to arrive and take him home

(done in HB, 2B, 4B and 6B pencils).

Actually, this guy was a classmate

of ours in the drawing class.

Our instructor snapped his photo after a class

and then surprised us all in the next class

with the assignment of drawing him!

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Grumpy Woman

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a rather grumpy-looking woman

done in coloured pencils.

She didn't look anywhere near as grumpy

in the original photo, but sometimes

that's just how things turn out, LOL!

Also, her kerchief in the original was gingham check

but I knew that would take forever to do, so I

just made it plain cloth. Doing the striped scarf

was time-consuming enough for me.

They say that art teaches us about ourselves.

What art lessons have taught me is that

I'm quite an impatient person.

I do not want to spend an endless amount of time

fussing over every little detail like many people do.

This revelation has surprised me and

shaken my self-image because up to now,

I've considered myself a real "detail person" with

a great capacity for patient focus and concentration.

Huh. Who knew?

Have you discovered anything about yourself

that contradicted your previous self-assessment?

Share in the comments if you feel like it!

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

TAD & FFO -- "Snowed In"

I'm linking this art post with both

Thursday Art Date with Rain 

(whose prompt this week is "snowed in")

and with Nicole's Friday Face OFF.

This is the only coloured pencil art

I have with snow in it.

And it's much too blue.

Oh well, snow is hard to do.

So was the polar bear cub

but it's still pretty cute.

And here's an even cuter one!

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Afghan Girl

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Remember that famous National Geographic

1985 cover photo of the Afghan girl?

We did a copy of it in coloured pencils class.

As usual, my facial shadows were done 

in too dark a brown, but oh well.

And trying to reproduce that hijab

damn near killed me.

But her eyes turned out well

and they are the most important

and haunting element

of that incredible photo!

[Art & photo of art by Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Woman in a Trench Coat

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Rather than a front view or profile depiction of a face,

here's a recent graphite drawing showing a

back view of a woman's face and hair instead.

I'm particularly pleased with

how her trench coat turned out.

Trench coats are certainly a standard item

of professional/corporate outerwear attire.

I wore a couple of them all through my career.

But I haven't worn one since I retired six years ago!

They seem too formal for my casual lifestyle now.

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

TAD & FFO -- "Smiles"

I'm linking this art post with both

Thursday Art Date with Rain 

(whose prompt this week is "smiles")

and with Nicole's Friday Face OFF.

I've recently completed my first

art course learning how to do

portraits of people in coloured pencil.

It was VERY challenging and

I'm really struggling with how

to depict shadows on skin tones.

I need a LOT more practice!

But this little girl does have

a charming gap-toothed smile,

so here she is!

A person told me recently that their grandchild

gets $20 per tooth from the Tooth Fairy.

TWENTY BUCKS!

I got 25 cents per tooth back in MY day

(admittedly 60 years ago, but still!)

What did YOU get as recompense?

And what do your kids/grandkids get now?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Giraffe(s)

Hello again, everyone!

I'm back posting more of my art

for Friday Face OFF, a weekly link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog!

This week's offering was done

in a recent pen and ink class.

I also used a bit of 

ink wash as shadowing.

Art teachers seem to love

assigning giraffes as art subjects.

I think it's because they are so goofy looking,

everyone has fun drawing them.

I've drawn (and previously posted)

two other giraffes:

this 2021 one in graphite --

and this 2019 one in 

sanguine conté pencil --

[Art & photos of art © Debra She Who Seeks,

2023, 2021 and 2019, respectively.]

Somewhere Way, WAY, Over the Rainbow

Earlier this month I took a fused glass art workshop. I had no clue what the process would entail, but I was ready for adventure!

On a flat, clear, rectangular (6" x 12") glass plate, we glued down pieces of cut stained glass in our chosen pattern or picture. I was keen to make a somewhat abstract-looking rainbow. Some pieces of glass I cut myself using a glass cutting tool and others I just picked out of communal boxes of glass scraps.

Not ever having done anything like this before, I soon discovered that it was like making a mosaic or doing a jigsaw puzzle. Here's the thing, though -- I hate jigsaw puzzles! I'm too impatient for the care and attention they require. Therefore, I used quite large pieces of glass to make the whole process go quicker. And I wasn't too picky about trying to make the rainbow look "perfect" either. I quickly let go of any expectations or need to control the outcome. Pretty friggin zen of me, right?

To fill in the spaces between the cut glass pieces, we sprinkled a coloured ground glass/silica mixture called "frit." Most of the frit I used was very fine powder but I also went berserk with some larger frit to add texture to the piece.

After the workshop, the leader took our completed glass plates to her commercial art glass studio, where she fired them in kilns to fuse the glass and to bend the flat plate into an ess curve so the piece could stand up on its own. We got the finished pieces back in about 10 days.

Here is mine in all its chaotic fused glass rainbow glory!

And here it is with sunlight streaming through it --

Okay, okay, I know it's a dog's breakfast, but . . . 

Actually, I don't mind it as a "first attempt." Who knows if I'll ever make another fused glass piece again though.

[Fused Glass Art and Photos # 2, 3 and 4 © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Kingfisher

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a kingfisher

done in watercolour pencils.

The instructor said it must be 

a young fledgling bird because

of how large its head is

in comparison to its body.

I think he's a cutie

and I'm happy with how

this turned out.

I must admit that I've never

been a major bird fancier

(although I do have my favourites),

but I've done so many birds

in art classes now that

I am actually developing a 

real fondness for them.

I know a lot of YOU

are birders though!

If you are, please tell us

why or how you got

involved in this popular pastime!

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Woman With A Ponytail

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a woman with a ponytail, 

done freehand using my standard range of

HB, 2B, 4B and 6B graphite pencils.

I enjoyed drawing her and

I'm happy with how she turned out.

This was the final face I did

in my human portraits course.

I refused to draw the assigned portrait --

Prince Philip wearing a top hat.

I've never been a fan of his.

The instructor was a little perplexed

that someone wouldn't like Prince Philip.

But I just couldn't bring myself

to spend a few precious hours of my life

drawing his likeness.

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Rhino

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a rhinoceros 

which I did in pen and ink.

It kind of continues last week's

theme of "wrinkles."

I like how my rhino turned out

plus I learned a new technique

to improve realism by not

making lines look too uniform.

I can't recall ever seeing a rhino

in real life, not even in a zoo.

Have you?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Elder From Nepal

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's an Elder from Nepal

which was done freehand using

HB, 2B, 4B and 6B graphite pencils.

His hat is okay, but the folds and fabric textures

of his clothes are pretty poorly rendered,

so clearly I need more practice in that!

I'm happy with his wrinkled and weather-beaten face, though.

He probably spent a lot of his life outdoors in the elements.

Are you concerned about wrinkles as you age?

If you are, just remember the old saying --

"A face without wrinkles

is like a book without words."

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Koala Bear

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a koala bear

done in pen and ink.

Now, if this koala bear

looks familiar to you . . . 

It's because I posted it before

when I did the same piece

in a coloured pencils class

taught by the same teacher!

Despite their being cute as hell,

I've read that in real life

koalas are apparently

bad-tempered little bastards

who smell like menthol cough candies

due to their steady diet of eucalyptus leaves.

Can any of you verify that

from your own experience

of this animal?

[Art & photos of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023 and 2022]

Friday Face OFF -- Woman With Long Hair

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a woman with long hair, 

done freehand using my standard range of

HB, 2B, 4B and 6B graphite pencils.

I like how she turned out,

especially her hair and

the texture of her dress.

Did you ever have long hair?

I did when I was a teenager in high school.

But it was a lot of work to maintain,

almost like having a pet to take care of.

So I got it all cut off when I was 17

and never grew it out again.

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Bighorn Sheep

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a Bighorn Sheep

which I did in pen and ink

with an ink wash background.

Unlike most of the exotic animals

we draw in art class, I have actually seen

many bighorn sheep in the wild

at Jasper National Park here in Alberta.

They are impressive and can be aggressive,

so caution must always be exercised around them.

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Chameleon

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a whimsical chameleon which I did

in a recent watercolour pencils class.

Canadian readers may recognize this image --

it's from a past advertising campaign

by one of our national telecom

companies called TELUS.

Cute as the dickens, isn't it?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Movie Star

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a movie star!

Recognize him?

No one in the art class did except for me.

Probably because the subject photo

dates from at least 35 years ago.

Today he's a geezer like the rest of us

and looks completely different.

It's the actor Aidan Quinn.

Although rarely the leading man, he has had

notable supporting roles in popular movies

such as The Mission (1986), Benny & Joon (1993),

Legends of the Fall (1994), Practical Magic (1998), and

most recently on TV as Captain Gregson

in the series Elementary (2012–2019).

As you can see from the subject photo,

we used a grid to guide us in

the correct placement of his features.

This is advisable when you need a portrait

to recognizably match the subject.

Ordinarily, I don't like drawing with a grid

and prefer the challenge of drawing freehand,

but a grid certainly does make things

easier in more difficult circumstances.

So -- do you remember Aidan Quinn

and were you/are you a fan?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Wolf

For this week's Friday Face OFF link party

of art featuring faces, hosted by Nicole of

DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog . . .

Here's a wolf which I did in pen and ink.

Nice doggy!

NICE DOGGY!

Oh oh, why do I feel like

a little pig in a straw house

all of a sudden?

[Art & photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Friday Face OFF -- Toddler

Every Friday, blogging buddy Nicole Campanella

of DVArtist, Art, Food, Gardening blog

hosts Friday Face OFF, a link party

of art featuring faces!

I'll be participating on Fridays over the summer

because I have a bunch of portraits to post

of people and animals done in recent art classes.

Today's portrait: a little girl

drawn in graphite pencil

(2B, 4B, 6B).

Doesn't she just look full of mischief!

What shenanigans do you think she is plotting?

[Art and photo of art © Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]

Coffee -- Is There Nothing It Can't Do?

Did you know that you

can PAINT with coffee?

I just took a fun class where we

drew and painted these cartoon critters

using light, medium, and dark

concentrations of instant coffee

(plus Sharpie markers for the outline

and for any non-sepia colours!)

The technique is essentially the same as

painting with watercolours!

Bonus: your painting smells good

while you're doing it!

[Coffee art & photos of coffee art

© Debra She Who Seeks, 2023]