Faces

Practice eyes, lips, mouth and chins.  Sort of a strange mix of quick sketches, this all leads to actual faces or portraits.  I will post some full faces tomorrow.

Practice, Practice, Practice

More heads from Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing.  These sketches relax me and get me in a better mood.  I think the process is to observe and capture the planes of the face.  The upper right nose and eye sketch is a face with the planes developed more realistically.

Day after Day

"Day after Day, Never fail to draw something which, however little it may be, will yet in the end be much, and do thy Best."

Cennino Cennini c. 1390

Above is a threesome from skulls from Bridgman's Complete Guide to Drawing from Life.  After the day job I do not always have the mental ability to draw or paint something original so I practice from a couple of classical drawing and Art guides.  I think of it as similar to practicing cords in music, after I am done I fell calmer and some what refreshed, i.e. Creativity for Sanity.

American Goldfinch

The American Goldfinch is always a spring time marker.  The males have the bright plumage.  They are around all year round but they are really noticeable in spring.  Put out thistle seeds and you will see them too.  We have seen them in Colorado, Utah, and Maryland.

Western Tanager

So continuing on the Bird topic, the Western Tanager is as bright as the American Goldfinches and as brilliant as the Cardinal.  I have only seen them in the canyons above Salt Lake City, Utah.  They are in other places and I always look when I am out west, but for some reason only in the canyons have they come out to serenade me.

Yellow Warbler

This little cutie was spotted on the banks of the Provo river in Utah.  It was flitting around eating bugs above the water surface.  Stealing them from the Cutthroat Trout in the river.  This is the one and only time I have ever seen this bird.  He was a spring time guest.

Cardinals

These are colored pencil sketches of a male and female Cardinal.  They are the state bird of six states - Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina.  These are the favorite birds of my wife and my grandmother.  We never saw them until we moved to North Carolina.