29 Faces - Eight and Nine

Eight

The Boyfriend
acrylic on mat board 10 x 10



The girl, Three,  needed a boy friend - so here he is - another run at acrylics.  I actually kinda like the acrylics.  I'm getting used to them a bit.  Like any kind of painting for me - I need to use more paint.  There is some weird thing in me that I can't seem to get enough paint on the brush.  I actually believe it would be easier to paint with more paint because you can move it around the surface and blend it and stuff.  So, I'll try again - more paint, more paint.

In wax - thin layers are the trick.  But, I have to say... that I notice a difference in my wax faces after I've painted a few acrylic faces.  So, back and forth, I go - pondering my learnings a little more.

 

Nine 

encaustic on birch 4 x 6

Red, Being a Winner and 29 Faces: 5-7

Five

 



Polo Man
encaustic on birch 6 x 6

In keeping with trying new things - I did just that.  Polo Man here is inspired by the lovely work of Christine Striemer.  She is also participating in 29 Faces.  She uses a red tinted background to do her portraits - so thought I'd give it a try because I love the results she gets and her portraits are fabulous.

He came out super textured which I'm still debating if I like for portraits in wax - but seems to be what I'm getting lately.  I also tried a new encaustic painting technique that encaustic artist Willow Bader uses.  She actually squeezes oil paint onto her hot palette and mixes the colors with wax.  I'm not sure yet - but I have my palette set up that way at the moment.  He's also the by product of working in acrylics for faces.  I can actually see a difference in this guy after I've done a few with paint.  Lots to learn.

Six and Seven



The Ladies
encaustic on masonite 10 x 10

More new things: 
I also was the lucky winner of Martha's giveaway on her blog - Ayala Art.  I was the winner of her Basic Face Workshop.  I've learned so much.  Thank you Martha - and I can't say enough, that if you want to learn the basic face - sign up for Martha's workshop!!  The Ladies above are a result of the class and its been fun to play around with what all can be done and the many styles for the face.  I'm coming to realize that my faces look the same - I can move eyes wider, make noses longer, what ever, but they all sort of come back to what they are... so there I have it - a style :)

Happy Friday.   Hit the buttons below and go see some fabulous art.

29 Faces: Three and Four

Three

acrylic on mat board - 10 x 10

Acrylics - hmmmm.
Recently, I picked up some of my very old art stuff that had been in storage away from our home.  Nine big bins of mostly jewelry making supplies.  Yet, there was one bin that was labeled - paint box, books, art supplies, palette....  I knew I had a paint box with acrylic paints - but I had forgotten that they were hardly used and had all the colors a girl would need to get started - including brushes.  They come from - dare I say - 30 years ago from an art class elective I had taken.  They seem OK and in good shape.  I needed them for the bird house project and well, since they were still out and available on the worktable - why not work with them a little more? 
I have a thing for faces - for pop art faces.  I've been trying for quite a while to make these work in wax and its hard.  I'm thinking that if I learn to do it in acrylic, maybe I can translate it to wax.  This is probably my best attempt so far and I still have 26 faces to go to complete the 29 Faces project. 
This lovely lady has a girlfriend AND a boyfriend that are started and will make their way here soon - but I also can't forget about the wax :) - so here's a quickie for number

Four

encaustic on board
4 x 6

29 Faces Challenge: 1 & 2

1 and 2
acrylic on Masonite 12 x 12

Its time - time for 29 Faces for September.  A face a day for the month of September with one day for wiggle room.  Its a challenge to paint a face a day from a time stand point.  The idea here is to make a commitment, but also to try some new things.  So, to kick off... I decided to try acrylics.   Follow along and see how it goes - here we go... one and two.