6 Useful Tips for Sketching Faces

6 Useful Tips for Sketching Faces
By Cherie Haas, online editor Cloth Paper Scissors 
It’s amazing how easily identifiable faces are in everyday things. All it takes is two round shapes and a line below them for us to recognize eyes and a mouth. I’m guessing that the origins of this go back to when we were newborns, and our caregivers’ faces were the first things that we gazed upon. Others might argue that it’s the human ego that drives us to see ourselves in such things as clouds, for example.

Whatever the reason, artists especially love to draw faces. Strangers, relatives, friends, selves—anyone is game. Mixed-media artist Pam Carriker shares what she has learned along her own path in her book Mixed Media Portraits: Techniques for Drawing and Painting Faces. “I knew that if I put in the time sketching on a regular basis, I’d see improvement in my work,” she says. “As I look back through my sketchbooks, the evidence is there. The evolution of those faces stares back at me from the pages, each one a building block for the work that followed.”

A Colorful Journey Ahead (acrylic and graphite on watercolor paper, 12x9) by Pam Carriker. 
• Don’t throw away your sketches, even if you really don’t like one. These are evidence of your journey, each a stepping-stone in the development of your signature style.

• Use the same sketch multiple times to fully explore it and to strengthen your portrait skills. Tracing is a good thing! Tracing your own work builds memory into your artistic muscles.

• You can sketch from your imagination, from a photo, from a real-life object, or from a map or diagram, or incorporate a little of both your imagination and your reference.

• One key to creating a look of your own is to add a bit of you to your portrait, making it a self-portrait of sorts. Take a facial feature you like (or maybe even one that you don’t like) and incorporate that into your work.

• Instead of getting hung up on making one sketch perfect, move on and create another. This is vital to going forward.
 

• The last tip is simple: Draw. Put in the time, just a few minutes a day, and you will see improvement. ~P.C.

Much more to be found in Mixed Media Portraits with Pam Carriker. Pam includes techniques such as how to map facial structures, how to create shading, and more.

Works on Paper-October 2014

So I am half way to completing 20 Works on Paper. I started in August and I am giving myself to the end of 2014 to complete the work. It's been quite a good motivator, just to keep me going and moving forward.

10"x 8"

Blanket Stitch I, 15"x 11"

Birch Trees I, 12"x 9"

Le Divan, 9"x 12"

La Buffet, 9"x 12"

Blanket Stitch II, 11"x 15:

Blanket Stitch I, 15"x 11"

Lady of Summer 9"x 12"

Lady of Spring 12"x 9"

24"x 18" Unfinished

24"x 18" work in progress

6 Tips for Hand Lettering

By Cherie Haas, Online Editor, Cloth Paper Scissors Today

They say that you can tell a lot about a person by her handwriting. Clear, neat writing indicates orderliness; a messy script signifies a love of long walks on the beach. Actually, I made that one up. But you know what I mean—it seems as though some writing styles reveal personality traits of the writer, not very different from a handshake, for example.

There may not be much that we can do about our handwriting, but when it comes to creative hand lettering, you’re in control. By using different mark-making tools, you can set the tone for your message. For example, have you ever considered using a paintbrush to write words and phrases in your sketchbook? There’s an entire episode of Mixed-Media Workshop TV dedicated to hand lettering techniques: “Write It Up” teaches you how to write with a paintbrush (watch a preview here).

Learn hand lettering techniques with Jenn Mason and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer at Mixed-Media Workshop TV.

To Brush or Not To Brush by Jenn Mason (inspired by “Write It Up”)

When working on lettering in a painting, collage, print, or art journal, consider using a paintbrush! Brushes will help you release any hate you may harbor for your handwriting. By thinking of the letters as shapes instead of handwriting, your can refocus the control of your hand in a new way. Want to give it a try? Here is a list of ideas for using brushes in your next mixed-media project.

1. Use a round brush with long bristles and thinned-down paint to go all scripty.
2. A big flat brush with short bristles is fun for graffiti-style letters on the background of a big painting.
3. Fine detail brushes are great for signing your name in a very professional way.
4. Try holding a long-handled round brush close to the end, away from the bristles, for a casual and loose letter feel.
5. Don't forget to write with natural bristle brushes in your next encaustic painting.

6. Hold a flat brush at a 45-degree angle (like a calligraphy pen) and try a little fancy lettering. ~J.M.

Now that you have some new hand lettering ideas, here comes the hard part: knowing what to say! Is there a word or phrase that comes up often in your art?