Face #14 for the September 2014 29 Faces Challenge

For face number 14, I chose the comedian George Carlin as my subject.  Carlin's face, especially in the photos where he is older, has a lot of character.  His eyes are very expressive and there are many tiny details in his brow.  His forehead is lined with myriad lines: some light and some deep.  His nose has a unique curve on the left side, and there is a slight reflection that appears at the top of his head and just above his left temple.  

I had a terrible time getting the lips right, and as if the moment I'm writing this, I'm still having difficulties.  When I get frustrated with a piece I'm working on, the only thing I can do is walk way from it and return to it later.  Right now, the image of Carlin actually looks a lot more like Van Gogh!  I'm struggling with getting the shape of the mouth and lips right.  And as I look at piece, the hairline and the shape of his face doesn't seem quite right either.  

I decided to set the piece aside and work on something else.  I had already chosen a subject matter for day 15, so I went ahead and started working on it.  Now, I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself and tell you who I've chosen (I want to keep you in suspense), but I will say that upon finishing the piece, I'm more determined then ever to fix the sketch of Carlin to my liking.

I'll give you a clue as to what triggered my determination; As I finished the drawing for day 15, I wanted to complete it by including a quote by the person I drew...for those of you who know the subject, the quote might be familiar; "You have to stay faithful to what you are working on."  When I saw that quote it was like an odd synchronicity, as if the universe was telling me that I better not think about giving up on what I was doing!  That, coupled with the fact that when I was drawing Carlin I heard his name on the television 3 or 4 times, made it feel like I was meant to be doing exactly what I was doing at that time.

So, for better or worse, I present here a graphite pencil sketch of George Carlin.   On the sketch the quote reads, "It isn't fair: The caterpillar does all the work, and the butterfly gets all the glory."  This quote made me start thinking about the creation process and how a work of art, when in progress, usually looks nothing like the final outcome when the work is complete.  And, the viewer of art only sees the outcome (butterfly), not all the layers and layers of work (caterpillar) it takes to create the piece.