29 Faces Day 11, 12, 13, and 14 - Some of My Favorite TV Characters

So I wasn't really inspired over the last few days. I just decided to draw some of my favorite television characters and I had a pretty relaxing time doing so.  The first picture is my effort at a young William Shatner as James T. Kirk in Star Trek. Yes, I am a fan of Star Trek, and I can still remember when my grandmother brought me to the movie theater when I was a kid to see the first film.

William Shatner as James T. Kirk ©Dayna Winters

Of course, then I got on the Star Trek run and did two more characters from the series.  Spock and McCoy....

Leonard Nimoy as Spock ©Dayna Winters.

DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. "Bones" McCoy ©Dayna Winters

Then, in a total stream of consciousness leap in which I cannot clearly connect the dots with, I decided to draw a character from American Horror Story (I love this show!!!!). So, here's my effort at Evan Peters.....

Evan Peters ©Dayna Winters

I hope that all who are participating with the 29Faces challenge is having a fantastic time drawing or using whatever medium of preference.  I thank everyone for their kind feedback and comments as well :).

29 Faces Day 8, 9, & 10 - Some Memorable Faces

Stevie Nicks  ©Dayna Winters.

I find that some days I can produce three or four pieces, and other days I just can't even think about producing a thing.  Today was a good day and I played catch up with the 29 Faces Challenge.  With no ideas in mind, I browsed the Internet for some ideas.  As one would have it, when you browse the Internet it is often like and act of stream consciousness where you go from one seemingly random thing to another.

My first image is an effort at drawing Stevie Nicks, my second, Carolyn Jones in her role as Morticia in the 1964 television series of the Addams Family, and Wednesday, in the most current depictions of the Addams Family in films where she is played by Christina Ricci.

Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams ©Dayna Winters.

Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams ©Dayna Winters.

29 Faces Days 5, 6, and 7 - Three Times the Charm, Or Not...

Halliwell Sisters. Copyright Dayna Winters

First, I want to take the time to thank each and every person that visits my blog, and I want to especially thank the people who take the time out of their day, their busy schedules, and their ever so valuable time to comment on my blogs and artwork.  I so appreciate the feedback, support, and kind expressions you all share with me.  I look forward to all the comments I receive, and I love hearing what others have to say about art, drawing, painting, crafts, reading, writing, and whatever topic is at hand.  Thank you so much for engaging with me, and sharing your thoughts.  I appreciate you and what you share.

I was pretty quite over the weekend, and pretty tired.  For anyone who reads the health portion of my blog, you already know I am battling with a variety of health conditions, all of which are culminating in gross fatigue. It is a fatigue that a few cups of coffee or a couple of naps will not conquer, so I have to take it as it comes and work with it as I work with doctors to improve my condition as much as it is possible to do so.

This weekend I spent trying to catch up on a few things and battling through intermittent periods of fatigue and energy. I decided I would do three faces in one drawing to catch up quickly so I don’t fall too far behind the 29 Faces challenge for the month.  I know quantity is not important but I am really sticking to the commitment I made to myself to do it, and my commitments are more of a challenge than ever before with the constant fatigue I struggle with.  I am not necessarily thrilled with the piece, but I don’t hate it either.  It made me search out a quote about art and frustration, and I found one that perfectly suits the occasion…

“Art is challenging and frustrating but I don't linger in it. I work on five paintings at a time so if I'm frustrated I put one down and begin another. “ – Robert Bateman

I think getting over the frustration and moving on is the next best step to the walk away and come back to it later technique when handling artistic frustrations.  Yes, I walked away from the drawing when the rendition of the Halliwell sisters from Charmed (the Paige Era) did not come out the way I would have liked.  I came back to it and even considered starting over, and when I made the effort to do so, it was a half hearted effort because I felt like all the work on the original piece was going to waste.  I went back to the original drawing and worked on finishing it off.  So after working on the piece for I while, I decided it was as good as it was going to be, at least for now.  After two attempts at the same drawing and returning to the initial piece, I was what I will call finished. Three times the charm so to speak…or not.  Anyway, onward to other projects I have waiting in the wings of my imagination!

The result is the picture I’ve shared here…It’s not an exact rendition, but it’s not half bad either.  Now I only need to do an additional drawing to be back on top of things and on top of the challenge.

In the meantime, I’ve been visiting blogs of others who participate in the challenge, and I’ve seen some images shared on Facebook.  I gotta say, the work is breathtaking and inspiring.  I love getting a chance to look at all of the wonderful creations that everyone is producing.  There’s so many imaginative works and incredible depictions, I encourage everyone to check out the contributions to the 29 Faces Challenge, even if you don’t participate.  The blog where you can access all other bloggers participating is located at http://29faces.blogspot.com. 

Until my next post…love, and light. 

Namaste.

29 Faces Day 4 - 'Discover You, What You Do, and Trust It'

Sometimes I just cannot decide who it is I want to draw. I finally decided late last night to give a try to sketching Barbra Streisand. Everything about Streisand is unique and original from her career in acting and films to her vocals to her name and appearance, and I wanted to try and capture that originality in a sketch of her.

I have always liked Streisand as an artist because she seems to be able to move from one extreme to another, from dramatic to comedic roles with amazing ease and skill.

 Barbra Streisand by Dayna Winters

I absolutely LOVED the romantic drama, The Prince of Tides, a film based on the book by Pat Conroy, in which Streisand not only played the role of the psychiatrist Susan Lowenstein and co-starred with Nick Nolte as Tom Wingo, but she also directed. Created on a $30 million budget and bringing in a final gross figure of $110 million, the film is a testament to Streisand’s directing success. I remember being so disappointed when, despite being nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the film was not nominated for Best Director. However, she was still nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Director in 1991.

Now, I also loved Streisand in the comedic role of Roz Focker in Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers, where Barbra co-starred alongside Dustin Hoffman (another absolutely amazing actor) who played her husband Bernie Focker. As Roz, Streisand is hysterical, while coming across as genuine. Meet the Fockers started out with an $80 million budget and grossed $516, 642,939, and the sequel had a budget that was $50 million less than the first, but still grossed $310,650,585. If you put Barbra’s roles in the dramatic and comedic films side by side, it is a demonstration of how she can easily move from a serious, dramatic role to a comedic role, and she does so without getting caught up in the typecasting trap.

Streisand is no different when it comes to her music and vocals. Barbra is a half-soprano or a mezzo-soprano and her voice easily spans a full three octaves and then some, and has sometimes been called semi-operatic. One of the best things I appreciate about Streisand is she is not afraid to be herself, to be distinct, and different.

At the age of 18, she changed the spelling of her first name from Barbara to Barbra because she did not care for her name, but she did not want to change it too much. The following quote is attributed to her: “I don’t care what you say about me. Just be sure to spell my name wrong.” And… in another quote, which I love, Barbra stresses the importance of self- discovery, and self-trust…“I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.”

And therein lies the struggle of every artist…finding him or herself, trusting the process and the result. Often, the inner critic stands in the way of the artist’s ability to trust in the self or the artistic process.  Streisand stands as an icon representing the need to embrace one’s own uniqueness, to be one’s authentic self, and to willing to embrace the artistic process as it unfolds as well as the results thereof.

29 Faces Day 3 – “All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy”

So I decided to go with Jack Nicholson this go round and made the attempt to capture his image in the iconic role of Jack Torrance in Stephen King’s The Shining.  Only Nicholson could play such a role with such creepy perfection…”All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy,” was the phrase that continued to run through my mind as I tried, (and I emphasize tried) to capture that madman look in his eyes in one of the most unforgettable madman stares on film.  See the video below for reference.

I don't think I hit the mark on this one. Something is way off with the drawing and maybe when I walk away from it and come back to it with fresh eye's I can put my finger on it.  To me, the eyes aren't right and the jaw bone is way off.  The mouth turned out way better than I anticipated though.  Maybe next time I'll get it the way I want it.

Jack Nicholson by Dayna Winters

One question came up while I was doing the work and it would be interesting to look into...when, during the creation of a piece does that piece go beyond being two dimensional.....not physically speaking, but in the emotion it captures and evokes? When you are drawing, when do you know you have done the image in such a way that it captures the precise emotion you want to share with the viewer?  How do you know you've achieved this?  What do you feel?

29 Faces 2016 – Day Two – John Lennon – Being in the Zone

I started today’s drawing last night as I wasn’t really sure how it was going to work out. If it didn’t work out where I felt at least a little bit comfortable with the way the piece looked, I was going to give something else a try. Then, my drawing of John Lennon would have to wait for another day. Thankfully, it worked out better than I expected. I’ve been wanting to draw a picture of John Lennon for quite some time; but, I either never found the time or, when I did have time, I never found myself in the perfect mood to do it.

Last night and this morning I was definitely in the mood for some relaxing creative time before I got the rest of my day started, and I am satisfied with the result. Because I really liked the way the light use of color worked on yesterday’s drawing, I decided to do the same with the image of Lennon, giving only color to the eyes, eyebrows, and mouth, while leaving all the rest in plain pencil. Once I got it started last night, I was eager to get up this morning to finish it off.

Sketch of John Lennon by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

Sometimes I am “in the zone,” I am wide awake and my imagination is on overdrive, and that’s when something inside you tells you, “I want to draw right now,” or “I want to make something but I don’t know what.”  These moments are the precursor to the perfect mood for art.  I find that if I am in a bad mood, angry, frustrated, or depressed, then being creative and tapping into the imagination is not quite so easy (unless your subject matter itself is dark, depressing, angry, frustrating etc).

I also find that I am extra cautious, (some might call it a bit superstitious) when I am creating something too (big surprise here for anyone who really knows me lol); what I mean is I usually won’t approach a piece if I am in a funk. I believe my negative mood and vibes might somehow irreparably change the course of the piece’s natural evolution or that my negativity will ruin the piece by tainting it with all that nasty, dark energy.  I say usually, because sometimes I am willing to harvest negative energy and to put it to good use, even if it is to create a piece of artwork or writing that carries a darker tone.

How does your mood affect the way you approach your art?  Do you avoid negativity when creating art, harness the negative energy to make it something positive, or both?

February 2016 and 29 Faces

It’s been a while since I’ve put any amount of focus on my creativity.  Admittedly, my creative endeavors have been more like spurts of creativity than anything steadily productive.  Health issues have had a lot to do with my lack of energy and enthusiasm, but February is here and I’ve decided to buckle down and focus.  And what better way to do that then to give this month’s 29 Faces Challenge a shot.  Last year I didn’t even make it out of the stall, but with a single picture of Marilyn Monroe, but it is I believe my best depiction of her to date.

At first I felt bad about it … getting all hyped up in 2015 for 29Faces and then not being able to complete what I initially set out to do. This lesson alone teaches a lot because art is not about quantity, it’s about quality, and it’s not about getting it done in a hurry or participating in an artistic endeavor for the sake of participation.  Creating art is about bringing something into this world. It’s a method of manifesting one’s thoughts or the images one sees with the mind’s eye. Getting it done and enjoying the entire experience on the way to completion are all part of the process.  And, creating art in whatever form you want to create it can really be an exercise in self-exploration and mindful awareness. Art is ritual…it’s something sacred, both in terms of the experience and in regard to what is created. Art is profound, at least that’s how I feel about it when I am involved with a creative project.  Artistic endeavors leave me open to receiving epiphanies and, sometimes, creative solutions. Creating it is a meditation, and working on a piece is a method of making a conscious connection, not just with your intuitive or higher self, but with something far greater than yourself entirely.   Whether you finish the piece or not doesn’t make the process less of a reflective experience.

So for 2016 I am still enthusiastic.  In fact, I had a bit of a warm up about a week back when I did a black and white rendition of David Bowie in pencil … I felt good to take the time to do a single drawing as it has been a while since I have…it got the creative juices flowing so to speak.  Today, for Face 1 of 29, I decided to draw Christina Aguilera.  All in all, I think it came out a lot better than I thought it would, but I still think something is a bit off … particularly with the shape of the eyes I think. I’m thinking they should be a bit tighter or more of an almond shape. I did do something a bit different with this picture though as I went with mixed media.  I used sketch pencils for the entire face, and Derwent colored pencils for the yes, lips, and earrings. I love how just a little bit of color makes the different features pop off the page!

Christina Aguilera by Dayna Winters.
Copyright 2016.

If you’re stopping by my blog and you’re participating in 29faces, leave me a comment as I would really love to check out your work as well.  I hope you thoroughly enjoy, not just what you create, but the creation process. Until tomorrow… Namaste.

P.S. Do you want to do the challenge?  Check out 29 Faces now! The challenge is now in its fourth year!

~Dayna Winters