29 Faces September 2016 Challenge - Faces 10,11, and 12- Audrey Hepburn

So I have fallen behind on the drawings this month, and I am now playing catch up.  Actually, behind the scenes, I've drawn a few less than satisfying images and decided to toss them entirely.  Today I am presenting three images of Audrey Hepburn for my next three attempts.  I found images of her in black and white that were rather striking and tried to replicate them.

"Audrey Hepburn," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

"Audrey Hepburn," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

"Audrey Hepburn," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

"One of my favorite quotes by Audrey is "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, 'I'm possible.'"

~Peace Out~

September 2016 29 Faces Challenge – Face 8 – Channing Tatum

"Channing Tatum," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

So this is my attempt at drawing Channing Tatum after my daughter suggest I give it a try.  I like some of his recent movies, after all, who among us doesn’t like Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL?  I also liked his role in White House Down.  I didn’t realize until today he had an uncredited role in the War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise, and he was next to impossible to see in Ricky Martin’s video “She Bangs,” until I found an image actually pointing him out.  I also think he has an interesting character in Jupiter Ascending, although admittedly, I haven’t had a chance to see the whole film just yet.

I definitely like his down to earth attitude as is conveyed in this quote, “Life is too short to miss out on the beautiful things like a double cheeseburger.” – Channing Tatum

After all, there’s nothing like a good cheeseburger. ;)

~Peace Out~

29 Faces September 2016 – Face 7 – Harvey Keitel

"Harvey Keitel," by Dayna Winters, Copyright 2016.

I have come to appreciate the acting skills of Harvey Keitel, particularly in roles like “Dusk to Dawn,” where he played a vampire-fighting preacher, and of course, “Pulp Fiction,” where he played the Wolf.  My favorite line in Pulp Fiction comes from when the Wolf (Keitel) addresses Vincent Vega (John Travolta,)” and (Jules Winnfield) as he tells them how to get out of the current bind they are in.  Vincent decides to get a bit sarcastic with the Wolf, and is quickly put in his place (Love it!)…

“Get it straight buster - I'm not here to say please, I'm here to tell you what to do and if self-preservation is an instinct you possess you'd better fucking do it and do it quick. I'm here to help - if my help's not appreciated then lotsa luck, gentlemen… If I'm curt with you it's because time is a factor. I think fast, I talk fast and I need you guys to act fast if you wanna get out of this. So, pretty please... with sugar on top. Clean the fucking car.” – The Wolf, “Pulp Fiction”

And the line he says later on in the movie: "Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character."

I also enjoyed Harvey’s role in Thelma and Louise as the cop pursuing the two woman as they move across the country and try to get to Mexico.  Even more hilarious is when he plays Satan in Adam Sandler’s “Little Nicky.”  All around a great actor and as drawing faces go, a considerable challenge.  His face has a lot of character, and I did my best to capture it.

29 Faces September 2016 Challenge - Face 6 - Christopher Walkens

"Christopher Walken," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

Every once and a while I like to do a drawing and then bravely play the "Guess who?" game with friends and family.  If the majority of people get who it is in the image, then I know I've done a fairly sufficient job in capturing the person I'm and trying to capture.  On this go round, I showed several people my most recent drawing and the response was surprisingly the same..."I can't remember his name but he's the guy in the movie 'Joe Dirt," right?"

Right they are...today's drawing is Christopher Walken, and while he was funny in "Joe Dirt," I remember him from an earlier film....Stephen King's, "The Dead Zone." (Loved the movie absolutely, but the book is better.)  I also thought he was great in the Adam Sandler movie, "Click," and he's just an all around great actor.

And I'll close from with a quote from Walken: "I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that all by myself."

Until next time...~Peace out.~ :)

29 Faces Challenge September 2016 Face 5 - Mick Jagger

"Mick Jagger," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

The first time I ever saw Mick Jagger in a movie, it was in the 1992 film "Freejack," co-starring Emilio Estevez, where Jagger played the role of Victor Vacendak and honestly, I liked him in the role.  

The list of the Rolling Stones songs I appreciate is pretty long, but off the top of my head I can say I enjoy songs like "I Can't Get No Satisfaction," "Angie," "Beast of Burden," and "Jumpin' Jack Flash."

Interestingly, we discovered one of our pugs doesn't really have the appreciation for the Rolling Stones that we do, and we made this discovery quite by accident. One day we were watching a movie featuring Denzel Washington and John Goodman - the supernatural thriller  "Fallen." Great flick too - I highly recommend it. If my memory serves me correctly, the movie portrayed a demonic angel named Azazel, jumping from one person's body to another throughout the film, as he sinisterly and repeatedly defied and tormented a detective played by Denzel Washington. Definitely, it is a film I would revisit and recommend for anyone who enjoys a film with a few eerie twists.

Anyway, as the credits of the film rolled, "Sympathy for the Devil," played in the background and Puggles, our male pug, began barking and squawking and putting up a protest like no other!  Every time the song broke out with the chorus:

"Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
Ah, what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah
(Woo woo, woo woo)...."

I still think it was the (woo woo, woo woo) section that was freaking him out!  LoL, and even now he acts up every time the song plays - sooooooooooo...if I want to chill out and listen to "Sympathy for the Devil," I have to do so when Puggy is out of earshot or I have to put my headphones on, unless I want to get him hooting and hollering!

Anyway, here's my rendition of Mick Jagger. He really has a lot of definition in the face and his look is so icon I attempted, as best as I could, to capture every feature.

And... here's a quote from Jagger to remind us all how important it is to dream big and to pursue our dreams as long as we are able:

"Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind."~ Mick Jagger~

29 Faces Challenge September 2016 - Face 4 Gene Wilder

"Gene Wilder," by Dayna Winters. Copyright 2016.

With the recent passing of Gene Wilder, I really wanted to try to draw the artist I remember from the original Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory when I was a kid (No offense to Tim Burton and his rendition, and yes, I like Johnny Depp,  but I really didn’t care for Depp as Willy Wonka at all.) 

Of course, I’m not big on remakes unless it is a real knock my socks of rendition. I didn’t care for the remakes of The Omen or Amityville either, bu t that’s another story entirely.  I will say that Disturb’s rendition of “The Sound of Silence” is a remake of the Simon & Garfunkel classic that floored me and I walked away seriously impressed – I almost think it is even better than the original (dare I say it?).  

Anyway, here’s my rendition of Gene…admittedly I had some trouble with the chin and perimeter of the face, but I don’t think it’s too bad. Results: I'm mildly satisfied with at the moment.

This piece is done with Derwent and Prismacolor pencils.

~Peace out~

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.