Let's Face It 2017 Registration Open & Giveaway Winner

I am delighted to say registration for Let's Face It 2017 is open at the early bird price of $99!

I am a natural storyteller so I am very excited my lesson is all about to painting a portrait with connected figures. When you add more than one figure to an artwork you are able to create a more expressive visual story with depth and feeling.  Plus I will be sharing a special tip and mini lesson too!

When you're ready to sign up I would absolutely love it if you use one of my links.  When a class has multiple teachers each teacher gets paid when a student signs up from a link connected directly to that teacher. That's how it works so of course I would love to have you sign up through me :)  You can go to my class page or use any of the links in this post to sign up.

WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY!

The other awesome news is that I have a winner for the free seat in the class. Suzanne Sperl is the winner of the random draw. Congratulations Suzanne!

Thank you very much to all of you who commented to enter the draw I have to say I would love to have been able to give you all a free spot. 

Love, Robin

Stories For The New Year

Living My Own Story! 

This year I am determined to live my red thread life by letting my mind and dreams wander at will. I'm experimenting, being brave and trying many new things. I have an abundance of projects and ideas just waiting for me to step into my courage!  The painting below is an example and I'm very excited.  It involved very little planning which was intentional. It is collage and acrylic on canvas board. I selected a very simple color palette of manganese blue, vandyke brown, yellow ochre, titanium buff, gesso and glazing fluid. By collaging for texture and mixing those colors I created the abstract background first with no plan for what would come next. When is was dry I let the horizon line guide me towards possibilities. It lent itself to a scene with it's solid ground and lots of potential for a stormy sky.

And what about the story you ask? It's me again, Lovely Duck by my side and some illusive deep dream that appears to be pulling us along through a stormy sky.  I need to leave it open ended  because I don't yet fully understand where we are going. I know it has the theme of opening up to our deepest dreams and following their call. 

The theme isn't really new for me but It became more literal in the  paintings below. In all three of these I'm using the same theme, color palette and materials.  So now it's turning into a new story series.  When I first started posting on Instagram I tended to do a portrait and write a story as though each character were a part of the greater community. I envisioned my  gridded  Instagram feed as a tall apartment building with each new a portrait moving in as a resident and neighbor to the rest of the characters. I enjoyed that form of storytelling very much and so did my followers. So once again, (I never tire of this!) what begins as one thing, (in the case of Instagram it was the commitment to drawing 100 faces along with a group of other artists) becomes something else that we don't see coming.  In this instance I was simply following along over the past two years with that  line of red thread leading me and simply focusing on what presented itself along the way. I could go on and on about this beautiful way of living in the moment and I am sure I will be doing much of that over this next year as I continue to walk through my storied life with my ever present compaion Lovely Duck!

"Me and Lovely Duck obviously right? The words at the top are the key to this piece. WHAT ARE YOUR DEEP DREAMS? Ive been thinking so much about this question. It applies to all levels of consciousness. My hope for the coming year is to claim an…

I can't finish this post without mentioning that for us artists the new year is overflowing with inspiration, learning and thrilling art! So many fantastic classes have begun and many more are about to launch! I am thrilled with the start of Let's Face It and honored to have the opportunity to add in my artistic two cents on painting faces:) I have signed up for Misty Mawn's  Make/Do Art Workshop that begins February 14th and for Katie Kendrick' online course Grit and Grace that begins January the 11th.  I highly recommend them both!

love, Robin xo

Learn the Profile and Make Beautiful Art!

I'm getting very excited about this!! In the soon to open Let's Face It class hosted by Kara Bullock I will teach you how to draw a profile and make art that you love! This is my transformation from the practice profile I did.  I will teach you my process of how to turn your practice drawing into beautiful and soulful work of art. 

I love that I can do this! The initial pencil sketch is on the right hand side. I took a photograph of that and brought it into my iPad and the drawing app I use for this style of learning.  I wanted to study the completed profile more closely and experiment with adding more of the form before committing it to paper. If you look closely you can see that the sketch on the right was altered with the many changing of lines and erasing I did as I was finding my way to this profile. What looks charming and old world-like in the photograph is actually a lot of scratched and damaged paper.  When you look at the completed digital profile on the left you can see what changes I made and how I might have done this on the original drawing paper as well. The changes are really not very much. Adding more form, hair and white decorative line work before completing it by adding interest to the background.

I want you to create tangible works of art in my section of the Let's Face It class.  I want you not only to be able to draw a profile but to learn how to use that drawing as a jumping off point in creating a beautiful finished work of art.  I will include two lessons lessons. In one demonstration I will be using the traditional art materials of paper, charcoal, pencil and paint to draw a profile and create a finished painting. In another demonstration I will teach you how to use your iPad to experiment with ways to improve or alter your drawing and turn that into a tangible work of art as well. Digital art and traditional materials can be combined and made into beautiful works of art and I will demonstrate that process for you in class! So please sign up with me while the early bird price is still available for Let'sFace It!

Love, Robin

Real Life Artist - The Learning Curve

Failure Friday - Learning From Failure

One of the things I like best about social media is the sharing that happens amongst the artist community. I gain a wealth of inspiration and knowledge from connecting and interacting. I love when I click the comment button on some intriguing work of art only to discover that there is a rich and energetic dialogue happening in real time with real people about art and life! I learn and grow from what others are studying or working on. I also get to hear about the amazing successes as well as the difficult challenges of the artists who are open to sharing their journeys. I feel encouraged in my own work with each story that is shared. Hearing about the struggles of an artist I admire helps me to be brave and to push myself out of my comfort zone. I tell myself that if they can do it I can too.

The last several months my creative focus has been painting on an ipad.  I have experienced success and a sense of deep satisfaction with some of the digital paintings I have created. I have loved the success and aknowledgement of my work and the growing sense of confidence that has developed as a result.

Starting from that position of strength and confidence it is time for a new challenge and to push myself beyond my comfort zone. So back to the drawing board I go using my traditional art materials, drawing large and using an easel.  This is a way for me to practice bravery and seek growth.  

I decided to share one of my recent, more challenging experiences. My goal is to maintain a positive perspective and evaluate my skills  to determine where I need to grow and how best to go about improving.  My intention is to be a problem solver rather than upset about my failures. I want to learn from them.  The reference image I used is on the left. 

I'm working on my easel and on large paper trying to stay loose. What that means is that I'm trying not to think too much but focus on getting the forms in and placing them accurately. I didn't do any measuring or comparing other than using my eye to gauge how the drawing matched up with the original and checking angles using my charcoal. I believed in general I was doing "ok". I told myself it was perhaps too wide at the cheek bones but that I could fix that later. A small voice was telling me the eyes were too far apart but I didn't listen. Being a relatively new artist I sometimes imagine I won't be able to repeat a feature and do better than the one I see in front of me. That right eye was shaped ok and I didn't want to move it. 

I can tell you now I should have stood back, looked carefully, measured and made corrections in placement of everything long before I started adding details.  Since I didn't do that things begin to go from ok to bad to worse quickly. The harder I worked the more confused I got because when I changed one eye the cheekbone looked off and vice versa.  I kept changing the shape of the face, moving the jawline up then down, wider then more narrow. I think I changed the mouth at least ten times. No matter what I did it just was "off". I was frustrated and discouraged and began using swear words... Time to take a break!

Instead of taking a break I decided to take a photo of the drawing and the original.  I loaded them both into my iPad and opened Procreate which is the painting app I use. Using layers I outlined the features on the original and  the features on my drawing. Then I overlaid the outline from my drawing over the original and guess what happened? The errors were revealed with ease. Very helpful information! The nose was too long, that right eye is too high and too far from the center line. Having the nose too long made everything below it wrong. In an effort to make it right I had over rendered the mouth and completely lost my way in terms of how to draw a mouth or the shape of the face. Lots of problems!

Once I saw what errors I had made I was able to try again. I stayed in the iPad and experimented. I still found it difficult to render the mouth properly and depicting how her head was tilted down slightly. All of the parts of the face are connected and each nuance of movement changes the relationship between structure and form so getting these things right were important. If I want to control the expressiveness of the face I need to be able to accurately recreate the form of the face in various positions and at various angles. 

 The lessons here are pretty obvious. Take my time, stand back OFTEN to check my work, render shapes not features. (My brain is tricky and will deceive me but I don't need that Information, it isn't helpful.)  I need to correct as you go and move on when things truthfully look to be in place not 'sort of in place'. Trust myself but don't trust myself!  Measure angles and relationships. Be careful and be loose about the drawing at the same time.  Its a lot to pull off but its worth it because in the end what I want is to do beautiful work! 

I've shared about the usefulness of the iPad as a learning tool many times as a teacher in Paint and Pixels  but I never tire of sharing how i use it as an essential tool for drawing.

 Below is a little video I did many months ago for Jeanne Oliver's Living Studio series. I basically talk through a charcoal drawing  where I find myself in a similar situation as the one I described above. I figure out the corrections and changes I want to make by taking a photograph and moving it into Procreate. In this case I go back to the easel and make the changes on paper. Its like magic and I LOVE using this tool! 

Ok back to the drawing board for more practice, practice practice!!

love, Robin

Winner of Let's Face It Giveaway!

I had almost 200 entries for one free seat in the  Let's Face It Class hosted by Kara Bullock! I so wish I could have given away more than just one spot! Thank you to all who entered. The heartfelt comments and enthusiasm for Let's Face it was inspiring to me as a teacher. I hope you all join decide to jump in at the early bird price.

The Winner is Carol Nickerson!!

 

** Carol please contact me so that I can give you the information about registration!

 

Let's Face It - Open For Registration!

Hello Friends,

The Let's Face It online workshop is OPEN FOR REGISTRATION! I hope you are as excited as I am about this new class on drawing and painting portraits.  The class will be hosted by Kara Bullock of Kara Bullock Art. I will be a guest teacher along with 15 other amazing artists! There will be an amazing amount of content so If you want to improve or learn for the first time how draw and paint faces with confidence go to Kara's registration page to find out the details and to sign up at the early bird price!

Don't forget about my GIVEAWAY!  Go find out how to win a free seat in the classroom. The winner will be announced on Monday October 26th.

I hope you will join me on the exciting journey of learning how to paint the wonderfully unique and complex form of the face! 

xoxo robin

I'm Teaching In Let's Face It! An Online Workshop

Hello My Friends!

There is still time to win a free seat in Let's Face It!

**Here is where you can read more about the class. 

To enter…just leave a comment here on my blog letting me know why you want to win a spot in Let’s Face It 2016 and subscribe to my blog.To increase the number of times I enter your name, you could do any or all of the following to spread the love. (Be sure to pop back and let me know in the comments all the ways you have shared so I can add your name again and again)

* Share about the class on your blog, twitter, pinterest, google, facebook page or other social network platform.

* Like my facebook page or invite friends to like it.

* Follow me on Instagram.

I will announce the winner on Monday October 26th!

I am so excited to announce that I am going to be a part of a brand new, awesome online course titled “Let’s Face It”!

LET’S FACE IT is a course created and hosted by Kara Bullock from Kara Bullock Art.  It is for anyone that wants to practice creating faces and portraits, but is especially designed for those of you that have felt scared or intimidated to do so at some point in your life.   I'm teaching alongside a fanastic group of artists and together, we want to share with you our strategies, tips, and techniques that we use in order to create our faces and portraits.  You will leave this course feeling confident enough in your skills to never feel intimidated again.

Since I will be teaching along side the amazing artists you see above you will have an opportunity to explore the many styles and techniques unique to each of them. Pretty cool I'd say! You can find out a lot more about Let's Face It here. 

I love to draw and paint faces so I'm excited to share my lesson. I will be teaching you how to create a face in profile which is not near as difficult as you may think! Plus I will include a mini bonus lesson that will help you speed up the process of learning how to draw a profile.

Registration is not open quite yet but on October 15th, you can register and If you sign up by December 1st, you will get a great discount on the price! 

Guess what else!?  I get to give away one free spot in this course to one of you!!

To enter…just leave a comment here on my blog letting me know why you want to win a spot in Let’s Face It 2016! To increase the number of times I enter your name, you could do any or all of the following to spread the love. (Be sure to pop back and let me know in the comments all the ways you have shared so I can add your name again and again)

* Subscribe to this blog.

* Share about the class on your blog, twitter, pinterest, google, facebook page or other social network platform.

* Like my facebook page or invite friends to like it.

* Follow me on Instagram.

I will announce the winner on Monday October 26th!

I look forward to seeing you in class! In the meantime here are some examples of profile faces I have created. 

xo robin

Student Work from Paint & Pixels Class!

This post represents the work of 27 different artists and we haven't even scratched the surface yet of what we have to share! Come and see the beautiful and imaginative art work that our students are creating in my and Ivy Newport's Paint & Pixels class! We are just 2 weeks in to this unique learning experience with an equally steep learning curve for the classically trained artists and those who are just beginning to explore themselves as artists. They are all truly pushing themselves past their comfort zone and reaping the rewards!  I respect and admire every single student who is posting their work, asking questions and offering help to one another. Come see what you/they have done! It is all quite wonderful!  All of the artist's names can be found within the post.

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Look at the beautiful color work! The compositional balance, the unity of the elements, the imaginative themes and ideas! Beautiful and unique, each one reflecting the artist who's work it is. They are all working from the same lessons and yet interpreting them in their own individual ways. We am amazed and so impressed! Hard workers all and I really respect that quality as a teacher!!

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Artists who's work is included here are: Marilou Cadiz-Marshall, Janet Reid, Cindy Travis, Tricia Dewey, Alexis Rotella, Sanna Friedner, Kathryn Delany, Colette Tradd, Monique van Bekkum, Christie Drahnak, Suzy Norris, Susanne Leusman, Angel Myerscough, Wanda Judd, Gillian Bowditch-Cooper, Ashley Haering, Cary Cutler Scholes, Roxi Gramlow Hardegree, Christa Thomas, Geraldine Deleuze, Erica C. Brothers, Robyn Jenkin, Michelle Gilmer, Courtney McPeak Mervine, Lynne O'Neil, Ida Glad, Roxi Gramlow Hardegree, Geri Centonze. For those whose work is not yet included in this particular post know that I just went crazy here and wanted to catch my breath before overwhelming everyone! You'll be coming up next! Thank you all! Keep up the great work! Art is effort, but the results are worth gold!!

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