Penelope Cruz

Today's picture of Penelope Cruz is more of a full body pose than a portrait. I liked the pose but as the facial detail was quite small it didn't lend itself to a full portrait. She's still recognisable though. One of the smallest pictures I've done in a while so the flaws are more visible. There's a case for work large and reduce, reduce, reduce!

How not to draw Reece Witherspoon!

Well, today was a strange day. A mixture of good and bad. I wasted far too much time browsing through books...

Then there was the life drawing class, (moved to Thursday for this week only). A single pose for nearly 2 hours which came out well. Not sure whether to post it - possibly a little too revealing for this post

Feeling flushed with success I thought I should tackle a portrait. So, who to draw, Reece Witherspoon was my choice. This was the result of half an hours work - a quick sketch successful in that it's a convincing person. However, not a good likeness of Reece. I've decided to quit for the night and try again tomorrow!

OK now, time for the reveal, brace yourself for a bad likeness and feel free to laugh at this attempt, I do!

You can start laughing...

NOW!

Must post something, Uma Thurman?

Sometimes I spend time on a drawing and think I've got it, only to find I scan it in the computer and it just hasn't worked as well as I thought. It's the old proximity thing.

I attempted Uma Thurman, I wasn't trying for a caricature but I think I did one. I'm still trying to get to grips with the inktense pencils. Her lips are much darker than I intended. I'm not a happy girl...Very frustrated at the moment.

Having said that, I managed a nice outdoor sketch at lunchtime, might scan it in tomorrow?

I also took this lovely picture of my dog.

Matt Damon or is it "The Joker"

Sometimes I regret committing myself to publishing the good and the bad, I don't want other people to see my mistakes. You might have guessed, I'm not at all happy with this one! It's mainly the mouth, but other bits are irritating me as well. I decided to finish it anyway and try again - I think I need to do a lot of redraws this week. Sighs heavily! I'm feeling very negative at the moment, it's just a phase I know but I must work through it. Sorry Matt, I will do you justice.

It may also be getting to grips with a new medium. This was my second attempt with the inktense pencils and they go sooooo much darker when they have water applied. So, on a lighter note, can you see the joker? I know the mouth is definitely him, it would have been good on a caricature! So red, almost clown like, maybe that's why he looks so creepy. Oh, and the tie, there should be a public health warning on the tie!

There, feeling a bit better now. I'm pleased with my abstract, so far. It's still not dry. It's so boring waiting, like watching paint dry...ha, ha, ha. Laugh, I almost started.

Leonardo Di Caprio?

I think I've discovered a new condition. It's called "Morphitis". It's the process by which a portrait changes from one person into another. For example, Leonardo here started off looking like Robert Redford, then Andrew enquired if it was Bill Clinton (Honestly, with such reassurance in my abilities, it's a wonder I continue). Undeterred I ploughed on and, finally, achieved a passable likeness. I realised long ago, it's better to stop some pictures early, before my boredom starts to show in the work, and I was beginning to be heartily sick of this one. It's often better to start again. The watercolour pencils are a first for me. I've used regular pencils - way back in the dark ages. I prefer bolder colours and pencils tend to be a bit insipid. I've just invested in a Derwent "Inktense" set, so we'll see how I get on with those.

I've finally started painting my Royal Academy entry. It looks pretty rubbish so far but they always do at this stage.

My creative muse has been somewhat tested this week with school's being closed due to snow - a rather pathetic 4 inches at most yesterday - but enough to cause chaos to traffic. We live on a steep hill which develops into an ice rink with the slightest snow. Being a side road it remains un-gritted until one of us goes out with a shovel. I admit to ultimate wimpishness on Monday when I watched 2 cars slide down the hill- I didn't fancy making mine the third, so all children were kept off despite no closures at the time. Only to be joined by Andrew on Tuesday. We sallied forth and, even though I had to take my eldest to school myself - we'd missed the bus. By Thursday all the schools had given up and closed.

Still the snow has provided plenty of camera Fodder, providing some very pleasing results. see below.

And lots of opportunities to play...

Uma Thurman - pencil sketch

A pencil offering today and a regular portrait, I don't seem to be doing too many normal portraits. I'm trying to post more often, so I thought I'd publish now. - even though it's late. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do all I want... So here's Uma,

I've decided I'm going to enter the Royal Academy's Summer exhibition. Not long to do it, entry is mid March and handing in day's in early April. I have an idea so I ordered 2 canvases on Sunday and they arrived today. The only trouble was there were 2 vertical tears about 6 inches long right down the middle of one. I phoned the company who are sending a replacement and I get to keep the pair with the damaged ones. So waste not want not - I feel a collage coming on - Shoelaces and eyelets might be featuring heavily...

Watch this space.