Contour portraits

Just to prove I haven't been idle and that I have actually been doing some sketching!!

My 11 year old daughter wanted me to show her how to draw faces as hers always look a little, ummmm, odd shall we say. So, I went through the procedure with her showing her how to put the guide lines in and where the eyes should be relative to the shape of a head etc. This is what the sketch turned out like:



I have done several more sketches and excuse all the lines on them but I didn't have an eraser handy so they are there warts and all.





Yesterday, Misty Mawn issued a pre-class challenge and that is to draw some contour portraits. What is a contour portrait?? You need a picture of a face. You have the picture in front on you and also a piece of paper and an HB pencil. You look at the picture and move your eyes over the outlines you see in the picture and at the same time you draw the outlines on the paper, without looking at the paper and without lifting your pencil up from the paper so you end up with a continuous line. It was actually quite fun - maybe that is how Picasso got his portrait style! Here are mine:





It is very hot here today. I was up at 7am picking apricots and then halving them to prepare them for dehydrating. The temperature is in the 40's and tomorrow it is expected to be 45 or 46 degrees celsius (115 F) - not pleasant at all. The hot weather is continuing into next week as well. Thank goodness for airconditioning that's all I can say!