Pretty Face Sketches

Sketch #335, Back to Graphite

2009-05-01T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's one done in graphite pencil, (as opposed to being created digitally) .

On a technical note, the file itself is in PNG format. Apologies to anyone whose browser does not support that. I tried multiple times (unsuccessfully) to upload a jpeg version using Blogger's "Add Image" feature (which has generally worked fine for me in the past). Oh well, at least PNG was working :)

Sketch #334, Another Digital

2009-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I thought I'd squeeze in one more totally digital creation before getting back to the graphite.

Next time, back to the pencil :)

Ted

Sketch #333, Totally Digital

2009-02-24T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well, here's the first sketch I've posted here in quite some time and the first since I changed the site to run powered by Blogger. Now that items relating to that conversion are out of the way, I hope to post more often.

I just happened to be in the mood to see what I could do using just the computer this time, but graphite will probably remain my primary medium of choice.

I make no promises that this layout change will be the last, but I do hope that any changes I make in the near future will be incremental, rather than drastic. For now, with posting a bit easier and comments enabled, I hope that the site has at least made a few steps in the right direction.

Pretty Face Sketches gets a Face Lift

2009-02-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't made any post to PFS since November. I, have however, given a fair amount of thought to some changes I would like to make, and have begun porting the blog over to being powered by Blogger.

In addition to making the blog easier for me to maintain, this change will allow comments and possibly some other "goodies" that will improve it.

I'll try to gradually upload all of my posts from the old format (it may take a while), and I hope to start adding new sketches again soon.

Ted

Sketch #332

2008-11-27T12:33:00.000-08:00

I believe that several studies have shown that people tend to regard faces with a lot of symmetry as more attractive than those with less of it. For this sketch I took half of the one in the preceding post and reversed it to form the other half (thus achieving perfect symmetry).

This technique fails miserably with a lot of sketches. It's easy to end up with a "cross eyed" result or its opposite, for instance, if the eyes are not oriented right.

Even in the case of the drawing in this post (which think is at least somewhat well-suited to the technique), the young lady seems to suffer from a bit of a "fish-eye lens" and an overly thin neck.

Sketch #331

2008-11-22T12:56:00.001-08:00

I exercised more restraint in the digital editing stage with this one than I typically have lately. She's mostly the original graphite.

Sketch #330

2008-11-19T12:58:00.000-08:00

Well, once again, I find myself posting a sketch far later than I intended to. Anyway, here she is.

Sketch #329

2008-10-23T13:00:00.001-07:00

Yikes, a month's gone by since my last post. Well, anyway, here's my latest graphite/computer hybrid.

It wasn't too hard to get back into sketching. I'm glad I didn't wait any longer :)

Sketch #328

2008-09-23T13:02:00.000-07:00

This is another digitally enhanced graphite sketch, somewhat similar in style to #326 but with some significant differences as well.

Sketch #327

2008-09-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here's a little virtual collage I made combining a portrait with an abstract.

Sketch #326

2008-09-03T13:12:00.000-07:00

As usual, this one involved considerable redrawing once the sketch was scanned into the computer. It's going easier, however, now that I am somewhat "back in practice", having drawn a little more frequently of late.

Sketch #325

2008-09-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Once again I used the combination of an original graphite sketch and a lot of digital editing to produce the result at right. I did a lot of light/shadow experimentation on the computer.

Sketch #324

2008-08-27T13:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, with this one I return to the graphite pencil medium, albeit with a lot of digital editing.

Sketch #323: Totally Digital Again

2008-08-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Having been preoccupied with an unrelated project for the past few weeks, I neglected my sketching rather badly. Anyway, the other project is done, and I'm trying to get back to sketching more frequently. Here's a digital one. I hope to come up with something in graphite that's post-worth soon.

Sketch #321 (#315 revisited)

2008-07-22T13:23:00.001-07:00

I thought I would try another digital makeover, this time of sketch #315 from back in June.

Sketch #320 (#319 revisited)

2008-07-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

I made some more (digital) modifications to the sketch posted Wednesday, perhaps the most significantly of which was re-drawing the eyes.

Sketch #319

2008-07-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's one with relatively more graphite and less digital editing than the one most of those I've been posting lately.

Sketch #318

2008-07-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

I redrew the sketch on which the previous two posts were based then did some more digital editing, so I guess that makes this one a cousin to the other two.

To the right is the original redrawing before I went all digital on it here. I'm not sure that I don't like the original better :)

Sketch #317

2008-06-28T19:17:00.000-07:00

Here's #316's blonde sister :)

Sketch #316

2008-06-24T19:20:00.000-07:00

Similar technique, shorter hairstyle. I am definitely gravitating towards doing more of the editing on the computer - It's hard to resist the allure of all of the digital editing tools, not the least of which is the ability to undo mistakes with far greater ease :)

Sketch #315 "Julia Set Julie"

2008-06-23T19:21:00.000-07:00

Once again I chose grayscale for this portrait. I find it somewhat liberating to be able to concentrate on chosing the right shades without having to concern myself with the colors. There was a whole lot of digital editing involved in this one. There were some things I liked about the original sketch, but also many that I felt needed changing. To the left is a portion of the progression from the original sketch to the final edited version on the right.

For a finishing touch I added a little Julia Set lighting, hence the title.

Sketch #314

2008-06-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Grayscale seemed to work best for this one. Once again, I did a lot of digital editing.

On the right is the original sketch. Left of that is what she looks like after editing.

Sketch #313

2008-06-09T19:32:00.000-07:00

Less digital editing on this one, but I did make a few minor alterations here and there.

Sketch #312

2008-05-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Here's another "woman in the woods" sketch, with some substantial digital editing.

To the right is the original drawing from which she was derived.

Sketch #311: "Woman by Seaside Castle"

2008-05-27T19:38:00.000-07:00

After scanning in the graphite sketch, I did most of the work on the castle/sea background digitally.