Fascination with Faces

12 noon on a Sunday afternoon.
I'm supposed to be at work but I was up all night with a daughter doing her impression of The Exorcist and apart from the head doing a 360 she did a pretty good job!

Anyway, I need to unwind a bit so I am blogging about something that has been a bit of a passion of mine for the last ten years or so.

Until very recently I did computer artwork that I sold at conventions and multi media gatherings. Before that I used pencils and conte sticks and paper. Haven't done that for quite a while and I think it's about time I picked up the pencils again. Could be a good way to unwind and get a 'fix' for my fascination.
You see, most of my subjects since I started drawing have been portraits.

I love faces. With a passion I might say.
They don't have to be good looking (but it helps) and they don't have to be pretty (but it helps)
No, as long as they have plenty of character they are simply irresistable to look at and work on.
I have stated in past blogs that there is something quite intimate about working in such close up with someone's face.

What does it for me the most is eyes and smiles and recently there has been a plethora of eyes and smiles to choose from.
I haven't done a piece of artwork for nearly a year now and I think It's time to do something new.

My first subject could well be Zachary Quinto. 

My current obsession. Just look at those eyes! Deep brown, heavy brows and he can go from looking totally evil to totally innocent by simply raising the brows and popping on a set of glasses!
Pencils or computer..... that's the question?

One of my favourite computer pieces from the past is my Johnny Depp piece.

One of the greatest character actors 'ever' and at the moment I don't think anyone comes close to his ability to portray such different characters. 

Of course one of the obvious pieces to work on would be a mirror piece to my Classic Star Trek crew.
To gather images of the 'new' movie crew and mirror this image.......

Yes, I like that idea a lot.
Now do I work on a computer generated piece or a pencil piece?
The computer piece will be cleaner and look like an oil painting when it's finished and will probably only take a few days but a pencil piece is going to be more of a challenge.
I haven't picked up a pencil in anger for over ten years so I'm going to be rusty and there's no room for error. I won't be able to 'undo' a wrong stroke like I can with a computer.

So here I go..... on an image hunt.
Watch this space.