Artfest 2011 Part I

Artfest 2011 happened the week of April 6 - 10 this year out at Fort Worden in Port Townsend, WA. Imagine an old military base, 500 creative people and nothing but time to play with paint, clay, wood, wire, fibers and just about any other medium you can imagine. Ahhh! This is what I was meant for!

New Beginnings 5x7 Matted Print on Etsy

I spent Friday and Saturday learning to draw and paint pretty girl faces with Sunny Carvalho. If you aren't familiar with her work she does absolutely phenomenal eyes which is what originally drew me to her beautiful paintings.

Kell Belle Studio Original Drawing

I was amazed at how much my drawings could change with only a few minor changes to what I was already doing plus I learned a few other nifty tricks with the facial features that I will continue to incorporate into my work.

Kell Belle Studio Pretty Girl Original Drawing

Who would have thought that whimsical was only a matter of changing a few lines? Haha! I can't help but smile every time I look at this little girl. I want to thank Sunny for her generosity in sharing her knowledge with us at Artfest. She truly made my experience special not to mention fun, and informative.

How to Draw Pretty Faces

I have recently learned how to draw pretty faces with the help of artist Suzi Blu. So what is it that we humans find beautiful about the human face? I believe the answer lies in symmetry. Symmetry is comfortable, makes us feel safe, and has a calming effect. In one of her tutorials Suzi introduces a grid as a way to set up your drawing for symmetry and beauty, which has become the most invaluable tool in my face drawing arsenal.

previously posted - shown here for comparison

Different artists line the face up in different ways for different mediums but the concept is universally the same. The key is to figure out which method speaks the most to your inner artist and simply begin. While I can't offer you the grid here, you can visit how to draw faces.org for a quick tutorial on how to line up a face. In the meantime, I can tell you what I've learned from my pencil sketches.

graphite pencil eye study

Teaching myself how to draw eyes was challenging at first so I began doing some sketches of just eyes. It might be surprising to know that the eyes pictured above all have the same width from left to right and the irises all have the same diameter. How do I know this? I used a ruler and circle templates to help me out. What I varied in these examples was the height of the eye from top to bottom and the iris placement.

iris too small but still works - relaxed sexy eyes

Eye color made some difference as to the aesthetic quality as did slight variations in the placement of the fold of skin over the upper lid. A wider eye height from top to bottom gave me a more awake and younger look to my girls. The iris touches the bottom lid and the pupil is close to the upper lid giving her a more relaxed look.

youthful, alert - wider eye height

Narrower eye heights combined with lighter eye colors look mysterious, beautiful and a little more mature. For a sexy, sleepy look, place the fold of skin over the upper lid a little higher and do the same with the iris placement.

mysterious, sexy eyes - narrower eye height

My drawings have come a long way in two weeks as evidenced by the first drawing at the beginning of this post. While these are not the first face drawings I've done, they are the first drawings I've created using a grid with pupil placement in the center of the eye where it belongs. My advice if you want to draw pretty faces, set up your drawing right and practice, practice, practice.