Art Journaling Faces

Hi everyone, it's Kate here today and I have an art journal page to share with you. Lately, I have spent more time cultivating my sketching and painting techniques than mixed media so today's project was  good practice. 

  I love browsing thrift shops and recently I found 3 Smash books for less than $1 each at Goodwill. These books are great for practicing face painting especially when using this larger face map stencil. This past year I have spent far less time creating than I would like but it is nice to have a project that I can work on as I get the time. Painting faces is perfect for that because of the various layers of paint involved. I can add a layer of paint, walk away while it dries and then come back at a future date and do the same. While it may take longer to complete a painting, I am able to fit some creativity into my busy schedule instead of none. Thankfully, the busy seasons will not last forever. 

To start out, I layered gesso on my paper and then traced the Face Map Front Stencil. To be honest, I had no idea what I was going for when I started this page so I pulled up a vintage photograph I had previously downloaded and used that as my inspiration.

Using a pen, I sketched in the facial features. These face maps have guidelines on them which makes facial feature placement so much easier for those that struggle. I am one of those! 

And then comes the fun part...adding the paint. I used PaperArtsy Paints on this entire project because they layer well and some even allow for transparency.

The highlights were added first and then the shadows. 

After completing the face, I decided I wanted something more, such as a hair decoration. The Collage Textures and Patterns: Leaves were perfect for the headdress.

And to finish the background I used the Succulent stencil. Overall, I am pleased with the way she turned out but I need to work on the highlights in her eyes. She looks a little crossed-eyed.

I love that this whole page was achieved using paint and stencils. I never thought that a stencil could help me on my quest to conquer faces but I have found these face map stencils by Pam Carriker to be so helpful and addicting! 

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I used these stencils and that if you are afraid of faces you will give them a try.

Until Next Time,

Kate