Challenge: 29 Faces (Day 1 = Setember 16!)

I have never participated to art challenges, but, perusing my friend's Tammie Lee's blog, I found this one that appeals to me and seemed fun. It's called 29 faces and it's been launched by Alaya Art.

I should have started at the beginning of the month, so I am entering the game late. I wonder if I'll be able to complete the challenge by the end of the month. I'll have to do a couple of faces per day to catch up...but that's fun and good practice, too.

Here my 3 mini faces for the day:

#1 Baby's got her wish.

#2 Student learning a new lab procedure

#3 Mermaid waiting for a pray

 29 faces

The originals are about 2-3 inches...the only way I have to make something quick!
Copics and random paper.

Many thanks to Ayala for this intriguing opportunity!

Ritratto di Bimba (Bella's Portrait) finished

It's done. And I think I sort of saved it.
Thank goodness for my husband's constructive criticisms and the mixed media approach that allowed me to correct at least partially my mistakes with pencils!

What did I change?
-Her eyes were/are not aligned. I used a dark brown pencil to redraw the lower and upper lids outlines to create the illusion of new boundaries.
-Her lips were vampire-like, way to red and dark, like if blood had congealed on them (yuk!). I used a white pastel pencil to tone down the redness.
-Her smile was sort of uncertain, so with a dark violet and brown pencils I pushed the corners of her mouth further sideways and upward.
-Then I used  dark and reddish brown pencils to define better her cheeks and the smile-puffiness under her eyes (what do you call those thigies?...8 month old kids cannot possibly have "bags" under their eyes!).
-After this, I darkened the left side of her face, because somehow it looked too broad before. This also, I think, helped giving a more 3-dimentional look to the face.
-I added wisps of hair here and there, to avoid the impression she was wearing a lopsided wig.
-Finally, I toned down the contour of her face and collar overlapping white pastel pencil to the too severe and bold multiliner sign.

I think that's about it.
I feel better about it, now...so I think I can safely hang it in Bella's room without making her cry in fear of creating an unpleasant "mommy thinks I am ugly" complex. ;)

Hope you guys are all happy and enjoying this beautiful September day. Hugs and kisses,
Astera and family!

Dormi Dormi for the Topipittori game

The beginning of the year is when I get excited about contests and games. I participated to two, almost submitted an entry for a third, and thinking I should maybe run for a forth one...

This little piece here, Dormi Dormi, was a quick drawing I made for a game (not a contest, a game) by the italian editor Topipittori. The participants were supposed to draw the pajama of their dreams. I made one for my Bella to wear. Of the 78 entries, 20 were selected and published. The public will choose the winner.You can see (and vote for) the selected entries here.
Unfortunately, my piece was not chosen, but it goes straight to Bella's room...after all for my family, I am always a winner! ;)

 The quality of the picture is actually pretty bad...I think I should take a new photo with more light (or buy a new scanner...) and update my sites in a few days.

How is this new one?