30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 11

"I Can't Breathe"

It was hard for me to do this because the sadness was a bit overwhelming. I don't think any of us will have an easy time forgetting the horror of seeing this man murdered right before our eyes while three other policemen watched. 

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 10

I can't look at this Vietnamese woman without smiling. Is she cute or what? She lived through a terrible, long, drawn-out war, but she's still cheerful.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 9

We have now reached over 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, an astonishing number representing 100,000 grieving families and friends. To mark this tragic milestone, I drew Philip Kahn, 100 years of age, who succumbed to the virus this year. Incredibly, his twin brother died 100 years ago in the Spanish flu pandemic.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days, Day 8

I find it very hard to simplify like this. To capture the elements that make up a person's face in so few lines and no gradations of values is very challenging for me.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 7

This is a young African girl, and you can tell she will grow into a very regal woman. I spent most of the day on this, and enjoyed every minute.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days, Day 6

This Native American woman has lived a long time and she probably has some good stories to tell. I'll bet she has some sad ones too, and they are written on her face.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 5, "Grief"

This was the hardest one yet. As we near 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus, we hear words like "statistics" and "data," but the reality is, people are experiencing heart-rending grief, horror, and despair. This young woman has a baby and a toddler and lost her husband to the virus. I can't even imagine the pain she is experiencing. 

I have never before tried to picture grief written on someone's face, and it was not easy. I just wanted to put a human face on tragedy. This is the first drawing I've given a title.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 4

If there's anything harder than drawing a perfect woman, it's drawing a baby. Babies are so new, so flawless, and so soft. She's probably thinking, "I wish someone would take this ridiculous bow off my head."

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 3

Here I tried something different. Instead of pencil, I used a brush pen, which forced me to simplify. It was a challenge within a challenge, but I like the way it turned out.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 2

For me, the hardest thing to draw is a beautiful woman. This one has no lines, no scars, no wrinkles (unlike the man in Day 1). The only thing that's flawed with her is that goofy hairdo.

Carmen

30 Faces in 30 Days: Day 1

I saw a challenge online for drawing 30 faces in 30 days, and I thought that was a darn fine idea. I didn't join their challenge, just doing it on my own, and this is Face Number 1. This is really good practice.

Carmen

At Gleason Park

Things are loosening up in Florida and people are going to parks and beaches. There were many people in Gleason Park, and they were socially distancing. I had a picnic table to myself and was able to paint in my journal, sitting comfortably in the shade, and enjoying the breeze.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Carmen

Journaling During Quarantine

Since I have been remiss in my journaling lately, I decided to catch up. There's not much to say since we have self-quarantined since March. On the previous page I wrote a little summary, which I won't bore you with.

We've never had so much time to work in the yard, so it is really looking good now. And I did eventually make successful masks. Click on the picture to see it better.

Carmen

The Amazing Rhonda, 11x14 Oil on Canvas

This painting gave me something to be inspired about, something to make me look forward to getting up in the morning. I always call our niece "The Amazing Rhonda," because she is. She managed to put herself through nursing school and raise four sons as a single mom. She is used to crisis situations as a trauma nurse at the University of Penn hospital in Philadelphia. She is kind, generous, and energetic and devoted to her children and grandchildren. She is indeed The Amazing Rhonda.

Carmen