S Furner Fine Art : What About Faces

Each FACE is an universe, a separate identity, wrinkles, crinkles, splotches from one's life journey. Much can be learned about a person by carefully observing their face. Photographers and artists learn to look at a face deeply, to capture the soul and persona each in their own manner.

As a painter, PEOPLE WATCHING is high on my list of pleasures. There are so many ways to capture the image of someone who intrigues you, who mystifies you, who teaches you.

I have tried my hand at portraiture, exploring many different techniques. This beautiful Tibetan woman caught my attention and is painted in a more realistic manner.

Two little girls absorbed in their knitting are more about story telling and body language.

These girls chatting in Times Square are vague but you can almost imagine what they look like.

Then of course there is PHOTOGRAPHY, the lens captures what the eye might miss. My camera like my iphone stay close to me at all times. One never knows.......

Great fun is IMAGINATIVE PAINTING...inspiration flowing from head to arm to brush.

There are so many places to go for inspiration, more magical places than time to travel. A few years ago I ran across the multi-media work of a very talented artist, Misty Mawn. I followed her work through her blog and magazines that feature her work and was intrigued with her style of painting faces. She offered an on line class and I decided to try something new. It is a terrific class if you are interested in exploring something from a different point of view.

Those who participated in her online class uploaded their paintings onto a Flickr group. I realized, looking at the over all work, that my own style of personal painting technique created a challenge for me and I couldn't quite attain her style like other participants. However, I did learn many things and at that time fell in love again with the OIL STICKS which she had use in an exercise.

The following are few of the faces I did specifically for her group. They are all done on heavy #180 hot press watercolor paper. I am binding them into a book. Most faces rely heavily on Stablio watersoluable pencil and Oil Sticks from several different sources. Others involve acrylic and collage. All were drawn from imagination with no references.