This video shows you the first faces I have sketched out for 29Faces this February.

Ayala Art hosts this challenge. You can learn more here on her site.

Now, the first journal you see is my “official’ for this year’s 29Faces challenge journal. There are enough pages in this journal to sketch a face on one side of the page for maybe three challenges, if not more. This journal was not made specifically for this purpose but was made as more of an art journal when I made it years ago.

I am having a lot of fun sketching out these faces, which is how the second journal came into play. Another hand-bound journal of mine, it is called the ‘Begin Again’ journal. The last two faces in the video were done in that journal.

So far, the only substrate I have put down in the 29Faces journal has been some gesso on a page or two…and some modeling paste I think on at least one page if not two. Mostly to add texture, but in some cases to push back how dark the background is so I can see what it is I am drawing as I draw it.

Why haven’t I painted anything? Actually, I am waiting for new paint to arrive and it will be here next week, barring any issues in shipping. This past year, my youngest has gone through all of my craft paint and all of our poster paint…and thankfully I have watercolor paints I will not let him touch…he loves to mingle colors and so he does not appreciate watercolors as much as poster, tempura, and craft acrylic paints. Thankfully we have gotten him to move on to colored pencils and he is tearing through his own stash of colored pencils and stacks of copy paper–but the kid is drawing every day and the mess is less disastrous than the paint messes of yore…

And yes, the boy is drawing faces with me every day. Every evening I remind him he still has to draw a face for the day — and he does. No, I will not be posting his work here. He is planning to start his own endeavor online at some point and I am going to leave his work to him unless he requests otherwise.

So, are you participating in 29Faces this month? How is the challenge going for you? Are you keeping up? Let me know in the comments below.