Playing with Portraits and some re-visits.....

Hello all and welcome. I don't know about you, but  have you seen some of the amazing portraits people are posting these days? There are several challenges out there also....
Anyway, I am not much of a challenge player, but I did decide that it was high time to try my hand at some portraits again.
Here first of all is a recent attempt:

I have been hugely impressed with the wonderful work of the talented Froebelsternchen/Susi who posts almost daily journal pages, often including super portraits. One of my all time favourites was this one.
I really admire her loose style and faces full of character.... Oh to be able to do that, mine always look stiff and bland by comparison....
Anyway, here's a quick run down of how this spread came together:

A mop up page with some additional gesso was the start.

Some background stamping and further splatters. I had no plan in mind for this spread, I was just playing really. But then I started to see the outline of a face on the left side, so that's when I made the decision to finally try my hand at a portrait again.....

So here she is, a girl's face with an attempt of wind swept hair, drawn with a 4b and Stabilo All pencil and a water brush.

The finishing touches with some autumnal elements thrown in and some lines from a favourite poem.

When I rise, let me rise joyfully like a bird

When I fall, let me fall gracefully like a leaf without regret...

Now I am not actually a newcomer to portraits, I used to do them a lot, particular when I really got into journalling way back into 2010. So today I thought it would be fun to share some of these earlier attempts. When I look at them now, they make me cringe in many ways. Endless fiddling with acrylic paints taking hours and hours (one of the reasons I probably gave up on portraits).... stiff like I said and overly stylized..... ah well, judge for yourself. All I can say is, - they are no longer me really....

Done in June 2010, an attempt at a half profile.

I called this one Ode to Motherhood, I think I created it on Mother's day, - so sentimental (always a problem of mine)

The last portrait of that period. I quite like the background on this one and the bird, which also took a long time to draw......

Anyway, there you have it, - playing with portraits, warts and all. I am going to enter the first one into Susi's challenge Art Journal Journey where the theme is Inspired by Autumn Colours.

Thanks for your visit today and indulging me into a trip down memory lane...