100 Heads in 10 Days Challenge

The 100 heads in 10 days Challenge was created by Almed Aldoori you can learn more about him and the details about this challenge here. I saw other artist on Youtube and Instagram doing this challenge and at first I was intimidated by it. I thought about, what if I don't see any improvements and this just shows how much my work really sucks? Or What if I still don't like my paintings after all and all work is in vain? I also thought, What if I quit after a few days or I'm not about to do it for 10 days straight and need breaks? 

All of those concerns are valid. My intention with this challenge was to see....

• Where I am with my work?
• What areas I need to work on more ?
• Have fun
• Explore my talent and creativity 
• Draw faster
• Draw with more confidence
• Have a better layout for my paintings

Before I started this challenge it would take me on average of 1-2 hours to draw and create a layout for my paintings with lots of drawing and erasing. And for the last few ones I haven't like them enough to share on social media because I would notice after painting that something was off with the proportions , lighting, colors, I over worked a piece or for one reason or another I hated my work. 

Day 1

Day 2

Since starting this challenge I've started drawing faster without worrying so much on the details. I noticed most of my work is portraits with people not really doing much. They all have resting Bitch face in one way or another. I tend to stick to more dead on portraits with even proportions that all look like school photos that were over posed with no creativity allowed in the subjects. My portfolio had become the very thing I dreaded to see in others work as a model. I realize I haven't really been challenging myself to grow outside of my comfort zone as much as I thought. So this challenge forced me to to well, challenge that. I drew more hair styles, glasses, open mouths, girls blowing bubble, accessories, etc than I have ever before. Instead of drawing something and being frustrated that I have no idea what I'm doing and abandoning the project and starting over to capture it in a way I'm more comfortable I didn't let that bother me. This habit is similar to writing something and realizing you don't know how to spell it so you use a different word or change the whole sentence entirely to work around it. 

Day 3

I actually made an effort to refresh my memory of how to draw faces, human anatomy, and I even took a skillshare class on portrait drawing in order to learn how to do the things I forgot or never learned. You'll notice some of these pages have scribbles and doodles of mouths and noses. I almost never painted anyone with and open mouth and I almost never use a variety of noses. When it comes to ears depending on the size of the subject I usually don't put to much stock into it. I mostly cover them with hair. 

Day 4

Day 4 and Day 5

Day 5

Day 6

I almost never actually sit down and draw anymore like I used to before I started painting. After I started my journey in Watercolor painting drawing has just become a background or layout for paintings and a way to get the idea out for different projects I'm working on. 

 Day 7

The more I drew, the more I realized how much I have not learned yet or struggle to draw now. So It might explain why I'm so unhappy with my paintings lately. Because I'm growing and my eye is getting sharper. I'm starting to self critique because for the first time ever I'm actually painting with the intention to grow. Not just to create for the purpose of creating not really caring about the end result. I actually want my work to be good and not just there.

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10 

Day 10 I decided to test out where I am based on all the hard work and warming up I did within the past few days. I drew bigger faces that filled the page and colored some of them. I liked how the women below has her face smushed and her hands are in an interesting pose.

 I like how her head is slighting turned but her body is straight. I added some color pencils to her hair color. 

This is the first time I drew a drag queen and an open mouth pose. I used the rule of 3's grid technique of these last drawings to I can get the proportions right. I like this better than drawing small. 

  I drew a few men and a half drag queen half man. I sealed these in watercolor to keep the charcoal from smudging. I won't be doing this on all drawings in this book because it's not a mixed media or watercolor sketchbook and the paper buckles a lot. 

In conclusion, I am very beginner in my work as an artist for the amount of time I have been practicing. I have a lot of catching up to do when it comes to human body anatomy I'm lacking a lot because I mainly draw portraits. As far as portraits go I need more practice of different facial expressions, ears, noses, open mouths, hair, and lighting. 

This challenge was fun and I look forward to redoing this challenge in watercolor to test out where I am in shading, lighting, and adding more variety to my work. I would also like to try more art challenges and try Almed's 500 hands in a week. I'm not very good at drawing hands. If it's to complicated I mostly just skip it or do something silly like give my human subject a hook, hooves, tentacles, or hide it. Anything to get out of actually challenging myself to grow.

Day 10 

I did explore a lot and it helped to open me up to exploring more in my work. I got to see other artist process and journey on Youtube and Instagram and it inspired me and encouraged me to create more.

 One of my greatest intentions in life to always be learning, growing, exploring, and be open to positive things life throws at me. It gives me strength to get through the hard times and makes all worth it in the end, knowing I at least tried and was open to growth.

In the middle of this challenge I painted two subjects one male and one female. The male I tried to be more true to the photograph and explore different coloring techniques. In the female, I wanted to paint a 3/4 view in an interesting pose. I liked the references pose and look, but once I got a general idea of what I wanted to do, I went my own way with it. I only spent max 10 minutes drawing before I started painting. I felt more comfortable drawing and confident in the layout I created in my work. 

Figure Modeling!

I asked the artist of the Highland Park Community Center if I could take a few snap shots of their work before I left to catch my train. It always amazes me how different their styles, creativity, expression, and experience all comes out different to suit each and every one of them. I will never stop being amazed by their work, passion, and creativity. Very inspiring to create. If you are an artist, art instructor, art directer, etc. In the Chicago area and surrounding cities that I can take the Metra to. Feel free to contact me for booking. I am an experienced figure model, I bring my own robe, water, snacks, etc, and props if needed. I do portraits, life drawing, figure drawing, figure painting, long poses, short poses, and pretty used to an environment the averages between 3-5 hours. 

Me next to a water color painting.

A collection of portraits, sketches, paintings, and pastels from different artist.

Artist wrapping up painting.

Why I don’t shoot Nudes Tf?

Assumption: Because I’m nude I deserve to get paid.


Reality: I have far too many nudes in my portfolio and it is nice to do every once in a while, but I do not wish to just do nudes only.

1.)     I am more interested in Alternative modeling,  huge umbrella term for dark, edgy, Gothic, Horror, Gore, Pinup, Art, Fantasy, Etc.

2.)    The purpose of a TF shoot is to either A) Add to my portfolio assuming I don’t have any pictures of anything in a certain category. B) to Update my portfolio on my new look when my Appearance changes in any way ; tattoos, piercings, hair color, hair length, or anything. C) To enhance my portfolio. Meaning that in order for two parties or even a group to get together and trade their time and talent for photos, it has to be beneficial to all parties. I do not feel that nudes are beneficial to my portfolio, though I enjoy doing them. It is not the direction I wish for my career to go into. I do not wish to be side tracked and it takes time and energy away from my other projects.

3.)    Sometimes I unfortunately do not receive pictures back from photo shoots. With Nudes I am very cautious on whom I choose to work with. If it is a paid shoot at least I can say oh, I got paid that was part of the agreement, I don’t need the pictures back. Typically on paid assignments I am made aware that the Photographer is getting paid by a third party for those photos so they cannot post them anywhere. So I understand.

4.)    Respect! This is my art. This is my body and by doing only paid work when it comes to nudes narrows down the amount of creeps I get approaching me. And it allows people to take me more seriously as a model, an artist, and a person overall.

5.)    Last year when I first started shooting nudes I ran into a lot of problems that’s part of the reason why I went into a deep depression because I wasn’t happy with my life and the direction it was going. I got sidetracked with everybody else and their projects that I had no time to do my own.

6.)    The reason why I started modeling in the first place was because I wanted to be an alternative model. I want to have the freedom to be myself to the fullest without holding back and work with like minded creative people who wish to do the same. A part of me comes to life when I’m in front of the camera provided I work with the right people. A part of me that is left dead otherwise. I need art like I need to breath and this is one of my lungs and a huge chunk of my heart. I do not wish to get side tracked again. I am mostly interested in clothed alternative shoots. If you wish to shoot an artistic nude concept with me message me for my rates. If you are an art instructor or artist and you are looking for figure models I am available and reliable. That is All thank you. 

Gothic/Halloween Finds

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So You Wanna go to Art School?

After a series of conversations with artist and art majors a like the topic of art school has come up a lot. Lots of talented artist are self taught and had little to no training in their upbringing as an artist. This goes for multiple artist who practice many mediums and crafts. Some art are more digital; animators, photographers, graphic artist, etc. Some artist are more hands one; Illustrators, painters, sculptors, fashion, accessories, jewelry, mixed media or something else entirely. But most of these things are things that you may or may not know about prior to entering art school or things that can be easily learned or picked up. With the advance of the internet and many how-to books, it's fairly easier to get into than it may have been in the past. What do art schools offer that you cannot get self taught?
* You learn from professionals that are actively in the field or have been for years during or prior to teaching who can offer you one one advice that you may not be able to pick up from books.
* Books and media a limited outside of the classroom. There are certain books that schools have excess to that you will not be able to find on the market as a self taught artist. A lot of it you could probably figure out just by experience and just jumping into to there and getting your hands dirty.
* Schools have great connections to people and companies that may be otherwise nearly impossible to have excess to.
* Depending on what school you're attending or plan on attending and that schools reputation. It could make it easier to have access to jobs and internships in your career field of choice.
* College life is fun, you get a break from being at home with your family, you get to party, do almost anything you want and you don't have to answer to anyone about your actions or whereabouts. You live with or near your friends so hanging out is easy.
* College life offers access to things you wouldn't have access to at home. It could be the food, the campus itself, internet, a working computer, lots of help with school, work, and everyday needs.
* College is supposed to be the best four years of your life and something to truly treasure for life. The Downside
* College is expensive you or you family may not be able to afford it. * You may have to take out both government and student loans in combination to grants and scholarships that hopefully your school grants you upon applying.
* You may have to switch from living on campus to being a commuter which can be quite expensive and cut into your time management.
* You may need a place to study and do homework other than your room. College offers 24 hr libraries and study rooms along with the help of friends and peers who may be able to help you with anything in case you get stuck somewhere.
* You may have to take a semester off from college to work in order to save up for it and plan to return later.
* You may find yourself in an unemployment rut with a huge student loan bill to come within 6 months of not being enrolled in any classes.
* You may just drop out of school and hope to return one day and years may pass you by as you struggle to make ends meets especially with no degree to help.
* You may end up watching all of your friends and peers graduate, move on in life with their careers, get married, have kids, and life the American dream while you're still trying to survive only hoping that maybe, just maybe things will turn around.
* You may find that college isn't all it's cracked up to be and neither is being older, especially when you find yourself not being able to accomplish much.
* College can be quite troublesome. Unless you are able to find a job, save your money and start your career as a self taught artist and network and market like crazy. You may find yourself losing your mind and hating college all together.

So You Wanna Go To Art School?