A pout to die for...

Thomas Earl - wip

Tonight's face of the golden haired Thomas Earl is a wip. I went on a lovely day trip to Oxford today which was awesome! I'd never been before, but have wanted to go since I watched 'Lewis'. I was running around Oxford and the Ashmolean grinning gleefully, pointing out all the places I'd seen on telly to my silently suffering colleague. The result of my lovely day out was that I am now completely knackered, and I'm going to have to leave this one for tonight, 'cause I'm falling asleep here. Until tomorrow!

Hair dye no. 241

David Turner

Today's face is once again of the singing geologist David Turner. This time with his hair dyed and wearing coloured contact lenses. When he's not examining rocks he likes to sing opera, and is in fact famous for his extraordinary vocal range which allows him to jump effortlessly from baritone to tenor and counter tenor. He is also quite famous for matching his hair colour with his outfits on a daily basis ;-)

Recuperating Marshal

Lawman with a fever

Tonight I was once again irreversibly drawn to one of my most favourite faces. The face of the superbly wonderful Anthony Zerbe. It was his performance in the western Roster Cogburn that inspired the look of my lawman and instigated my quite frankly baffling desire to write a western of my own.
In this particular rendition of marshal Breed he has been shot, has a slight fever and generally isn't feeling to brilliant. But don't worry, he'll heal up just fine and meet a really nice girl too. This leading man gets a happy ending :-)

The return of the singing geologist...

DT

Today's face is called David Turner, or DT, a character from one of my sci-fi universes.
Shamelessly based on a young David Bowie, DT is a geologist, a singer and a chameleon. Yes, he really does blend in with his surroundings when he wants to. His albino like appearance was caused by a genetic change when he was five when he was accidentally given Kahva blood during an operation. This resulted in a merging of the Kahva and human cells leaving DT with his ghostly appearance and the Kahva signature trait of taking on the colouring and pattern of anything they touch.
Yes, my rich internal life strikes again... what can I say? I keep myself entertained ;-)

Brightly lit...

Shiny

So, today was bright. Very bright. Not that I'm complaining about the lovely sunshine, mind. My new monitor is also very bright... it's all so... very... bright!
And I had no idea what to paint today... so in the end this happened. I don't even know what 'this' is. My involuntary painting siesta really seems to have knocked my creativity sideways. I'm going to bed now.

Ooh la la!

Vulcan beanie

First painting on the new computer.
Considering how my stress levels have been blowing the meters of recent it seemed only logical to spend a few hours testing the new machine making a painting of someone who is almost infuriatingly calm, my favourite Vulcan, Spock. In the episode 'The City on the Edge of Forever' Spock hides his 'Vulcan-ness' by wearing a beanie. Not only was it hilarious, it was also super cute :-)
The tablet handles a bit differently and the screen is rather bright even after colour calibration... but I'll get used to it, I'm sure.
Welcome, new beastie :-)

Kiss the helmet...

Murphy and me

There, I've said it for you... 'cause you were thinking it ;-)
As Sherlock Homes said when he sat on the floor folding a whole load of napkins 'Well, that kinda just happened.'
Two faces in one for today's face paint in an attempt to catch up. Also, this is probably the closest I'll ever get to kissing Robocop. As one of my colleagues said to me the other say 'You have a very rich internal life. How lovely.' :-)

Part man, part machine...

Alex John Murphy

... all fabulous!
In an attempt to ignore my ear aching and screaming like a banshee, I decided to paint someone who's had a much harder time than me. The wonderful Murphy from Robocop. I'm really not into violent films and so hadn't ever bothered watching Robocop until a few years ago after much prodding from some very persistent friends. It's now one of my all time favourite films. I did not expect that at all... but the tragic tale of Murphy who is turned into a cyborg without any say in the matter and then waking up to a lifetime of having to deal with being neither human nor machine... well, it just breaks my heart into a million pieces all over again every time I watch the film. And let us take a moment to appreciate the absolutely magnificent performance by Peter Weller who managed to carry an entire movie with only his lips on display for the vast majority of it. I have had a crush on him ever since;-)

face off...

Manuel Calavera - Travel Agent

So I didn't quite manage to catch up yet. I have a recurring ear ache that occasionally joins in with my tinnitus... well, it occurred today. I can't focus to paint  when I have an ear ache, or relax, or sleep... hence me still being up even though i had planned an early night. Also I was adamant that I would paint something for today face challenge, even if it was just for a few hours.
Today's face is a little homage to the main character in one of my favourite adventure games 'Grim Fandango' - An epic tale of crime and corruption in the Land of the Dead. Seemed appropriate since I'm looking somewhat like death at the moment;-) Meet Manny. He’s suave. He’s debonair. He’s Dead. And... he’s your travel agent.

Roll with the punches

Thomas Earl

Face number four... Still haven't caught up yet. Had a fair few things to sort out today before I could get to painting. Also, this one took longer than I'd planned. Spot of artists block. Uuurgh *shivers*.
As much as I enjoy painting bruises, there is a reason for this particular shiner. I had a fantastic childhood. My parents are awesome and my brother rocks. Tom Petty had a few issues growing up. Or rather, his father had issues with him - which he expressed... well, you can guess how he expressed it. And how did Tom Petty respond? By growing up to become a famous musician and all round lovely guy. Mr Petty, I salute you! :-)

Face the musician...

Thomas Earl

... and DANCE!
Face number 3 for the 29 faces challenge.
'Forget about me, forget about these eyes, forget about love, say goodbye.'
Oh, but how could I, Mr Petty?

Skinny Love

Thomas Earl

My second face for the 29 challenge. Yes, I'm still five behind. I'll try to catch up over the weekend. This one inspired by Tom Petty. I adore Tom Petty... His music rocks and though he's still a handsome and charming gent as he's gotten older I must admit the way he looked when he was younger, i.e. before I was even born!... Just thinking about him back then, I need a cold shower and a lie down at the same time. Seriously.. he was so cute it just makes me want to throw up fluffy bunnies and cotton candy. I was born in the wrong decade ;-)

29 faces Challenge

Brian's face

So I came across this '29 Faces Challenge' today where you create a face every day of February, and I thought I'd give it a go. Whether I'll actually manage it is another thing, I'm already four behind ;-)
It was suggested that you try out something you're not used to... so although I have remained in the digital realm, I have used a very different approach. I used a scan of watercolour on paper as a backdrop and painted straight onto it without any initial sketch. It felt really odd. You wonderful artists out there who can just do that, I salute you! I feel lost without my starting sketch. So I think that shall be my challenge for this 29 face thing.
So here's my first entry... Brain Jones on watercolour paper... SYMBOLISM! ;-) I did enjoy painting it although it did lead to me listening to old Rolling Stones interviews and lamenting the loss of lovely Brian. HEART SQUEEEZE!
I'll call it wip for now, seeing as I'm not sure whether to work on it a bit more later on.

You can call him Al... but he might shoot you

Marshal Breed

On a dark, windy night when you're fighting both the cold and your inner demons a warm poncho goes a long way.
Enjoy :-)

A man of many ponchos

Alexander Aloysius Breed

Seeing as I was working on a painting of the long suffering Earl yesterday, it seemed only right to finish the weekend with a little wip of the marshal who is competing for the affections of the Earl's sweetheart.

The lawman himself is almost as long suffering as the Earl, but for slightly different reasons. After his family was murdered and the culprit escaped he completely lost his rag, handed in his badge and went off on his own personal vendetta... aaand it kinda just went downhill from there until eventually he fell in with a very wrong crowd and got himself shot. But luckily for him a young lady found him, strapped him to a horse, took him home and patched him up. And in spite of him being both grumpy and squinty they ended up getting along very well indeed, much to the Earl's chagrin.

I have attempted the lawman a fair few times by now, and I'm still struggling to get him just right. One of the reasons being that I kept changing my mind about his age. Seeing as he is inspired by the ever fabulous actor Anthony Zerbe my DVD collection has grown considerably since that fatal afternoon where I first came across him in Rooster Cogburn to a point where I've even invested in a box set of season 11 of Murder she wrote because he was in one of the episodes. No matter what he does he always seem to steal the show :-) Also, this is the first time I have shared the lawman's name with anyone. If anyone out there is a fellow Zerbe admirer his middle and surname should ring some bells ;-)

Unbuttoned Earl

The Earl

Took some time to finish this one of the Earl today. He did start out in a suit originally, but he decided to take if off half way through the proceedings. Actually, as I was painting, I was mulling over a scene in my western where the Earl is getting dressed, so it kinda turned into that.
The reason for his slightly melancholy facial expression is due to the love of his life having once again declined his marriage proposal. He has been asking her for years and she keeps saying no. Not because she doesn't love him, but because her outspoken nature and tomboy appearance is somewhat at odds with the Earl's ambition to become governor and she has no intention of changing her ways for any man. To further add to the Earl's heartache, the girl has recently taken a very keen interest in a wounded marshal whom she patched up after a shooting incident. Sometimes the Earl wonders why life seems to hate him... makes me feel kinda guilty ;-)