Jolie Guillebeau

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This is Debbie’s lovely face. Isn’t she beautiful? I love the crown of leaves in her hair– even if it was tricky to paint.

I think she looks like a garden nymph.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them! So far, I have around 65 faces, so you still have just a little more time.

And finally, have you seen the Daily Paintworks Challenge? So fun!

Today’s newsletter stars Sid-the-Punk-Rock-Kitty. Isn’t he awesome? He lives with Fabeku, who sent the picture over. And he was delightfully fun to paint!

In fact, painting faces is growing on me.  I’m having more fun all the time. (yay!)

5×7 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

Meet Anna. She’s a beautiful greyhound with soulful eyes. I feel so grateful that Kari trusted me with this face. Isn’t she lovely?

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

Meet Jillian. Her dad sent over a photo and her liveliness jumps right out of the picture. I hope I captured it.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

Sixth face.

Meet Hunter. He’s half Persian, half-Maine Coon and quite the traveler. He currently lives with Peggy and her family in Mongolia, where he enjoys harassing the family Dachshund.

I’m so glad Peggy sent this picture over. Hunter was such fun to paint!

And just for comparison, here’s a small version of the original photo next to the painting. I think I might be learning a few things here.

5×7 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

I realized something last week as I was painting these faces. I’ve said for a while that I’m not good at painting faces and that I’ve never enjoyed it. But that isn’t true.

Ten years ago, when I first started drawing seriously, I took a colored pencil class and loved it. And the first project I completed was a face. This face. Ten years out, it’s still one of my favorite faces.

Even if you can’t quite see the face.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

The first year we were married, Chris and I decided to get a cat. At the shelter, this yellow tabby cat demanded our attention. He started meowing and then purring whenever we got near his cage, and he didn’t stop until we took him home with us.

He knew he was supposed to live with us. And he was right. For the next few years he ruled our house completely.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

I’m not sure this face will recognize herself, it’s a pretty old picture. And she may not appreciate her 7th grade school picture being featured either.

So I’ll tell you about her without naming any names. This face loves ice cream. She watched Harry and the Hendersons hundreds of times and cried at the end every time. This face was pretty terrific in 7th grade, but she’s even more beautiful now. She’s grown in to an amazing woman, who’s creative, and fun and smart. This face loves love.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

Choosing faces from my old photos is tricky. Some faces have really terrific memories, but the lighting is terrible or the angle is challenging. Which is why I was so excited when I found this one.

This face looks drastically different now, but when I took this picture he was a scrappy 13 year-old who wasn’t that happy about his spelling test results.

That was a few years ago, and thankfully I’ve kept in touch with this kid. He’s off on his own marvelous adventure now, and I’m so impressed with how he’s grown. I still found two misspelled words in his last letter, but since I’m not grading it anymore, I’m not going to tell him.

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!

You know, there’s a little pressure with this project. First of all, you guys are trusting me with faces that you know and love. (What if I mess it up?) And then, there’s the challenge of telling a story with each face. (What if I mess that up, too?)

So this week, I’m starting with a few faces familiar to me. I played around with color on this one, and the eyes are just a little too far apart, but I can see me (at age eight) here. Almost.

As for the story… this is one of the few photos of myself that I like. Because of an accident when I was very small, I needed a lot of serious dental work. And my teeth looked terrible at this age. So, I avoided smiling in photos. Sometimes I still do.

That’s part of the reason my time by the sea last fall was so special. Some wise friends, showed me that I needed to let go of that, and start showing my smile to the camera. I think that’s ultimately what led to these paintings, too.

And I’m thinking as the series progresses, you might even see a painting of me with a smile on my face. (Maybe.)

4×4 Oil on Masonite Block. Email for details.

If you’re just joining us, here’s a video explaining the project. And send me your faces! I’d love to paint them!