First Project Completed

Last evening at drawing class we completed our first project.  Our teacher endeavored to teach us how to draw a face.  I have to say that I have never really had much interest in drawing people or faces so at first I was not too interested in the project.  As the class went on though the techniques began to intrigue me and I enjoyed it.  I will never be good at this as I have lots of trouble making 2 objects the same size even when using the measurements given for the standard face.  We were not allowed to use a ruler at any time during the process and had to make all the measurement lines freehand, this is a problem for me as I cannot draw a straight line, yikes.
I am still not really happy with the face as I think the dark shading on the left side of the mouth makes it appear as if the mouth is pulled over to that side, kind of like a stroke victim. I had had less shading on that area but the teacher made me add more, so I suppose he knows best.
Anyway it is finished.
Next week we begin to work with pastels, a medium I have never tried before either.  I have used oils, acrylics, water colour and water colour pencils; but never pastels, so should be fun.  We are supposed to bring a photo of a still life with vases, jars, and a variety of fruits in it so that we can work on lots of textures, shading, etc..  Sounds like lots of work and fun to come.

My first attempt at a face.

The Casa de la Cultura is getting ready to have the Festival de las Calacas this weekend for the Day of the Dead.  The building was abuzz with activity last night and it should be a fun weekend.  Music, calacas, food, altars, etc. will all be set up in the Plaza de la Pistola and adjoining streets.