100 Heads Challenge

I came across the 100 Heads Challenge on YouTube and was intrigued to try it. It was started by a guy called Ahmed about 6 years ago. He and a friend created a Pinterest Board where they collected 100 images and set the challenge. His challenge is 100 heads in 10 days…. Um….nope! Some of us have lives… but the idea of drawing or painting 100 heads is such a good one if you want to learn how to make portraits or just improve your skills.

I downloaded all his heads and then went through them, taking out the ones that did not appeal to me and replaced them with those that do. 

If you want to take up the challenge, you can download this zipped folder with 100 .jpg’s. HERE This is my selection combined with the original selection by Ahmed. 

If you want to do this, here’s some free advice…

  • Take as long as you like! Do 10 heads a day or just one! The idea is to commit and follow through. Make yourself accountable ….tell your friends, so you will have to make at least one a day.

 

  • If you don’t like a particular image… find another and replace it.

 

  • Make sure that you paper or whatever surface you work on can handle the medium before you start. Some inks bleed on certain paper and some paper wobbles when you apply a wet medium.

 

  • I suggest 300gsm cold press and hot press paper (cold – slightly rough for wet mediums and hot -smooth for dry)

 

  • Use different mediums… 100 is a big number; you don’t want to get bored.  Some suggestions –
    • Pencils (graphite, coloured pencils)
    • Markers
    • Ink, ballpoint pens
    • Acrylic
    • Gouache
    • Watercolour
  • Don’t expect all 100 images to look great. The idea is to improve, so be gentle with yourself and only measure your work against your own.

 

  • Plan your pages.. If you are going to put 6 images on a page, plan it so that they fit in and aren’t squashed. Also, decide your own order, you don’t need to use the order that the photos are numbered. I planned by printing thumbnails of all the images and laid them out page for page (double spread) like this in a little note book.
  • You do not need to share your artwork. This challenge is for you to improve. If you do share, please tag me, I would love to see what you are doing. If you are new to drawing, go check out YouTube. There are hundreds of artists who have posted their work and give tips and advice and lots of encouragement. You can learn from them too!

 

  • And last, but not least… HAVE FUN! I can’t stress this enough. This is such a fun way to learn. 

If you have not attempted anything like this before, I have a few pointers for you.

 

  1.  You can draw….ask your 3-year-old self. You just need practice!
  2. All you need is a pencil and a piece of paper, and an eraser.
  3. As far as proportions go… remember this:  The nose edges line up with the corners of the eyes. The corners of the mouth with the pupils. Use this LOOMIS method to get an idea of the perspective.
  4.  OBSERVE. Look closely and you will figure it out…. Good Luck!

Here’s mine. I will add them as I complete them …

Art by Jax