Day 24 of the '29 Faces Challenge": a big Painted Rock Head....

Day 24 of the '29 Faces in February' Challenge....!   And I  can really feel myself counting down the days by now, whew....

Tonight's blog post features a long-unfinished project I pulled out to work on after being inspired upon seeing the face project of a fellow Challenge artist, named Liz Drake.  She had posted hers to the '29 Faces Challenge' Facebook Event wall, and it reminded me so much of this fellow that I took it as a message to properly finish him up, for once and for all....

Meet 'Rocky":

 You know the saying, 'Do you have rocks in your head"?  This poor guy's head IS a rock!

This is actually quite a hefty fellow, as you can see by the quarter I included in the photo for size reference.  But isn't he great???  Just look at that nose...! :

(For those who can't see the above Facebook link of Liz Drake's piece, hers was the face of a man with a very large 'schnozz', which is what reminded me of this big guy)

This was a project I'd begun many moons ago, after my father found this rock out in a cornfield and passed it along to me. I remember taking one look at that incredible 'nose' and immediately seeing the face encased in the rock -- and so it was with great enthusiasm that I began my painting project. But, as I'm sure you all can guess the old Art of Patience song and dance by now, it was an enthusiasm that fizzled before too  terribly long.  Part of the reason for that I think, is Rocky's 'two-faced' nature.  His left side's surface (shown above) is very even and smooth, which made the painting fairly easy and painless.  His right side however is significantly more rough and craggy, and it was there that I found myself hitting a few snags.  Over the years there were several attempts to finish him up, but never really to my satisfaction.  Finally today however I made a real concerted effort to focus and pay attention to what I was doing, and quit fighting but actually embrace the asymmetry (I never like to 'force' the rocks).  And it's with a happy heart I feel finally able to declare him officially  'Finis...!".

His eye follows you around....

He has a very defined 'ear' on his right side....

I really love this guy!

And again, my usual little blurbie about my painted rocks:

...Typically, a rock... is just a rock. But sometimes, when luck smiles upon me, very special ones reveal themselves. Then I 'see' rock people, little figures hidden within the naturally formed bumps, corners and crevices of ordinary stones -- Nature's very own sculpture. With the help of a bit of paint, I enjoy 'liberating' these unique wee folk for others to enjoy as well.....  

 (To see more of my painted rocks, click on the 'Painted Rocks' label for this post -- as well as visiting my Painted Rock Gallery on EBSQ)....