Jen's first challenge results

its the big day!!! the results of our very first challenge. i see that neither of us got around to posting progress lol. next time :D For now i'll just describe the adventure that led to my banner:

So i was quite stumped on how to illustrate the idea of a 'challenge.' When you think about it, there arn't many non-cheesy visual metaphors for 'challenge.' After giving up on that angle, i decided to change gears and focus on how our blog is about entertainment and showcasing of work to hopefully our future many fans. that led me thinking about theatre, which led to curtains. which led to hair... something we sort of have in common being blondish. because we have this in common, and because we're often on the same brainwave, i thought it worked having one curtain running across our heads and doubling as hair.
Holly is the one on the right looking up at the words: i challenge you. This is because my banner will be the blog banner when it is my week to challenge her.

For materials i used graphite, yellow ink, white gouache, markers, letter stamps, and drawing pens, all on wood.

i completely forgot that this was supossed to be a complementary palette. so when i finished i had a white face done with gouache with red hair, and decided that somehow the faces were going to have to go green. gouache can go a little funny with media on top, so i decided marker would probably be safest being the dryest and smoothest of the materials i had on hand. it worked great! i was even able to do subtle colour shifts on the rosy parts of the cheeks and the shadows under the eyes with a combination of markers. i definetly recommend trying this out on your own!

Can't wait to see yours Holly! And your new challenge!
Ps: Feel free to replace the temporary banner with yours when you're ready.