Friday Face OFF 11/21/2025

 Welcome To Friday Face OFF (FFO)

This is the place to show off your face art.

You know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, Photography, drawings, paintings. There just needs to be a face in your blog post.

I get news from 1440 and this is what I found this morning. Many of you have drawn or painted Frida's face and my dear friend Gene Black quilted her face.

A Frida Kahlo self-portrait could become the most expensive artwork by a female or Latin American artist at auction tonight in New York. Sotheby’s estimates “El sueño (La cama)” will fetch $40M to $60M, potentially surpassing the $44.4M woman's record set by a Georgia O’Keeffe painting and $34.9M Latin American record held by another Kahlo self-portrait.

“El sueño (La cama)” depicts Kahlo asleep beneath a skeleton wrapped in explosives, a nod to a Mexican Easter effigy. While most Kahlo pieces are in Mexico under a law barring their sale, this self-portrait is privately owned abroad. The piece appears in a surrealist-themed auction, although Kahlo rejected the surrealist label.

Now for my FFO piece.

I'm working on a colored pencil piece but it takes longer than graphite so here is a graphite face.

It starts like this. I used mainly graphite, tinted graphite, colored pencil and white gel pen.

 Then this 

Then this

Then this. I wish I would have left her hair like this.

Finally I have this. Her head is cut off the page and with the hair it makes her look strange. Anyway, that's what I think. Mr. M. says that won't matter once I frame her.

 

Time for some AI art that I create at NightCafe.

I went on a fairy kick.

 

And then I had to go dark with them.  LOL

 

Now it's time to see what other FFO artists have created.

I'm going to show and extra piece this week. From Gene Black. 

It just seems appropriate. If you don't know, Gene is an amazing quilter and he did Frida in fabric. 

Next is my friend Barbara. She actually was the brilliant artist who helped get FFO started and introduced me to Gene Black. The three of us would challenge each other every week with portraits. Soon other artists wanted to join in and that's how FFO got going. 

She has been gone a long time from the blogging world but is back! So be sure to visit and welcome her.  

Christine always surprises me with all the detail she gets with her miniatures.

The next artist is Louise. She is a gem. Always has the most interesting and fun posts. Here she shares prairie dogs. 

Before I go I want to remind all of you that next week on FFO all of us will be showing our self portraits. 

I ask that it is really you from any age. Please include the photo you worked from. If you are creating from life, like looking in a mirror, just show any photo of you now. 

Any medium can be used except a photograph. Ya know, you can't just put a photo of yourself. However, it can be realism, character, surreal, abstract as long as we can see you in the art. 

 Any kind of expression. Create you as you see yourself.  November 28, 2025 to show your face on FFO. That gives you 1 week to work on it. All Self Portraits will be featured the following week on FFO. I hope you join in.

Now it's time to show me face art.

Nicole 

Can't help myself

Hi Everyone!

I wasn't going to post about this but it has been eating at me all week. I had a conversation with a, (no longer a friend), that simply knocked my socks off. Let's call her Sue. With all of my friends and family that love the "thing" in the white house, that subject is off limits. However, when speaking with Sue she told me that hitler was a very good man with his political ideas. Then, very quickly she said, " Well except for killing the Jews". I wanted to go through the phone and beat the hell out of her. Mr. M. heard the conversation, looked at me and shook his head no. Meaning she is an idiot, don't go there with her. I took a deep breath and said, "You need to learn history and don't call me again." 

I really do try to keep an open mind but that..... NO effen way! 

Sorry for the rant just needed to get it out.

Nicole
 

 Today is Monster Monday. AI art that I have created using NightCafe It's fun, it's free and it allows some interesting creative time.

I have lots of new monsters on NightCafe that I can't show all of them here so head over to my gallery to see all of the AI art.

If you have read any T.S. Elliot, or have seen the movie, "The Gorge", then you know of the Hollow Men. 

 I have created Hollow Men.

 

Of course, I know this poem. In the movie, "The Gorge", the Hollow Men are a result of a secret military facility that, naturally, went a miss, thus creating Hollow Men.

The best known line in the poem,

"This is the way the world ends. This is the way the world ends. Not with a bang but a whimper. Shape without form, shade without colour."

 

You know I can't leave you with this so here are some fantasy places that are pretty.

Hope you enjoyed Monster Monday.

Have a good week.

Nicole 

 

Sunday in the Art Room

 Hi Everyone!

Thank you for all the nice compliments on my very first colored pencil drawing on FFO. I have also received several emails from people telling me how difficult colored pencil is for them. In my opinion, I want to share the best youtube instructor for colored pencil. If you want an understanding in colored pencils and a host of free ebooks and worksheets this is where you want to be.

Her name is Kirsty Partridge. This is where  you should start if you are a beginner like me.

I have down loaded and printed several of the ebooks and a work sheet. 

This has 18 pages of total teachings. 

this has 13 pages of easy to draw skin. 

here are 8 pages, 

of ya know my fave, hair.

One of the worksheets. 

This is a 2 page check list.

She offers a lot more. I don't normally do this, download teachings, but these are so good and I really want to excel in colored pencils, so I did.

Yesterday I received a package from my kids. OMG!!! They are so good to me.

If you want to learn or just want to reunite yourself with colored pencil art check out Kirsty.

Have a great day today.

Nicole 
 
 

 

 

Friday Face OFF FFO 11/14/25

 

 Welcome To Friday Face OFF (FFO)

This is the place to show off your face art.

You know, ANY type of face, nature, the face of a flower, Photography, drawings, paintings. There just needs to be a face in your blog post.

 

As you know a week or so ago I decided to teach myself how to create with colored pencils. Quite a learning curve for sure. However, I absolutely love it!

My piece today is not finished by any means, but I wanted to show you how it's coming along.

Mixing and blending colored pencil is a real trick. Bringing features out is also somewhat of a challenge. With graphite it seems so easy. This face is a bit tipped forward and getting that just right is taking me a lot of time. I still have to place the ears, bring out the nose and tapper down her lips. Oh yeah and hair. Ya know my fave. Ha ha ha. If any of you have any suggestions for me please leave them in the comments.

I want to take some time to talk about the Self Portrait Challenge. (S.P.)

The basic rules are it has to be you. It can be at any age, it can also be a S.P. that you previously created. It can be drawn from life or a photo with any medium, except a photograph. You can't just put a photo up as your S.P. However, you must put a photo of you with your creation.

The other subject for S.P. is tracing. 

Yes, you may trace your face. 

I'm excited to see how all of you do. 

Also this is not mandatory. FFO will run like always. Since I wrote this I got her ears in and fixed her nose a bit. The lips will have to stay and I will leave the hair. LOL. I do like her. 

Now for some new AI.

There is a challenge going on at NightCafe and it's about magical plants and creatures. Here are some I made up.

 

Then today I won some credits for this

NightCafe is so much fun. Click on the link to join in.
It's time to see some features.

Essentially Ash 

She writes, "I'm a homeschooling mama fueled by RedBull, chaos and love." 

You will have to click on the link to find out about this young lady. 

Rostrose
If you have never been to this site you are missing out. 

Curious as a Cathy

Cathy has such a unique way of creating. All the detail is amazing. 

That's it for me. Now it's time to show me your face.

Nicole  

 

Monster Monday

 Hi Everyone!

 

Today is Monster Monday. AI art that I have created using NightCafe It's fun, it's free and it allows some interesting creative time.

I've been entering quite a few challenges on NightCafe. Mainly to get the credits. 

It's interesting to see what people vote on. I come in close.

Not only do you win credits but a few of the Pro engines can be won as well. This image was created by taking two images and merging them together with a Pro engine.

I love this. 
 

 

From surreal to Horror. 

Mean Face

 The Bird

Skeletons  

I do love the detail on his face.

Now to end with something cute. This was for a challenge. Not my normal at all.

I have hundreds of AI art on NightCafe come over and check out my gallery.

Have a great day today.

Nicole