Having Fun Drawing Faces
"Moon River" by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer
Huge thanks to those of you who have contributed money to my next film project. It is a sequel to my film YUP. You can help fund this campaign at the link below by donating or sharing:
Before we proceed, feel free to check out the second of fifty cover songs I am playing this year on WPR. You’ll find it at the end of this post.
Last month, as I was preparing some odds and ends to bring for my trip to visit family for the holidays, I came across a sketchbook that my older sister gifted to me for my birthday a few months earlier. I remembered that I wanted to try my hand at drawing human faces, and this gift presented the perfect opportunity for me to try.
Since then, I have drawn five faces, and I am enjoying the heck out of it! My plan is to fill this sketchbook completely with all kinds of humans. I want to try as many different types of faces as possible—younger, older, Black, Brown, Asian, and all points in between.
I have decided to piggy-back off of my experience drawing abstract flowers and to use the same tools and techniques to draw these faces. This means I will only use pencils and will not add color. I want to create textures and depth without relying on color to do all the work.
Here is the first face I drew:
I have used faces I found on Pinterest as my guides. I basically draw what I see while being aware of different proportions, angles, shadows, and quantities of light.
The two parts I seem to struggle with the most at this point are the nose and hair, but really, I am not seeking perfection. I simply want to create honest and beautiful portraits of people just for fun. Maybe I will get better in time, but I am not trying to be some sort of master at this.
My approach is childlike in nature. I will not overthink what I am doing, go with my instincts, refrain from any self-judgment, and most of all, enjoy myself.
Drawing these faces has been more fun than I expected, and as long as it is infusing my life with a little bit of joy, then I will continue.
Moving forward, I will post more face drawings in my “Windows to the Inside” posts with all the other visual art I make.
In the meantime, I am absolutely loving this, and I cannot wait to have a sketchbook full of faces someday soon.
Cover Song #2: Moon River by Henry Mancini (Music) and Johnny Mercer (Lyrics).
I have always loved the song “Moon River.” It is an endearing and iconic jazz standard that embraces friendship and hope in a lonesome sort of way. It is one of my favorite songs to sing when I am by myself.
For my version, I made some adjustments to the arrangement—throwing in different chords and sprinkling in some cascading piano moments here and there.
My heart swells when I sing the words “We’re after the same rainbow’s end.”
Aren’t we all?
I hope you enjoy this uncovering . . .
Audio downloads of these covers will be available for anyone who asks. So please, let me know if you would like to have one or two, and I will send them via email stork to your inbox.
We will have wintry, freezing weather here in Tennessee over the next few days, I hope you can stay warm and safe wherever you are.
See you next Friday with another song.
ANCESTRAL TONGUE UPCOMING SHOWS
Writer’s Kitchen Songwriter Round
Nashville, TN
Inglewood Lounge
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
8:00 PM
Project Updates
New Music:
Recording more demos
Working on my vocals
New YUP Sequel Film Project:Mapping out a plan for filming various scenes