June Guys: Last Entry

I've been participating in the June Guys challenge over at Ayala Art. The goal is to create four manly faces during June. My first three were soccer players (click here to see them). For my last entry, I decided to do something different. I took the last watercolors on my palette and made some face blobs and then added ink and captions to finish them up. They were fun, fast and easy. Do you have a favorite in this group?
If you are interested in learning how to draw faces, Martha is running a "Basic Face Workshop." I just won a space in the class and am very excited.  You can see the details about it at this link.

Mario Gomez is German. Seriously!?! (Manly Face #3)

So, I've made it to Ireland. And I really should be sitting in a garden sketching birds and fabulous sculpture.  Instead, I find myself posting a sketch of yet another soccer player (for Ayala's June Guys Challenge) and explaining how I became a fan of the German national soccer team (at least for one night).  But first, here's the inspiration photo I used for my sketch of German striker Mario Gomez (it's from Photobucket):

As predicted, I have spent every night in Ireland in a pub watching Euro 2012 unfold (for the uninformed, that's a soccer tournament which takes place every four years; teams compete by country, and the winner is crowned "Champion of Europe").  On Wednesday, Henry and I headed over to Sinnott's Bar. We arrived early enough to watch Portugal beat Denmark, which made me very happy. I have a soft spot for the Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal in general because there are so many Portuguese immigrants where I live (Half Moon Bay being a fishing town and all).  Netherlands v. Germany was due up next, and the pub started filling up with fans dressed in either orange or white jerseys.  The Dutch fans located in one part of the pub draped orange bunting around their section.  By the time the match began, the pub was packed (this photo was taken during the Portugal game when there was still plenty of room to move):

Henry and I smiled as the fans surrounding us belted out their national anthems (the Dutch out sang the Germans, by the way). The lights dimmed, and the match began with constant cheering from both sides. It was an awesome place to watch the match!  German striker Mario Gomez scored two goals, and I asked my son "Is Mario Gomez really German?" He said, "Yes." "Seriously?!?" "Yes, seriously." It turns out he was born in Germany, to a German mother and Spanish father. I think he's gorgeous, by the way (much better looking in real life than in my sketch).  Two girls from Hamburg asked if they could join us, and we got to talking.  One worked for Twitter. She had worked in San Francisco for a couple of years and has now been posted in Dublin.  We met another German fan who was from Ecuador but grew up in Spain, had worked in Dallas, Texas for five years and now Dublin since 1999. I love how soccer makes the world smaller and unites people from all over the globe. Given that we found ourselves in a pocket of German supporters and that a German victory would help Portugal advance, we decided to cheer on Germany. We didn't actuall join in the chants of "Deutsche - land," but we were mighty tempted!  And we did high five those around use every time the Germans put one in the back of the net.
More stories (and sketches) from Ireland coming soon!  What have you been up to this week?

A Peek Inside my Sketchbook: Manly Face #2

The German soccer star Michael Balleck is doing Euro 2012 commentary in the United States for ESPN.  Although not a fan of the German national team or any of his club teams, I've always found him very attractive! I think he's doing a serviceable job as a commentator. He definitely looks a bit nervous, but I find that endearing. He's also polite, but firm, in his opinions and very knowledgeable! I think he should definitely continue announcing .  Since he caught my eye, I decided to sketch him for Ayala's "June Guys" challenge.  Here's the photograph I used as my inspiration:

Just like the David Beckham sketch I did, the man is much better looking in real life than in my sketch.  But I certainly don't mind staring at the photo while I sketch! LOL!
Are there athletes you find particularly attractive? Or sports announcers?

A Peek Inside My Sketchbook: Manly Face #1

My blog friend, Ayala, is hosting a "June Guys" challenge, to create at least four manly faces during this month.  You can read all about the challenge at this link.  Since I'll be glued to pub televisions following Euro 2012 during the month of June, I thought I'd join the challenge and plan to sketch at least four soccer players.  My first manly face is a pencil sketch, based on this image:

It's David Beckham, of course! Or at least my sketchy rendition of him. . . 
If you want to join Ayala's challenge, you can grab this blog button and join the linky (here):

Hope to see a few of you participate.  Anyone else planning to follow Euro 2012? If so, which team is your favorite?