The Faces You See on Zoom Calls…

Faces on Zoom Calls.

Monday Morning Face - line drawing.

First published in January 2021 when few of us would have known what a Zoom meeting meant.

We might have thought it meant a quick meeting - you know the car commercial Zoom, Zoom, Zoom? (Mazda). Queue in a shot of a sleek sports car speeding along a winding coastline highway. Wow! were we ever mistaken!

If you have been caught in a long- lasting, mind numbing zoom meeting, interrupted by kids, barking dogs, and door bell, and I don't know what else, you know what I mean!

Over the last year, most of us have participated in a Zoom call for many routine activities such as group choirs, orchestras, team work, and even for meetings with lawyers, in our case, for the sale and purchase of homes. That's right - we never had to meet our lawyers in person. All business was done via Zoom.

In the spirit of the times, I have started a series called The Faces you see on Zoom Calls.

Imagine all the different characters at those Zoom meetings. Some are bored. Others are blasé. There are the keeners, and the jokers. You know them all!  Which one are you?

Line drawings are simple and I am bumping them up with colour and collage in the coming weeks. They are a bit of a caricature and perfection is certainly not the point!

Anita - First in Faces You See in Zoom Calls.

Meet Anita. Her boss has called for a Zoom meeting on Monday morning at 8 am.

“This is my Monday Morning Happy Face!”

Also in this series...

Annoying Patty never prepares for meetings even though, like everyone else, she has received all the material ahead of time. While everyone else rolls their eyes, (off camera) or sighs (mute the sound), she continues to blather on with her lengthy and unnecessary questions. Everyone knows the answers are in the detailed emails she was supposed to read ahead of time.

The clock is ticking and the long winded answers continue. We all cringe when Patty begins to speak.

Felix is our Friday man. Can you feel the energy emanating from him? He can hardly wait for the end of the day when he will meet friends at the local bar for a cool pint of beer.

The family dog joins the Zoom meeting.

Lucy feels she is being ignored while her special person is involved in an important zoom meeting.  She has already jumped, barked, brought her favourite toys next to the desk but to no avail.

Can you tell she is just slightly peeved?

Her lunch time has come and gone and the meeting continues with voices droning on and on...

Lucy remembers the cat that stole the show when a lawyer accidentally used a cat filter to alter his face and subsequently had to clarify that he "was not a cat".  When things go awry with technology, we all get flustered. Lucy is immune to that feeling. She just wants what she deserves which love, attention, and FOOD!

Inspiration for Anita, "This is my Monday Morning Happy Face!"

Mixed Media on 6 x 9 watercolour Bee paper. I stenciled the paper with soft colours. Using an ink pen, I did the contour drawing using another portrait I had done a few years ago (below) as a reference.  Then I added soft pastels keeping in mind the Rembrandt method of shading which I had studied in a Let’s Face It class in 2018.

"Out of the Shadows"

Other Line Drawings from previous years...

Certainly, I hope your Monday will be off to a better start than Anita’s!

But if it isn't, have a look at what your Monday might have been had you been living in Victorian Times!

Let me know what faces you might have seen on Zoom meetings and they might inspire me in my future drawings!