Where do I begin with this one? This is a drawing of my dad and I; the picture was taken back in 2006, a happier time, I suppose. I don't commonly think about my dad, I don't necessarily think about how much I miss him or how I wish I could see him again, so it was odd for me to sit and look through old photos. I don't really know my dad; I do, but I don't. My dad was physically part of my life for 10 years, the second half of those were not the best. Mental illness, self medicating for years, debt, heroin, arguments, threats, uncertainty. I feel like I remember the negative more because I was older, my parents couldn't hide it from me like they used to. At the same time, when he was sober and stable, life was good. Life was great, things felt complete. So here I am, 6 years since he died. I don't want to say his image is fading, but I know less of who he was than I did before. I see the good from some (the ones who praise him, who act like he was a saint), and I see the bad from others (the one who felt the pain). I suppose I no longer see my view, my memories aren't there anymore. I don't necessarily feel sad, the anger has faded, and I can't say I'm happy. Maybe I'll figure it out one day, but, for now, it is what it is.
I don't usually post my instagram art here, but, why not? I actually did this for a #DTIYS challenge of my own. I felt a melancholy mood approaching along with the cooler nights and fallen leaves around my neighborhood.
The source reference image was from an impromptu photo shoot I did several years ago. The available light in the room was magical and the model was just sitting there meditating.
Pencil, Charcoal Pencil, Pastel Pencils on 9” x 12” Strathmore Archival Sketchbook Paper.
” Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul to waste ”
I have had an idea for a long time to illustrate Sympathy for the Devil from Rolling Stones.
This start from free sketching of cloud looking lines and soon i realise they look like atom bomb cloud. Original idea was more landscape version but maybe later.
Still playing with ballpoint pens. This time, I tried a “scribble” drawing, holding the pen way back on the shaft and making little circles and scribbles….then layering them over and over. It was actually very liberating and fun. I did this on a Canson sketch paper….which didn’t wear through, but did buckle a little towards the end.
Its funny because this was my first painting and looked very different. Just a bunch of green and a little sky blue blended in that looked like nothing to me. I ultimately gave up on it but revisited it about 2-3 weeks later and turned it into a night sky with rushing water flowing through two trees into a forest. I used a palette knife for most of it which was new for me as well ^^ hope you like. Debating on touching it up a bit...
Some times my doodles require more than one medium and so I combine sketches with digital and some times raw mediums like charcoal and watercolors. This is ball point pen in a sketch book of many diverse doodles.
The second painting in the Egg-istential Crises series. This one took some crazy turns as I was painting including the Air Jordans he's wearing. Small 8 x 8 acrylic painting.
I practiced the colors with these watercolor pencils. I realized I didn't have enough color. Size: A/4 , Tools: white gel pen, "Faber-Castell Colour GRIP" watercolor pencils, watercolor paper
Hello, my name is Arthur Koestler, 
