The second set of pages from my trip to China last summer. Spent time in Beijing and Hong Kong and hiking/camping out on a portion the Great Wall. Truly amazing.
Imagine trading your soft bed for a deflating mattress.
Imagine food cooked under ash, a fire that smokes more than it warms.
Imagine waking at dawn with stiff muscles, yet finding yourself strangely alive.
This sketch is not just about tents, cars, and campfires.
It is about the in-between—where inconvenience and beauty wrestle, and something deeper sneaks in.
Camping reminds me: comfort is overrated, but presence is priceless.
To draw is to notice.
To notice is to pause.
And sometimes, all it takes is a barefoot boy in a camping chair, chasing the drips of a popsicle, to remind us what it means to be here.
This is Popsiclence—a sacred kind of focus.
It’s where observational drawing leads us: out of the swirl, into the now.
And in that now, we heal.
The meal was my attempt to bring a little comfort into the rugged outdoors. The sketch was my reminder—to hold onto the moment, even when mosquitoes, ashes, and deflating air mattresses had other plans.
These Marshmallows are hiking out of the camp when these fire dudes come parachuting down on them trying to ruin their camping experience. What will happen to these Marshmallows? Acrylic on wood board about 22 x 28 inches.
Early morning camping trip! This week I've *resurrected* my instagram. It's @gouacheandink or https://www.instagram.com/gouacheandink/ Hope you all have a happy 4th of July :)
Acrylic on Canvas, March 2020. This painting is of a photo that I took on a camping road trip around Iceland in May 2016 with two of my oldest and best friends -- one of my greatest memories.
"Heaven was putting distance between her and everyone." ~ A blackout poem from a recycled page of Riding with the Hides of Hell, which now has a new-and-improved title, Burnout. It's a young adult story about motorcycles, a road trip, adventure, and love.
This one is important to me. I had been having a very long dry spell, not making any art, and then one day last Fall, while on a road trip, camping in Mesa Verde park, I drew this using some copic grey scale brush markers and a fine liner, and it was like my vision was returning. I got really into seeing, and imagining ... Anyway since then I've still been struggling to make more work, but have been making more creative things when I do get productive, and been organizing older work... It's also interesting that I titled this piece Phase Transition back in Nov '23, and subsequently had quite a sea change of life experiences, adventure, and new visions. Now if I could just sit down and draw more...
A friend of mine took a picture like this on a camping trip a few years back, and I had it as my home screen for forever. When my phone broke, I lost the photo so I recreated it here
Mighty satellites crashed to Earth. Oceans swallowed up the lands. The World became new . Planet Earth became Illoniri . The people who were not crushed, tried their best to survive, and they did . But what was that like? Living in a world where everything has been taken from you ? Everything but your own life ? No communication, except with the people right next to you. Your own friends and family mutating and changing before your very eyes. Imagine ... gaining magical powers, riding strange and fantastic beasts, forging your own destiny from the ruins of the old world. Exploring the world you thought you knew. A beautiful and pure and young world, born of the ashes of the old one . What will we do to protect this new Earth? What lengths will we go to ? How can we keep our Mother Illoniri safe from evil ? I will fight . We all must fight. We cannot chance our world to be destroyed a second time. But maybe... maybe we don't have to fight? Maybe the reason Earth died and became Illoniri is because all we ever do is fight ? Is the answer so simple? Have humility and understanding, and we may all live? Keeping peace is easier said than done . Maybe we all just need to be kind and our Illoniri will be saved? Only time will tell... Until there is peace, we venture onward. Ever onward, my Untitled Heroes. Ever.
Yesterday my lovely friend had her birthday. I drew this for her as a gift. I absolutely enjoyed the camping trips we did together and i am looking forward to our next little adventure. :) wish you a wonderful day!
