'Oh how wonderful life would be, if I had my own little house in a tree!' This one was created for the Urban Explorer Challenge and I loved every minute of it! As a lover of the natural environment I had to draw on where my heart lies so a treehouse seemed a fitting response!
A floral botanical illustration around the words of the famous poem and hymn by Cecil Alexander "All Things Bright & Beautiful'. Drawn in pen & ink with another on the way...'All creatures great & small.
I've started a new mixed media sketchbook. Which is often times unexplainably daunting. To get over it I just dive in with lots of color. Then the fun begins.
Club XXS was exposed at a music festival in the netherlands and used as a mini club, with dj booth inside and a line-up! :) It's my biggest doodle till now and it was amazing fun to do! my focus was allready on trying bigger stuff, so then a chance came by to do this huge caravan. Awesome.
My favorite time of year is almost here. The cool breezy air, the colors and smells. The sounds of the last crickets, the mood of the sky. I could go on and on. This was A fun piece to work on. What will the next challenge bring?
This is inspired by the expired stuff we find in the fridge more often than I’d like to admit. Plus I just had to draw sardines because my brain made me.
My first venture into artist grade colouring pencils - and I'm smitten! I never thought I could achieve such boldness and blendability with them! I'm still getting used to them and will think about choosing smoother paper with less tooth next time. The texture and weight was more for the water-based gouache along with alcohol inks (which are very unforgiving to even primed heavy paper!). Apologies for the unevenness of lighting between the 2 sides of paper; will correct that when I'm making proper image files.
It's been a weird couple of years where social media became so toxic I'm just not online much. This place isn't like that so I have no excuse! So here's the CD cover for my new album "Junkyard Sam - OUTCAST", now available on Soundcloud & Spotify.
Here's the final color illustration created for Osprey Pens featuring the Osprey Pen Factory. It was drawn with the same fountain pen there on the right... An Osprey Milano 5.5 Flexpert Hourglass nib. Great pen! Colored in Photoshop.
When we help someone there is always something that blooms and grows beyond us. It is an increasingly necessary action in a world that unfortunately is increasingly divided.
@givingtuesdaypt challenged me to illustrate its movement inspired by this year's motto "Together we change the world"!
This day is celebrated on the first tuesday after BlackFriday, calling on anyone to choose a cause that ressonates with them and give back to them however you can. Thus, a wave of massive generosity is created, which can (and should) extend beyond today! Are there any organizations you want to support?
: .
Had a wonderful morning at Perry Lake painting this scene from the harbor. The soothing harbor sounds and a flock of pelicans taking a rest on their way to Texas were my companions. Swipe for a few detail shots. Also... a bonus fly for your nature enjoyment.
Congrats to anyone else who took part in inktober this year! I focused on combining witches inspired by different types of teas and I had so much fun! I’m conquering my irrational fear of side profiles and I think it’s working, I’ve been really liking side profiles lately and finding them easier to do. I experimented on this piece with adding freckles (they’re a feature in all of my inktober sketches but I haven’t liked how freckles have looked when I’ve dotted them in with a pen or brush) and uh, I guess it was kind of a success? Next time I’ll use my lighter shading colour for them, as I used the ink I use for my lines and it turned out really dark and concentrated, but I think they’re cute! (and I have ink sprays everywhere)
Ice Dream. There’s some strange references going on in this one. If I don’t explain it won’t come together. Back in my day the Europe 72 3 record Dead live album had a crazy kid on the back cover smashing a cone on his head. Later an ice cream truck company called Weaser ripped off that art and would visit my mid Jersey neighborhood daily. Google it if you care. Flash forward to 2019. The ice cream truck that hits my neighborhood EVERY DAYS has a loud obnoxious song and no Greatful Dead connections. It drives me out of my mind so here is the result. I always try to turn my pain into gain. What a long strange explanation it’s been.
"Parts Unknown," Acrylic on Canvas, 18x24 Some actions we will never know the reason behind, and, quite honestly, we don't always need to know the answer. Anthony Bourdain committed suicide on June 8th, 2018, news that was shocking for most to hear. People continue to speculate what could have caused him to commit suicide, some feel he had more to do, to say before he died. Personally, I find there's some feeling of closure or completeness to his death. I don't know what the feeling is exactly, but it's there. It feels like he left on his own terms, decided it was time. I wouldn't consider his death as him waving a white flag to addiction and depression. He said his shows were intended to tell other's stories, tell them frankly and truthfully. It's interesting how blunt and honest he could seem to be about himself, though he kept so many layers held within. Although we'd love to have a clear cut answer, explanation, reason, what would knowing that information change?
