A quick sketch filled in later with charcoal and ebony pencil. "The sweetness and delights of the resting-place are in proportion to the pain endured on the Journey. Only when you suffer the pangs and tribulations of exile will you truly enjoy your homecoming." -Rumi
A penguin. Digital watercolor base with oils overtop. I wanted to try to paint it like those traditional animal paintings from ages ago. I gave them an ear piercing for the challenge and kept it at that. They're stuck up; they don't need much. ;P
Recently I saw beautiful Van Gogh exhibition. I really enjoyed movement of his brush and vivid colours. It was more about energy and feelings than realistic details.
I am always gravitating towards realism and always want to spend more and more time perfecting paintings like they are never really finished so this time I decided to challenge myself not to do that.
Toronto the city is fighting to save Heritage buildings from demolition, they are already on a heritage site called The Distillery District. The current premier of Ontario is corrupt and get financial backing from developer friends, to sell off important pieces of Ontario land., without any public consultation. The situation is currently being fought for by the community through estate lawyers.
I wanted to challenge myself with a different type of drawing without spending too much time on it. I am pretty satisfied with the results. It came out looking a lot more disgusting than I intended but it still works. lol Done in Graphite and Watercolor.
"Chameleon, you're free again, my child." I think using song lyrics may be slightly cheating...but it is quoted text... I feel like I haven't made a 'purposeful' piece in a bit, so this drawing felt even better to make. There have been multiple ups and downs lately. Frustration, self-hate, and anxiety can take many forms, and eventually I lose sight of what they started as. I heard this song for the first time a few months ago and it's really been stuck in my head recently for various reasons. I don't know, sometimes music provides an escape that even art can't.
Sower and the Seed
This painting illustrates the parable “The Sower and the Seed,” a teaching of Jesus
recorded in the book of Matthew chapter 13. The four hearts in the sky represent four
different responses of those who hear the Gospel message.
The heart on the lower left represents those who have heard the gospel but reject it.
The devil then comes and takes it away from their hearts. This is illustrated by the
crows flying away with the seed that fell on the road side.
The second heart on the upper left side of the sky represents those who receive the
gospel message with joy, but it doesn’t take root in their faith, and their faith is temporal, falling away when trials or affliction come their way because of the gospel. This
is illustrated by a grape vine withering away in the heat of the day due to a lack of a
deep root system.
The heart in the upper right corner of the sky represents those who received the gospel
and believe, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
word, and it becomes unfruitful. This is illustrated by the grapevine being choked out
by a purple, flower-bearing, climbing, strangling vine called, morning glory.
These vines produce pretty flowers, but they are an organic farmer’s enemy because
they will choke out his crops. I learned this firsthand in organic farming when I was a
missionary for a couple of summers.
The heart in the lower right corner of the sky represents those who hear, believe, and
are committed to living for the gospel, so they produce much fruit. This is illustrated
by a healthy, strong, fruit-bearing grapevine. The tilled field represents the world that
God has prepared to receive the Gospel message. The sower represents all Christians
that are commanded to go into the world and proclaim the gospel message. The seed
being thrown by the sower represents the gospel message going out to the world.
The seed bag has written on it, “The Word Seed Co.”
(October 28, 2017)
This week hasn't been great. My anxiety was pretty high for most of it, and it was honestly for no reason. My brain tends to be very chaotic, I suppose, and I have trouble controlling my thoughts sometimes. This was a random doodle I did last night at 10 p.m. I've decided I'm going to add color to it, which will either look good or make everyone's eyes hurt even more..at least I have a picture of this version.
I found this old doodle of mine. Like many others, it came from astronomy. It too is available as a print on my art sites. They are the first five buttons at this link: https://linktr.ee/okhismakingart
I enjoy drawing the forms of the back. Especially when classically lit.
Pencil, Charcoal Pencil, Pastel Pencils and white Prismacolor pencil on 9” x 12” Strathmore Toned Grey sketchbook paper.
The past two days have been interesting, to say the least. My anxiety kicked up again, yielding two more panic attacks...oh joy. There's an increasingly chaotic external environment: COVID-19 positivity rates rising, looting, SAT nonsense (thank you College Board for not giving anyone information and for being very uncooperative). Am I angry at people in the world? Yes, and I know that's a generic, over-used phrase, but I truly am. I'm tired of all of this. I'm aggravated with the current state of the U.S. There's moments where things feel fine, and others when it feels like things are closing in. No one knows what the next few months will bring and tensions are high. Will things work out? They will eventually; they better. But, at the same time, what the heck is even going on anymore?
