hand

I've recently made a card display for my cards and prints at an art space I'm exhibiting in for a while. Had to doodle the back, I couldn't not the doodle the back, which I think adds to the charm of my display being handmade and selling my merch... There's a HOW TO post on my blog if you fancy giving it a go yourself...

A cute avocado character dressed as an Aztec warrior, complete with a vibrant headdress, spear, and shield. The character's large eyes and round cheeks add a playful touch to its warrior attire. text that reads: "ahuacatl" (aztec for avocado)

Fineliner sketch depicting the unruly world that is the press, i struggle with many news outlets and the odds they use to sell and manipulate people. It can cause real suffering, real negativity, real bigotry. Blood is on all there hands.

None larger than 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Hand drawn.

A single yellow lily drawn in crayon.

Freehand hexagon pattern study doodle. Made with Posca pens.

(I had gotten some new fine-point pens last week, and I figured this was a good way to test them out.) Two very different things have been on my mind lately, maybe there's a connection? I think it's interesting how it's taken me 4 years to figure something out, become comfortable enough to open up to others about it, and then embrace it. Yet it's like living a double life, being authentic to some and keeping secrets from others. On the other hand, to the person receiving this drawing, I know I can't do anything to change the situation even though I wish I could. All I can say is I'm forever grateful for all you do, and I truly hope you decide to take advantage of all the opportunities coming your way.

This is my first post, so I'll keep things pretty basic. "Jester" is his name, but I like to refer to him as "The Ringmaster". He's my own creation, but he's inspired by the funtime animatronics from FNaF. This is also a stylized take on him. I'll post what he really looks like soon. He's comepletely sentient, and runs a pizzaria. There are shorter animatronics in the pizzaria, which he created, with the purpose to perform and entertain the people who come there. The shorter animatronics are not sentient, or possesed. At least, not yet. I'll also post pictures of these animatronics one day, hopefully in the next two days. I haven't really fleshed out what kind of story I'll make for him, but I'll use him eventually. Drawn with FireAlpaca. Edit: That's supposed to be a lollipop for his (your left) hand.

End the handshake and start the footshake

I listen to music when I draw and, even though he's not "cool" anymore, I still like Jack Johnson a lot. This song came on and I started the letters.

I love the show Breaking Bad, and rewatch watch it a lot. I noticed the other night Saul said this to Walt and I immediately got out my iPad and started in on the letters.

Beautiful quote by Maya Angelou

Drawing on my handmade notebook with colored pencils.

floral pattern with big orange blooms and smaller red and white flowers

Every couple of months, I turn a bunch of my doodles or rough mini sketches into stickers. I draw them directly onto sticker paper and seal them with bookbinding foil. These foxes will be Christmas presents.

Dip pen and watercolor, freehand floral in warm shades

I've always loved drawing on various objects! This coffee-lid is from several years ago but I still love it and have it hanging on the bulletin board near my art desk.

I wanted to draw someone who is actually in my life. My moms friend Chanda was around and I just secretly took a photo of her, and traced her face outline because I am sucky at outlines.

When I was planning this pattern I really wanted it to have a dark background. I built it in photoshop using hand drawn marker flowers but when I try to place them on a dark background it looks ridiculous!

Illustration from my self-initiated book The chair. Hand-drawn and digitally colored

Practicing sketching freehand in ink. Pen + alcohol markers.

Another work created in Lockdown in Berlin. Drawn on a piece of drafting paper from an ingenieering student in Leipzig, 1923. Like the cellar it was found in, it expresses a longing to be outside. A longing to feel of use, a job to go to or someone to visit. It is confusion and patience drawn out thin and ready to snap at any moment.

Black and white, sketchbook drawing (doodle) currently in progress. (More calligraphy than drawing.)

bright, hand drawn flowers in warm colors

Freehand line work pattern study!

Bubbly goodness!

Years ago, I sketched Gibby at work—pencil in hand, bold strokes alive with motion. I caught them from over the shoulder: just the back of their head, the soft curve of their face, and that focused arm bringing something into being. They were 9 or 10 then, already showing the spark of creativity and concentration that pointed toward who they’d become. Now in their mid-20s, Gibby is thoughtful, insightful—quick to listen, slow to speak, and wired to process the world with care. Their path has been remarkable: two degrees in 2.5 years, no debt. That didn’t happen by accident. It took grit, German immersion schooling, 16 college credits earned in high school, and testing out of 24 more once at university. That’s Gibby—quietly determined, resourceful, and steady. But their story isn’t just academic. Gibby’s always been gifted with their hands—drawn to set design, locksmithing, welding. Trades they wanted to pursue early on, and still feel pulled toward. They’re at a bike shop now. It’s not the dream, but it fits: their hands know how to build, repair, and reshape the world. There’s been frustration—maybe even anger—that we didn’t let them follow the trade route right away. I get that now. Life veers, and sometimes the path chosen isn't the one imagined. But Gibby’s resilience—their ability to adapt and press on—is what I admire most. They’ve embraced their journey with honesty, stepping into their identity as a they/them person, unafraid to define success in their own terms. That takes courage. I’m proud of them—not for a résumé, but for who they are. This old drawing isn’t just a memory—it’s a thread connecting past to present. A reminder that the creative spark, the steady hands, the deep soul I saw back then is still shining. So here’s to you, Gibby: the kid who sketched with fire and the adult who still shapes the world with quiet brilliance. Your value has never been about the path you’re on. It’s about the person you are. And I’ll be here, cheering you on—every step of the way.

Louise Bourgeois (1911–2010) “My life has been regulated by insomnia,” Bourgeois told an interviewer in 1993. “It’s something that I have never been able to understand, but I accept it.” Bourgeois learned to use these sleepless hours productively, propped up in bed with her “drawing diary,” listening to music or the hum of traffic on the streets. “Each day is new, so each drawing—with words written on the back—lets me know how I’m doing,” she said. “I now have 110 drawing-diary pages, but I’ll probably destroy some. - From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey “I am not what I am, I am what I do with my hands...” ― Louise Bourgeois “Every day you have to abandon your past or accept it, and then, if you cannot accept it, you become a sculptor.” ― Louise Bourgeois #dailyrituals #inktober #LouiseBourgeois @masoncurrey

Title: Heart and Soul Medium: illustration pens on sketch book paper Style: surreal Category: illustration Created: Dec-Jan 2024-2024 Artist: Stephen J. Vattimo Heart and Soul This is preliminary drawing for a painting I am about to begin. The concept for this illustration started as a design for a pumpkin carving contest. I feel the message of the design is so important for people to hear, I decided to make it into a painting. The original design, done in pen and ink. The design only shows the two doors of the entrance to a fortress. It was designed for a live pumpkin carving event in mind. At this type of event, the carver must create their piece of art live on site with spectators watching and asking questions, and there is a time limit. The evolution of the design? I added a wall on each side of the entrance, with matching pillars. Explaining the design of the pillars The triangle top: the triune God. Representing three persons of God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit. The cross shape opening in the pillars: The cross is the only path to God, to have the debt of sin satisfied. To reconcile humankind back to himself. To be released from being a slave to the Devil. To be a new creation empowered by God Spirit. Explaining the design of the entrance way(gate) The top of the entrance is in the shape of a heart, represents the seat of human passion, ambition, and allegiance. The cultic three petal flower is used to represent God in three persons united. The symbol inside the flower: God’s ministry toward humankind. Crown: Highest authority Cross: God’s loving salvation and restoration plan. The dove: Spiritualty made alive, fellowship with God, empowerment to weather the storm of life, and equip for service to God. Change in the design of the door. In the original design, one door had roses carved on it. The pattern took up the whole door. The other door had a grape vine carved on it. The pattern took up the whole door. I modified the emblem on the doors by making them smaller and simplified, so I could place them inside heart shapes, so the new images would more clearly communicate what they are meant to represent. I also added color to the emblems(color pencil) to make them clear of what they are, because of their size and the ink medium ,they were hard to interpret. Understanding the symbol of the two doors. The door with the rose inside the heart emblem represents a heart whose passions, ambitiousness, allegiance are focused on the cares, worries, and abstaining riches of the world. Only giving God lip service. I chose the rose to represent the heart of spiritual allegiance to the world, because roses are pretty, but you can’t eat them to nourish your body. They also have thorns that can cause injury to the body. So, the parallel point is, just as flower fade and turn to dust, so will the person who chases the thing of the world and has no time for God. For life is very short, we know not which will be our last breath on this side of eternity. But if a person leaves this earth without excepting the gift God offered them which is salvation from penalty of sin and given enteral life through the work that was done on the cross by God’s son. Then that soul will appear before Jesus, and just as they did not know him in their life on earth, He will tell them he knows them not. Into the lake of fire, they will spend eternity. The door with the grape vine in the heart emblem represents a heart whose passions, ambitiousness, allegiance are for God. To know Him intimately, to obey His teachings, to serve his will. I chose the grapevine to represent the heart of spiritual allegiance to God, because grapes are nourishing to the body. Jesus also used a grape vine in one of his parables. He paralleled the spiritual relationship he had with his disciples and the grapevine. He told them just as branches of a vine must depend on the base of the vine to live and bare fruit, so they must abide him to have abundant life. Abiding in Christ is not a religious act. It is outside of religion. It is an intimate relationship. Example: you can belong to a fan club of Paul McCartney and know a lot of things you have heard about him, but he doesn’t even know you exist. Where, if Paul is your father, and you have a good parent to child relationship, then you know him intimately. So, abiding in God, we commune with him through read his word and living by its teachings. It is spending time in prayer. Sharing our hearts with God and spending time listing to him. Trusting in him as our provider and giving thanks for his provision. Living our lives, with the purpose of pleasing him with the work of our hand and loving our neighbors in the workplace as well as in the community. Just as a healthy grapevine continues to grow and produce much fruit. Having an imitate relationship with God should be more and more evident in the way we live our lives. So, when the angel of death pays you an unexpected visit, he escorts you to Jesus’s throne, you know for certain he going to welcome you with loving arms and said welcome home my faithful servant. Now to which door I chose for my life? It’s the one that is open. This bible verse one of a couple that inspired me to design this illustration. 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 King James Version 12 Now if any man builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble. 13 Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. This verse is not referring to the rebellious people who have rejected God, this is referring to people who are children of God, who failed to serve God faithful. Written by Stephen J. Vattimo. 3 Jan 2024 .