hat

Wrapping my mind around drawing human / humanoid. Trace the silhouette first, then slowly carve out the anatomy and add on the clothing details last. Was also studying human anatomy earlier, tracing the body tones and proportions. Without paying much attention all these months, I managed to learn something I thought that I have been unable to do. Next would be to balance the style and details, especially with the faces...

Two pens resting on the table, drawn quickly before they were put back to work. The lines wander and double back, but that is part of looking: an ordinary object becomes particular when we give it our full attention. Ink sketch from observation.

In a dark field, man in a hard hat stands atop a scissor lift with a lasso around the moon.

For no. 3 I’m making use of today’s Samhuinn open meeting freebies! Plus an anagram for the title… ;-) If you know, you know!

Today’s Samhuinn flavoured art no. 2 :-) This time around, the mushrooms have invaded this piece heheheh!

Faster than you think. Simple finale. Drawn with the 'hay' technique, using a computer mouse, all with one brush. I've published the sketches before, so you can follow the creation process. The 'hay' sketch on one layer, then another on the other, on and on until you get the lineart, then shading and colors. That’s all.

So the life won't sting so much, we soothe ourselves in advance with death - and at the drop of the hat we say: " Even if I die, what do I care!" - Abram Tertz, Thoughts Unaware. #abramTertz #dailydrawing

Okay, I may have paraphrased the quote unintentionally when I was drawing this but it still checks out, hopefully…! “Say what you mean, because communication is a sure path to personal happiness. But don’t say it mean, because causing pain for others will never heal your own.” - Kay Medaglia.

Two of three today…

Something octopus flavoured because I haven’t done that in a while…

Out of August and into September we go!

Title: The Game Medium: Acrylic Paint on canvas. Size:24” W x 36” H x1” D Year Completed:2026 The first conceptual design for this painting is an ink rendering entitled: The Window of The Soul. The inspiration behind the design is the concept that Christians are supposed to be windows that God’s light can shine through. But the Christian sin nature can block that light from filling a room. The same way window drapes do. In the design the soul is represented as the inside of a house. The stair going down represent Hell. The stair going up to the second floor represent Heaven. The stairs going up to the second floor have no railings, this show that the assentation of the stairs must be made by faith. The Stairs leading down to the basement has a protective railing around it, representing that God is not willing that anyone should perish, but to repent from sin. The Trinity of God is represented by the cultic three Leif flower that is part of the railing that surrounds the subsurface stair well. The second inner railings represent man-controlled descent. No one fall accidently into Hell. People move closer to Hell with every action of rejection toward God they make. The world globe represents, all humanity needs to decide who they are living for. There is no neutral ground. The checked board floor pattern illustrates this reality, the black spaces with the upside-down heart points to Hell. While the white space with the upright heart point to Heaven. The open door with Jesus standing on the outside, represents the need for a savior. Humanity is separated from the direct presence of God, due to their sin nature. God can not stand the presence of anarchy, when Lucifer leaded an armed revolt against God’s Lordships, after he and third of the angel lost the battle, God created Hell , a place of internal punishment, where the enemies of God will dwell. God had warned humanity, that the day they disobey God, they will surely die. So out of compassion God sent His Son to fulfill the righteousness required by God’s Holiness. Jesus lived a life 33 years without sinning, even though He was temped as we are tempted. God’s son was then treated like a criminal, beaten with in an inch of His life, then took the place on the cross as a substitute for a murder and thief named Barabbas. God poured out His wrath on His son, so through faith the unrighteous can be forgiven and made righteous. By putting their faith in God’s savior, and turning from their old rebellious living, and walking in the newness of His Holly Spirit. The second floor is supposed to represent the entrance to the kingdom of Heaven. The lion’s heads in the wallpaper proclaim that Jesus who came the first time as a sacrificial lamb, is now coming as the conquering lion. The open door with the cross on it is the entrance to Heaven. The railing on the second floor with the fish standing on their tail with a cross in the mild of them represent the support of the body of Christ during the Earthly journey toward Heaven. Temptation of the world are represented by the Victorian wooden staircase and fancy rug, the roman columns. The Greek saying on the headier: Eat, Drink, he merry, for tomorrow we die. Stephen J. Vattimo 8/27/2026

Rabbits and robots! What else?

I've completed my part of the art trade with @daydreamerdahlia! At first, Anya was just in a dress, but then I thought it was kind of weird that Caroline was wearing a coat, and Anya was just in a dress outside, so I redrawn her coat. The scar and earrings are still there! But I didn't want to hide her colorful coat under a shawl. Green goes well with her red hair, and to blend in with Caroline, I went with green. I imagine it as some kind of girls night out. Well, not a girls night out, Caroline in her male persona Smarty, I imagine her name already carrying weight and no one will bother them! Tommy can chill at home this time.

Re-uploaded with some edits that no one will notice. The OC's name is Caroline Shelton. She belongs to the middle-upper class; her father is quite wealthy, so she knew no hardship much. But she is eccentric and zealously strives for knowledge, has many hobbies and is skilled in many things because of her pursuits. Basically, all she cared about in life was intellectual development. She had only one friend who could stand her personality and temper, James Holloway. Some time later, he disappeared, and Caroline received his bloodstained watch from an anonymous sender with no explanation, only the mailing address from which the anonymous sent the package. Caroline couldn't think of anything better than to dress up as a man and travel to the town the package came from, introducing herself as James Holloway and gaining fame with her skills. She hopes that if the anonymous hears about an albino man named James Holloway in the town where they might live, they'll contact her again when they hear about her. Her logic is this: this person sent a package containing something important to Jim to her, so they must know something about Jim, her, and their friendship, and if they hear Jim's name used by an albino, they'll understand everything. So she sets out on a dangerous journey, making herself a kind of beacon/signal for the anonymous sender to find them and through them to find Jim or learn what happened to him. She'll meet Tommy during this search.

it's about some fella tryin' to get home from town

She didn't mean to find the secret grotto, but when a shimmering river of blue fish changes direction, you just have to follow where it leads.

This is a pen and watercolour painting done as a proposal for a competition to do a mural painting in a community centre. This was back in the late 90s. I was beaten out by a contemporary artist who painted the wall with four strips of colour, which could have been done in a matter of hours. The community centre was predominantly filled with local kids. I felt so sorry for the kids. Not once did any of them look at the "mural" and when I asked what they thought of the painting on the wall, they said, "What painting?"

Ruskin believed that ornament was never decoration for its own sake — it was evidence of attention, a record of the hand and eye slowing down enough to truly see. These kaleidoscope name designs are built the same way: a name broken into line, repeated outward with discipline, until pattern becomes a kind of patience made visible.mandala, kaleidoscope, radial symmetry, pattern art, geometric art, name art, marker art, hand drawn, meditative art

Is that butterfly time again?

Something different. Tell me what you think in the comments.

As we head into the last month of summer…

Years back, when I tried drawing different dragons I saw on the internet on a whim. Now that my old sketch book is nearly full and I am getting ready to move onto the next, I went through the whole thing and rediscovered this.

While doing a litter pick at work earlier yesterday I found I stumbled upon another trinket! You all know what this means…

Robots and canine (or is that K-9?) pals galore!

After yet another afternoon of mind-drifting, I found something I wasn't expecting. One thing over the years, memories are bound to forgotten if I don't recognise its importance in practice. In this case, it was a basic yet very crucial element for my dynamic pieces: curly lines. Continuing from the "spirit" of that character drawing yesterday, I started early today with trying to draw the character in its updated form. Suddenly, I ran into a roadblock: I was unable to bring it to life. Running through nearly a dozen sketches, something felt missing. A bit frustrated, I just lounged around the place and listened to some music played on my phone. Turning it off after a while to prevent the media distraction trap, I just started to let my thoughts wander and looked through different things, asking myself some things... My work felt a little blocky lately. It almost felt like I was focusing too much using certain details as a starting point to improvise from. This results in me struggling to build outwards into a full picture. Often, I find myself losing track of the original concept, which frustrates me. One thought then got into my head. It was something I enjoyed in the past years, which was the concept of "Flow". Suddenly, I felt signs of an answer. The original drawing "White Bird" came into my mind, reminding me of how I started drawing that important piece. I still have a strong impression on how I started it. It started as flowy lines to carve out an outline, vibe, or energy, or whatever my mind finds to describe. Later, I would slowly narrow out the details and sharpen its precision, almost like carving a figure out of nothing. And there it was. Sketching the core or skeleton of an idea, adding the main shape, before narrowing down the to details and precision. A very basic skill in drawing that I have forgotten, as dumb as a nitwit. If I had the core idea there from the start, I wouldn't have lost it right? Putting it into practice, I saw its immediate effects. Curly lines were the only thing I used, and suddenly the White Bird was flying and "alive" again as it should be. Man, I have recorded these for years, within my personal achieve of sketches. Yet, I somehow forgot them like an idiot? I am just speechless. It almost feels like I am back to square one, although there was a takeaway. I have learned the lesson of forgetting this basic practice, which led me astray for all these months. Seriously, I really have to remember how important it is. Putting that aside, I have noticed that I have these 2 styles. One was that "start from a detail and spread out", and the other was the "start from the big picture and narrow down". I had instances of success in both, which gave me a slight dilemma on which to choose. It is obvious that I can't limit myself to either, that would be falling for the stupidity of Duality. My own solution, would be to use either when the situation calls. I can't forget either, I just need to know when is the correct time to use it... ==

“I'm not someone who's particularly in touch with the way they feel. I've heard it said that you should be a 'human being' not a 'human doing', but I'm a human doing, very much so.” - Nick Cave.

Been some time since I touched the pencil. It wasn't easy to get back to drawing, since I was also distracted by the internet for some time. Lots of things went through my head, while I was out on a trip. Just drew whatever I felt like drawing, and this came alongside some reflections: I have been stuck on fixing this character concept for a very long time, trying to box it within a classification. Bird, wyvern, dragon, shadow, whatever- I came to a point today, where I felt that it really doesn't matter anymore. This is that sort of character who can be everything. I spent the entire afternoon trying to arrange all the little ideas and features, following true to creative intuition. Smashing together many of my previous character designs, this appeared. A masked and unnamed figure (???) with traits from many of my previous works. An avian / draconic / spiritual shapeshifter has always been something with me all this time, even when I tried to create a sona years back (finding it meaningless). True to its nature, it has few lively features except its eyes and requires a mask to display additional signs of life. Its clear that this character is basically a symbolic self-expression. It wasn't easy to seperate myself from my introjective tendencies, which easily distorts my concept of this figure (took weeks to untangle). Once the confusions loosen, it reappears with noticeably familiar features. The scribble above still has some room for rearrangement, just limited by the irreversible nature of pencil drawing. The grey markings were too dark, and the feet might look better staying white. The pale golden underbody markings, were actually a surprise.