Featuring handmade art by Washington state artist, Tonya Doughty. If you would like this design on an item not listed in my shop, please don't hesitate to ask if it's possible! Just contact me.
Featuring handmade art by Washington state artist, Tonya Doughty. If you would like this design on an item not listed in my shop, please don't hesitate to ask if it's possible! Just contact me.
Kicking things off with the new sketchbook! And what a time to do so...
Coronavirus is rampant everywhere it seems, however big or small. If self-isolation (even for just a bit, wherever you are) is the way to combat this then I suggest making the most of this time.
*Captain Obvious groove*
Even if it is (in my case at the least) just doodling away to the point of allsorts in the hopes it’ll make at least one person a) happy b) perked or c) amused, do good and be good in wake of the current shitstorms in the making.
More for another day...
18x24 watercolor paper, technical pen and probably pastel pencil or just regular pencil blended with a q-tip. This was done for a friend who owned a wine and spirits shop, so I guess it's a vine. Or a tree. Whichever....
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.
My little fun series of everyday food during quarantine just to make it more cosmic ;) This one sketch a day approach helps with my long break in drawings! :) Sketchbook, coffee and ink.
This art is linked to my previous work. The protogonist has entered the other side of the world. A weird place but it seems familiar as this world is nothing but his consciousness and diary is just a portal which let him in here
A close friend recently lost their family pet, Joey. As a tribute gift, I did his portrait.
I usually just draw people, so this presented quite the challenge for me. I have never attempted to draw animals/pets.
Bic4 Ballpoint Pen, Sanrio Novelty 10 Colour Ballpoint Pen on Archival 8.5" x 11" paper
More ballpoint pen experiments. This was trying to "blend" colors, using ball point pens in a similar way to colored pencils. I found Layering evenly to be pretty difficult, esp with the pens blotching and very very limited burnishing. The interesting thing is that the paper doesn't seem to get "tired" the way it does with pencils. This is just cheap printer card stock.
The challenging thing with just using pen is that I can't paint over a mistake. I usually redo a face more than once. I didn't mean to make their face so stoic, it makes them look like a statue.
BIC ballpoint stick pen drawing on Richeson bulk drawing paper. This started as a contour drawing and just got squiggly (not the original intent). This was clipped to my board for weeks and I would add a few squiggles from time to time when I wanted to make marks, but didn't have inspiration. It's just a bit under 15 inches (12x18 inch paper) and is probably about 25 hours of making little lines and squiggles. The reference was a Dreamstime royalty-free photo.
This is my most recent work, just finished. I really had a lot of fun with this one. It didn’t turn out as colorful as I hoped but the contrast is spot on. If you’d like to give me a suggesting, i’m still trying to decide if i should fill the lower right chest area of the horse. It doesn’t make sense to leave it blank but i’m afraid changing it might ruin what I have. Any opinion is welcome! :)
An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
This is the second oil painting I have ever made, and the first time I have attempted to create mountains, trees and bushes. I used just 3 colours for this: Raw Umber, Phthalo Blue and Titanium White. I learned a lot and had tonnes of fun at the same time.
