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A small 10 x 8 acrylic painting for my wife.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo) is one of my favorite anime movies. I really like all Mamoru Hosoda's anime. Can't wait for his new stuff!

"I really don't like to gripe, But there's a monster in pink stripes, And he's lifting our house up to the sky. It's like what Mama always said, That we would all reach such great heights, But I suspect that's not quite what she meant."

Two old trees.Illustration from Singer/songwriter Juha Tapios song Kaksi Puuta. Story of couple who are like two old trees. Both standing alone but sametime weave roots together. .

"When this guy was chosen as a host he felt like such a winner. But what he didn't know is these things would eat him up for dinner."

My latest and first with digital oils. - Magpie in Snow Scene with the PC and ArtRage6 App. I hope you like it as much as I do.

THE SHIELD from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "And the remembrance of that place seems to spur him on, and suddenly he’s picking up the pace. Suddenly he’s jogging down the middle of the road, and then he breaks into a run. And then he’s running as fast as he can, and it feels like he’s about to take off. By the time the man gets to the cheap side of town, he’s never felt so good in his life. And he blows right by that dingy apartment and off into wide open space." https://www.instagram.com/p/CguFREoucBj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I tend to use line art a lot and did this in Procreate to practice breaking free. It was gonna be a T-Rex per my son’s request but it evolved into a squirrel-like creature. Still made the T-Rex too later.

"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.

I am pleased to present to you the finished Elton drawing. (I finished it today while listening to my new albums; shout out to my mom for the birthday gift.) Does the drawing look exactly like the photo? No, it doesn't, and I can easily pick out all the mistakes I made. At the same time, I'm happy with it for what it is, and I loved drawing it. Anyway, feedback is very welcome, let me know what you guys think and what I can improve on.

I always have a more muted color palette in mind and then the painting ends up being very colorful. Trying out Arteza gouache. I really like it :)

My favorite way to eliminate the often paralyzing fear of "ruining" "good" paper is to just paint on any and all junk mail that comes into my house. Higher end catalogs are great for this, they don't use slick, thin paper (and even that gets used in collage or as a desk cover for other projects) and they're already bound for you. Just add marks! Carry it with you. Scan the pages you like. Cut it up later for making other art. It's "just" junk mail, so there is literally no pressure. I have HUNDREDS of these type of things and I run across them all the time, forgotten, in some old backpack or purse or drawer and it's a treasure to look through them again, and add new marks, paints and words.

Did you ever have a page in your sketchbook that was so bad and so embarrassing that you tore it out and chucked it? This was one of those pages that made me cringed every time I came to it. So today I said to myself, "ENOUGH!" and ripped it out of my moleskine. But something wouldn't let me throw it in the can. Now, I'm not one of those artists that can't bring himself to throw away any of his stuff because each and every piece, good or bad holds some kind of sentimentality or sense of importance. This particular page was a result of a crappy angst filled day and stuff poured out of me. For some reason, it felt like I was throwing away some piece of my soul. There were parts that were overworked and others that were painfully too personal. So I decided to cut it up and put it back together in no particular order, however it seemed best. As I was pasting the pieces down it occurred to me that this had a comic book feel so I scanned the final and added the black borders in photoshop which I really dug. I like that it is cryptic and jumbled up like my brain can so often be. This reminded me of the awesome @johnhendrix who said something in his book, Drawing Is Magic that stuck with me. He said, "Don't worry about doing anything wrong. If you're hoping your sketchbook turns into a glossy display of only your best drawings, you are not carrying a sketchbook, you are carrying a portfolio." In other words, explore, take chances, loosen up and have fun. Try your best to go at it like an uninhibited child. In so doing, you will stretch as an artist by avoiding repetition and predictability. We all know how to do what we already know. To sum up, I created a bad page, and whether or not I was able to fix it, it expanded me. So, follow your pencil, pen, or whatever and let them take you to places you never imagined when you started. Then, maybe you will end up staring happily at the final and with childlike wonder, say, "man, where did that come from?"

It's crazy to think that 6 years have already flown by since I first moved onto the Xcel gymnastics team, let alone the fact that I've spent 15 years of my life as a gymnast. Tomorrow, August 6th, 2021, marks my last day as a gymnast on the team since I'm officially a college student. I've genuinely been dreading this day, but it's not the ending I expected...in an oddly good way. I know no one expected to spend the past year in a pandemic, and I definitely didn't think gym would shift so much in the following months, but here we are. Gymnastics has taught me more than I ever imagined it could, and my coaches (especially one of them) have become two of the people I'm closest with, words can't describe how grateful I am for everything. This 'ending' doesn't feel like an end, more so a closing to this chapter. Honestly, my love for the sport has only grown, and it feels like I'm finally figuring it all out. So, although my final practice as a team member is tomorrow, my journey is not over yet. "Goodbyes are the hardest part, and this ending has been something I’ve been dreading, although I know it’s time to let go. I’d like to say this isn’t a permanent goodbye to you or the sport, it’s more of a natural conclusion. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done for me and managed to teach me in this short amount of time, I couldn’t have asked for anyone, or anything, better. Thank you most of all for helping me achieve my dreams and for helping me get to a point in which I can say I’m proud of my journey. All that’s left to say is I care about you, I love you, and take care."

It’s been raining all day so I felt like taking a party wagon to the beach and catching some good vibes! This is based on a 1960 Volkswagen Transporter.

What can I say, I like drawing wolves.

Getting into drawing more complicated things like glass, lots of fun stylising

Where do I begin with this one? This is a drawing of my dad and I; the picture was taken back in 2006, a happier time, I suppose. I don't commonly think about my dad, I don't necessarily think about how much I miss him or how I wish I could see him again, so it was odd for me to sit and look through old photos. I don't really know my dad; I do, but I don't. My dad was physically part of my life for 10 years, the second half of those were not the best. Mental illness, self medicating for years, debt, heroin, arguments, threats, uncertainty. I feel like I remember the negative more because I was older, my parents couldn't hide it from me like they used to. At the same time, when he was sober and stable, life was good. Life was great, things felt complete. So here I am, 6 years since he died. I don't want to say his image is fading, but I know less of who he was than I did before. I see the good from some (the ones who praise him, who act like he was a saint), and I see the bad from others (the one who felt the pain). I suppose I no longer see my view, my memories aren't there anymore. I don't necessarily feel sad, the anger has faded, and I can't say I'm happy. Maybe I'll figure it out one day, but, for now, it is what it is.

"Desire so strong that self-control felt like putting out a forest fire." 8" x 4" Graphite on Toned Paper Story and Timelapse: https://www.instagram.com/_apricotjams https://www.youtube.com Audio Journals: https://www.apricotjamspodcast.com League of Legends (LiveStream): https://www.twitch.tv/apricotjams Business Inquiries: apricotjamspodcast@gmail.com Official Links: https://www.pinterest.com/apricotjamspodcast https://www.twitter.com/_aprictotjams https://www.artstation.com/apricotjams https://www.doodleaddicts.com/apricotjams https://www.behance.com/apricotjams https://www.deviantart.com/apricotjamsofficial https://apricotjamsart.tumblr.com/ https://ello.co/apricotjams - © 2019 Apricot Jams

Wanted to paint something soft - something my kids might like. What is more gentle and peaceful-looking than a sleeping koala? Check out the full timelapse painting here https://youtu.be/IxmUol8dsBs

We got more snow here today- more like slush on snow. I love winter but can't wait for green things and foraging and all the bugs and critters!

Doodle cards printed with foil and metallic ink - year 1999! I used a desktop printer that could reproduce metallics / foils / spot UV. They don't make desktop printers like that anymore.

Street Style Helsinki. Living in the Nordic levels, like Finland, requires special attitude against cold winter weather. From a distance the sight felt like a giant rectangle on two thin sticks approaching scurry towards me.

There's a big drop of black ink spilled near the center... It's like that bit of ink just couldn't wait to be part of the art. Sometimes a rough sketch takes on a life of its own.

Still working on updating my cat style. I liked how this guy's fur turned out. I find the sketching part the hardest, it seems so easy to mess up the cat at that part.

This doodle is a mixed media work using orange and blue swirlies with layered abstracted and stylized details like spots, dots, and swirls.

Mixed Media, 8.25x11.75 Moleskine Watercolor Notebook sketchbook

We have finished the second season of The Witcher and I was inspired to make a composition with Cirilla. I have decided to take the visuals from the game where Ciri is already a grown up and became very strong. Behind her is Geralt who looks after her. I hope you like the story as much as I do! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6cfNkwJY6k

This is a new take on my old original character back from the 2018! Loved trying the new color palette, hope you'll like it too! :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IYqCL7IBt8