loose

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?"

This is a watercolour doodle - and I mean water! I rely on lucky accidents to get me through these paintings and I never give myself much time to do them, but they make a nice change from drawing and loosen the wrists!

I've been drawing on wood again. A bigger format than before at 8 inches, I'm still exploring these denser, looser drawings. ·

I don't normally paint trees. So I was surprised when my daily doodling produced this loose interpretation of the tree in my garden. I quite like it. Doodles are magical.

floral doodles, very lose and free form.... micron, pencil, marker, watercolor 12x12 watercolor paper

Bic4 Ballpoint Pen, Sanrio Novelty 10 Colour Ballpoint Pen on Archival 8.5" x 11" paper. Inspired by Charles Dana Gibson’s “Woman: The Eternal Question” (supposedly a drawing of his muse Evelyn Nesbit). I’ve always loved Gibson’s loose, graphical penwork. Working hard to be more ‘loose’ with my pen drawings. Model: Meadhbh (Maeve)

freeform. loose watercolor floral with watercolors and ink

This is a graphite pencil drawing of a hunting hawk somewhat loosely based on a photo. The reference photo is from: Birds of Prey by Paul D. Frost (Paragon Books Ltd 2006) and credited to Martin B Withers/FLPA. I found the book in the Goodwill a couple of month ago and was much inspired by the beautiful photographs.

colour, fun, loose, random, mess around

Some months ago, I uploaded a drawing of the front of our house. This time, I drew the back of the house---in the same style. Last time, I used a Pigma Micron 005 pen, this time, I used a Uniball Signo Gel pen---which made the drawing a bit looser. This is a large house in the Pacific NW Modern style (a late 70's incarnation) with characteristic big windows, skylights, and jutting angles.

I suppose this was just a tester/practice piece? My first actual still life from observation and my first time actually using charcoal (yes, I've never truly used charcoal before. Charcoal and pastels are two things I avoid. Their looseness and freeness scare me, considering how rigid I can be). Not sure how to feel about this one. I'm my worst critic, and I've known that for a long time now. There's a lot of practice and progress to be made, but it turned out half-way decent.

Pencil Drawing

Playing with colored pencils this week. This is very loosely based on a photo....changed hair, eyes, and skin tones to suit my mood. Vintage Conte a Paris Criterium, Prismacolor Verithin, and Tombow Irojiten pencils.

Done mostly with oil bar, this is more akin to a sketch than a painting. It's great when you can get loose with the process and end up with something that looks like a finished work.

Looking at Trichrug hill from the top of Pen Arthur Forest. This was my first attempt at pen and wash in 2018. I was pleased with it for an initial effort. I struggle to be loose with my art, so this was a step forward. The only thing that really bugs me was my colour choice for the distant hills - it looks more like the sea.

Illustrated with Ink and Ink-Pens on Paper. Urh.-Nr:1811955 Copyright  by Carolina Matthes

An illustration of a Thailand coastal scene is depicted with loose, expressive strokes, showcasing a rocky outcrop and the meeting of land and sea under a blue sky. Sparse vegetation sits atop the rocks, adding touches of green to the predominantly blue, green and beige tones.

Yep, still not Robert Crumb, ay? Loose-leaf notebook, marker

Willow charcoal with soft pastel on 120 GM grey paper. Did this in about 15 minutes during an art class I was giving as a demonstration of cutting loose instead of always trying to maintain control.

A quick and loose watercolour painting of a jellyfish. I like how this one turned out.

Thinking ahead to loosening restrictions here in Scotland, one more day to go...

Fun, loose, dream, abundance

I started messing about with line and wash. I really enjoyed the speed and looseness of working on this piece. In hindsight, I'm wondering if it would be worth working on a larger, more considered version as there is quite a lot of nice texture that is missing here. Pen & watercolour on watercolour paper (4x6").

This stream was in the foothills of Cadair Idris. I took a step away from my precision sketching to do something a bit faster and loose.

A bit of a departure from my usual style. I wanted to try something a bit messy, fast, and loose. The scene is an ancient woodland in Pembrokeshire called Tŷ Canol, an atmospheric place and full of inspiration for artworks. Pen and watercolour in Seawhite sketchbook.

Some more stylized withered versions of the Altitone band members, Elizabeth (on the left) and Altor (on the right). Elizabeth has ears but no cameras (which are usually located somewhere on the head (look at stylized withered Preistor for context)), so she is blind. Altor has no ears but a camera (which has been broken off and now sits loose in Altor's disembodied head), so he's deaf. Before version 2 of these guys, Preistor was maroon (once again, look at stylized withered Preistor for context), Elizabeth was teal, and Altor was yellow-green (mostly yellow). They roam the halls in Jester's workshop. Drawn with FireAlpaca.

In late 2018, after some time not doing any artwork, I really wanted to get back into it. I fancied doing something different and invested in some soft pastels. This was my first go with them and it was a hell of a learning curve about how they adhere to the paper, and how they blend. I'm not really sure the pastels I was using were soft enough for the look I wanted, but I like how loose this one turned out.

This is a loose sketch I did to play around with expressions and planning out the appearance of one of my comic characters, Celestyne Vasile. He's a bit of an unpleasant vampire noble.

I got a pack of loose watercolour paper from eBay in 2018. The side this was painted on had a really strange pitted texture on it. I thought it might be interesting but I didn't like the way the paint gathered in the pits. I just use it for sketching and testing colours these days.