out

A single yellow lily drawn in crayon.

Beginning This may be hard to believe, but giraffes are very particular about their boots. https://www.instagram.com/p/CPtkGO3B328/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

"I take a step outside and I breathe the air, and I slam the door, and I'm on my way. I won't lay no blame, I won't call you names. 'Cause I've made my break and I won't look back; I've turned my back on those endless games." Although I'm a bit late, May 1st was Decision Day (congrats to everyone in the class of 2021!), and I'm proud to say I'll be a Blue Demon this fall (a very sciencey one at that).

I've wandered Brechfa forest in Carmarthenshire on several occasions, but have only seen a very small part of what this huge forest has to offer. I'm hoping that once travel restrictions are lifted, I can get back out there and explore more. Pen on sketchbook paper (6"x8")

My last finished painting of 2020. A morning in the woodlands of Ystradfawr Nature Reserve near my home. This is the final result of one of my colour sketches - Spring on the Line. It sold to lady in a care home who's lost her mobility. I hope it gives her a bit of the great outdoors when she's sitting in her room.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This year I got around to making various cards and simply sending them out to various family members and friends. (It was also an excuse for me to use as many puns as I wanted.)

Watercolor This was drastically different from my usual stuff and lots of fun. I’m thinking of painting a few more cards to match in the same style but featuring different scenes. We shall see what pops out of my brush

Chicago deep-dish is just out of this world...I had to say that. I'm not sure when or where the space idea came in, but I'm pretty okay with the result. Enjoy the mid-class doodle that's helped me stay focused during this week.

From a series of about eight drawings on bristol board, approx 14 x 18. Pencil and watercolor.

No, I can't get it out of my head, now my whole world is gone for dead. This song has been stuck in my head for a while now, kind of interesting. I apologize for the long ramble of reflection this will be, but here I go. It's been an interesting few weeks, ups and downs, odd mindsets, but here I am. I don't know, quarantine has shifted a lot of things for everyone, and I've noticed a lot of changes in myself. I jokingly say I'm becoming soft, but it's a bit true, in a good way. I'm thankful for so many people in my life, and I'm finally letting those people how much they mean to me. I know I've said this before, but gymnastics has really been getting me through, and I'm proud of all the progress I've been making recently. My coaches make my life better, they're just incredible people and I love them so much. Thank you to the person I had a whole long text conversation with tonight (you know who you are) and for always dealing with my chaotic self. And finally, I've started to accept who I am, and that's a nice feeling. There's still the dark parts, the static still consumes me from time to time, but tonight was a good night. Thank you for all the support from everyone (in and outside of this community!). I genuinely appreciate all of it

I've been working on this for a few weeks now, and I'm pretty happy with the result. Full disclosure, this is a school project, and I wish I had more time to really finish it. Curious about everyone's thoughts on this; feedback is always welcome!

A drawing that turned out better than I expected. Two hour seated pose. Pencil, Charcoal Pencil, Pastel Pencils on some weird pad of paper I found in my closet.

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.

Drew all day yesterday about my feelings, with colored pencil over marker!

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 :)

I was just thinking of how every time I see a moth, somebody has to point out that they're just 'Ugly Butterflies'.

These Marshmallows are hiking out of the camp when these fire dudes come parachuting down on them trying to ruin their camping experience. What will happen to these Marshmallows? Acrylic on wood board about 22 x 28 inches.

Done with Prismacolor Colored Pencil on Toned Tan Paper.

check out my works on instagram @olenkarka

This is part of an ongoing series. This time we pass through The Great Exhibition and meet the different characters there to view art or just to socialise and hang out.

Over the course of a few months, I got to work with Good Karma For All on what you might consider a "passion project". The job consisted of freehand painting murals on every single (large) wall and hand-lettering inspirational quotes all over the inside and outside of the building.

Here's the sketch for my Draw Your Fear submission. Drawn with a Pilot Custom Urushi fountain pen using deAtramentis Document Ink Black. Check out https://www.doodleaddicts.com/drawing-challenges/draw-your-fear/ tomorrow to see it in full color!

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?"

Bird Illustration by Oz Galeano Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arte_ozgaleano/ Buy your custom Portrait: https://www.fiverr.com/s/6WzyVL Donations: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/ozgaleano Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OzGaleano/videos Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Ozgaleano Shop: https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/ozgaleano/ TIK TOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@oz_galeano Behance: https://www.behance.net/ozgaleano

BEING GREEDY CHOKES ANANSI From Favorite Folktales around the world by Jane Yolen. One time, Anansi lived in a country that had a queen who was also a witch. And she decreed that whoever used the word five would fall down dead, because that was her secret name, and she didn’t want anyone using it. Now, Buh Anansi was a clever fellow, and a hungry one too. Things were especially bad because there was a famine, so Anansi made a little house for himself by the side of the river near where everyone came to get water. And when anybody came to get water, he would call out to them, “I beg you to tell me how many yam hills I have here. I can’t count very well.” So, one by one he thought they would come up and say, “One, two, three, four, five,” and they would fall down dead. Then Anansi would take them and corn them in his barrel and eat them, and that way he would have lots of food in hungry times and in times of plenty.

THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN WITH FIVE COWS From Favorite Folktales from Around the World by Jane Yolen. One morning a little old woman got up and went to the field containing her five cows. She took from the earth a herb with five sprouts and, without breaking either root or branch, carried it home and wrapped it in a blanket and placed it on her pillow. Then she went out again and sat down to milk her cows. Suddenly she heard tambourine bells jingle and scissors fall, on account of which noise she upset the milk. Having run home and looked, she found that the plant was uninjured. Again she issued forth to milk the cows, and again thought she heard the tambourine bells jingle and scissors fall, and once more she spilled her milk. https://www.instagram.com/p/CnnCvkZpxW0/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

02/16 Travel Memories : Fisherwoman Commissioned work: sketches about travel memories for an interior design website with graphite pencils only

This started as a pencil drawing (see the 2nd image) that I scanned and put into Photoshop. I tried various filters including: Smudge, Ink Outline, some Splatter, changed the Exposure and added a Sepia Photo Filter. After a couple of hours of playing (I’m not very knowledgeable about digital possibilities and just use trial and error) I ended up with a dramatic image with which I am quite happy. The reference was a magazine advertisement.

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."

"Untitled," 8×10, Scratchboard: I think it's become evident that I enjoy making portraits no matter what the medium is. I still find it fascinating how much eyes can say, and they can usually fill in the gaps where words fail. I took a chance using Scratchboard, but I think it worked out, I'm pleased with it. I suppose this is a new member of the Black and White Portrait Club :)