ove

Here is a sneak peaks of my submission to the Home Sweet Home Challenge. I loved this challenge because it forced me to do something I never would have, which gave me happy surprises as I worked through it.

Charcoal and iron oxide recovered from acid mine runoff on watercolor paper

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?"

Sometimes just a spot of color keeps things light, not overworked. And red.

First piece of art for 2025. Still working on botanical watercolors. Im in love with the background tho.

I love to draw and "doodle" but here is a painting of a place I love...Archival Ink prints for sale

Title: Never Forget. A quick piece I made today. I wanted to go abstract so the viewer can put their own meaning into the piece, but each paint stroke I made I had September 11th in mind. Digitally painted with watercolor in Rebelle 5 on a simple white canvas and sent over to PS.

Dip pen practice with puppies. I moved the puppies around a little in procreate. I tried coloring one with water color (the pink one) and it smeared. So I colored a few with Procreate.

Pelican Queen gives a captivating rally speech to her subjects that are in her mind. Used some watercolor-pencils and some digital overlay.

Dropping bombs on people's moms... All because he's mad that his own mom named him "Tom." He overreacted but there's more to explain, though- Keep in mind the fact that his last name is "Aito."

Test my new Moleskine watercolor sketchbook with different pens. Waves with Pentel brushpen , clouds by Lamy fountain pen and sky in the middle using Unipin

I had some leftover watercolor on my palette and added it to some old sketches. This is the Fabriano sketchbook with the red cover. I keep finding it on sale at hobby lobby. It's perfect for using on a plane, or just in general.

Graphite (powdered and in pencil form) and iron oxide recovered from abandoned mine runoff on watercolor paper

Rabbits thorns and moons. I usual don’t know where I’m going when my pen touches down. The illustration took me for a ride and I’m not gonna lie. I kinda enjoyed it. As it progressed, it felt like an album cover so why not?

A penguin. Digital watercolor base with oils overtop. I wanted to try to paint it like those traditional animal paintings from ages ago. I gave them an ear piercing for the challenge and kept it at that. They're stuck up; they don't need much. ;P

Bad Cat gets the woven blanket treatment. circa 2019

Acrylic on wood

Inktober Day 14: Overgrown

Here is a character I have been thinking about off and on. She is a seagull who loves the beach and everything to do with it. Especially jellyfish.

For this piece I used acrylic paints and acrylic markers. My inspiration was my love of tattoo flash and traditional/neo-traditional tattoo designs. I grew up flipping through pages of tattoo flash catalogues and the art inside was a huge influence in my own art. Some of these pieces are my versions of popular designs and some are originals.

I love creating work that starts from a point in nature and develops into something more abstract, something that can be interpreted in many different ways. It’s interesting to hear what people see, what connection to their own life they bring when viewing a work.

The rhododendron in my yard is blooming and my daughter and I love to stare out the window to watch our cats, Squanchy and Beemo, hunt and play in the yard.

Illustration of weird story i heard from friend. Late at night driver look at rearview mirror and saw strange creature crossing street. Like human but body and limbs are stretched. It moves like in bad stuttering TV picture. This version number two in same subject

Powdered graphite and iron oxide recovered from acid mine runoff on watercolor paper

Comic about love.

This is an acrylic painting that I made for someone I was close to. We would often take turns of one of us being overly affectionate and the other being playfully annoyed. I tried to capture this dynamic in the painting of these two owls. This painting was an experiment in portraying animals, something I don't do often, and using my paint knife as a tool in my paintings.

Health matters. A healthy person can have several goals. A sick person has one goal. Make good choices, because they will make you. Easy to say. Not always easy to do. Eat well. Move with intension. Read to learn. Meditate and pray, and receive from that. Do what I say, not what I do. This writing is for me, not you.

I found out recently that a good friend of mine's dog passed away. I didn't know how to react so I drew this for her. Ellie was a great dog who loved people and adventures. She's not gone. She's just on a new adventure, making new friends.

Azure markers

I want the composition to be thoughtful but on the sad side. My skill practice was brush strokes and blending (but not overdoing the blending) as I try to figure out how I stylize as an artist. Still working in the realm of realism and proportions as I am a newbie, but wanna flex into stylization a bit more. I did this through Rebelle 5, which is absolutely amazing, IMO.