This one is important to me. I had been having a very long dry spell, not making any art, and then one day last Fall, while on a road trip, camping in Mesa Verde park, I drew this using some copic grey scale brush markers and a fine liner, and it was like my vision was returning. I got really into seeing, and imagining ... Anyway since then I've still been struggling to make more work, but have been making more creative things when I do get productive, and been organizing older work... It's also interesting that I titled this piece Phase Transition back in Nov '23, and subsequently had quite a sea change of life experiences, adventure, and new visions. Now if I could just sit down and draw more...
Botanical Hawk Design I drew for my former junior college alumni banquet. They had it printed on a giant canvas for people to color. It started out as a small doodle and transpired into something else. ha ha. Made this with Sakura Micron Ink ( 01 and 005) on Bristol with Digital Editing to finish.
I love the song Blackbird by Paul McCartney. But, blackbirds are very territorial when they have young ones in the nest. There is a sunny tree-lined path I like to walk in the summer. I have seen a fox running out of those woods, a doe lying in the sun-drenched grass, and an irate couple of blackbirds diving at my head while I was peacefully walking by their nest of young ones. I had to start carrying a stick to ward them off. Blackbird Fly! Just stay away from me!
Daily sketching is one of the best habits every artist should build.
The second important habit is sharing your work. It doesn't matter if it's a sketch, a work in progress, or finished artwork. Just share!
I had to improvise a bit. I found myself rummaging for colored pencils so I drew my outfit today with the ones I had. Notice that I am painting because I’m out of pencils. My oversized sweatshirt is really a periwinkle blue.
Poor blobfish!
(For this series, I'm trying to hone my beginner skills by focusing on the architecture of each strange creature through reference photos, while also using it as a log for interesting animal facts.
