Situational awareness is important these days. Pre-pandemic, I sometimes take my doodles to coffee shops during my lunch breaks and relax for half an hour or so by mindlessly scribbling/shading with my Bic pen. People usually leave me alone but this drawing made me realise that not everyone wants to see a man drawing a naked man. A few people took exception to my subjects’ lack of clothing and made their displeasure known by telling me. Suffice to say, I try not to go into coffee shops anymore while working on subject matter that might offend anyone. Bic4 Ballpoint Pen on 9” x 12” Archival paper. Model: Malik_E
Meet Dr. Lorna Breen. She was in the trenches of the front line inside the New York hot zone during the first wave of the pandemic. She saw the massive influx of patients she knew she could not save (29,000 deaths reported in April, 2020). She contracted the virus and after recuperating, went straight back to work. A week and a half later, the hospital sent her home. Her family intervened to bring her back home to Charlottesville, Virginia. During her visit with her family, she seemed “detached.” She passed away April 26, 2020 at the UVA University Hospital in Charlottesville from self-inflicted wounds.
"She tried to do her job, and it killed her… Make sure she’s praised as a hero. Because she was, she’s a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died."
—Dr. Philip C. Breen, Father
I genuinely can't believe it's already March (I also can't believe it'll be a year since the pandemic really started). Yesterday also marked one year since I started journaling, which isn't an actual major thing, but still. How quickly time flies and how big of a difference a year can make. "And when it rains, the rain falls down Washing out the cattle town But she's quite safe up far away in her eiderdown And she dreams of crystal streams Of days gone by when we would lean Laughing, fit to burst, on each other."
Inktober 2020, Day 25: "Buddy".
I thought what better match for the prompt than Stanley Stegosaurus, which my parents got to me when we moved to the US, when I was six. Stanley was a good buddy to me, when I didn’t understand at first the weird language spoken by those American kids. It has also been a good buddy to me during this weird pandemic time, when my IRL social life seems to be limited to maybe meeting one person once a month.
Brush pens and posca on coloured A4.
4 year old Henry engaged fully with thick applications of watercolor and oil pastels. He said it was a stormy sea with a small boat. This was at the onset of the pandemic, when we were all a bit uncertain and confined to our homes. I was reminded of an insight by Kierkegaard written in the early 1800s: “When the sailor is out on the sea and everything is changing around him, as the waves are continually being born and dying, he does not stare into the depths of these, since they vary. He looks up at the stars. And why? Because they are faithful – as they stand now, they stood for the patriarchs, and will stand for coming generations. By what means then does he conquer changing conditions? Through the eternal: By means of the eternal, one can conquer the future, because the eternal is the foundation of the future.”
I have no mouth and I must scream! ink, watercolour, gouache and gold leaf on paper, 75x50cm, 2020, POA. Another artwork created in lockdown. A reflection of and introspection into thoughts and feeling of living during a pandemic.
Found him sitting on a wall in the park where I go for a jog since pandemic started. Was so mesmerised by this magnificent beast. I couldn’t stop staring at him every morning. The contrast between the white fur and black skin. So shiny yet so peacefully he sat doing his job.
It’s been over 20 years since I was an artist and animator in the video game industry and did art on the computer. I’ve been re-learning digital art since I’ve been stuck in doors during this Covid pandemic, and this is a charcoal piece I just did in Procreate. If you haven’t already tried this mind blowing program, I highly recommend it!
102 years ago, another pandemic raged across the globe. My latest comic is all about what we can learn from the 1918 “Spanish Flu” (written by Sarah Mirk + Eleri Harris). Check out the rest of the story on The Nib! thenib.com/1918-spanish-flu
Reflecting on the current pandemic, only to realise things this time last year gave plenty of us something to gripe about too...
How times seemed simpler then.
"There is," said the marzipan pig, "such sweetness in me!"
"The Marzipan Pig" by Russell Hoban is one of my favorite books. During the pandemic, @pgoedi from @communitybookstore read it and I drew it. Found it again and wanted to share it.
This makes me want to draw live again. It is such a nerve racking thing and so fun!
I have been doing this challenge for 31 days honestly I thought that I wasn’t going to do it because I set goals for myself before and I never really went through and achieved them but I have had so much time to myself during this pandemic during these past two years that I feel like I should’ve been doing something but never did and I just didn’t want another year pass and not doing anything and which is the whole reason I have been doing this challenge 31 days wasn’t that bad and I hope to keep on going for the next 334 days I think getting to 100 will be a big milestone for me that would be something to celebrate
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."
Workers in grocery stores take every precaution to keep themselves and others safe from the coronavirus pandemic. Art presented in pastel drawing. Special thanks to: https://www.revounts.com.au/woolworths-promo-code
