One of my favorite things about being a parent is listening to the stories my daughter makes up and really trying to encourage her imagination. She has named a bunch of the cacti which line our windowsills, while our cacti are very accustomed to their suburban lives they also like a bit of adventure, this is a group of them taking a family vacation to the desert.
An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
Drawn from a garden photograph. This took me much longer than expected. I kept stopping because I was getting discouraged. I still don't like the leaves, but there's not too much I can do about it at this point.
"My life vest is in the boat, and I'm in the water." ~ A blackout poem from a recycled page of Riding with the Hides of Hell, a young adult love story now titled Burnout.
I recently converted our garage into a studio space. The biggest construction project I've ever undertaken but I'm very happy with the end result. It's so nice to have a space made specifically for my creative process.
I have neglected posting for too long! "Abstract Forest" will be uploaded to all my sites over the next day or so, so keep checking back for clothing, pillows, and more with the new print!!! The original drawing is going to be for sale at a local art show (if my application passes). Find all my art product sites here: https://linktr.ee/okhismakingart
I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.
Annuals are encouraged to seed in the less formal beds in our large garden.
We tend them, photograph them, and I draw and paint them. This is a colored pencil (Prismacolor) drawing of one of our seedling poppies. It was an odd form. Not exactly a single, nor a double and lacked the common cross markings in the throat.
Joseph Cornell (1903–1972)
Cornell worked nights at the kitchen table, sorting and assembling materials for his boxes. It was not easy going. Some nights he felt too fatigued from his day job to concentrate on his art and would sit up reading instead, switching on the oven for warmth. In the mornings, his quarrelsome mother would scold him about the mess he’d left at the kitchen table; without a proper workroom, Cornell was forced to store his growing collection of magazine clippings and dime-store baubles out in the garage.
In 1940 Cornell finally mustered the courage to quit his job and pursue his art full-time—and even then his habits changed little. He still worked nights at the kitchen table, while his mother and brother slept upstairs. In the late morning he would head downtown for breakfast at his local Bickford’s restaurant, often satisfying his sweet tooth with a Danish or a slice of pie (and lovingly cataloging these indulgences in his diary).
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
#dailyrituals #inktober #JosephCornell @masoncurrey
Captured spirits in bottles are typically used when summoning demons. The type of spirit captured depends on the demon you wish to conjure and is used as currency or an "exchange" for the demons services. This spirit is an average "lost soul" and can be used to summon Balaam, the demon of greed. {Work of Fiction!} ♡♡♡
These are 5 out of 12 images I did while processing the necessity of healing from life lessons. Heartbreak is prevalent throughout all the levels of tragedies in our lives. At times, the mourning period feels forced-- I never really want my wounds to heal because I feel they're the last of the love I carried for that "thing". The process feels like gold pouring into my gapping heart and I can only scream as it sears through my veins. It hurts to heal. It hurts that it has to happen.
#25 Christmas Art Contest - I'm pretty sure I drew this in 2023 if I'm not mistaken. It was for a Christmas art contest at magma.com and drawn directly on their website using an iPad pro. And well, although I met all the requirements I didn't place in the top four. The rules stated that we had to pair up with another member from the website art community to draw a Christmas themed picture relating to anything from our childhood. What you see is only half the picture. My project-partner Andy added his portion to the collaboration, but I removed his pen strokes just for my website. That's why on the right side of the picture the Christmas tree and edge appear unfinished.
This image is huge, like 5000 pixels. This website will resize the image losing details, but if you would like to zoom-in to a higher resolution, try this link to get a closer look. Safe link to mega-upload file storage:
https://mega.nz/file/vqoXGIgD#bx6hdvKVKX8__hfBAYEVtp49NESS26w4iudrlM-oI_4
Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975)
Shostakovich’s contemporaries do not recall seeing him working, at least not in the traditional sense. The Russian composer was able to conceptualize a new work entirely in his head, and then write it down with extreme rapidity—if uninterrupted, he could average twenty or thirty pages of score a day, making virtually no corrections as he went.
But this feat was apparently preceded by hours or days of mental composition—during which he “appeared to be a man of great inner tensions,” the musicologist Alexei Ikonnikov observed, “with his continually moving, ‘speaking’ hands, which were never at rest.”
Shostakovich himself was afraid that perhaps he worked too fast. “I worry about the lightning speed with which I compose,” he confessed in a letter to a friend. Undoubtedly this is bad. One shouldn’t compose as quickly as I do. Composition is a serious process, and in the words of a ballerina friend of mine, “You can’t keep going at a gallop.” I compose with diabolical speed and can’t stop myself.… It is exhausting, rather unpleasant, and at the end of the day you lack any confidence in the result. But I can’t rid myself of the bad habit.
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
#dailyrituals #inktober #shostakovich @masoncurrey
Shortly after graduating in medicine doctor Illness concluded that the treatment of people does not make sense since he constantly coming new ill patients. The great desire to explore the state of the disease, he began his patients exposed to hazardous situations contagion and infection. Curious and eager for knowledge about the most serious illnesses, supported and developed the existing disease in their patients. He did not hesitate to post the wrong diagnosis, prescribing the drugs that have not been treat difficult health situation, on the contrary, they encouraged further development of the disease. After several years, he was arrested and charged with numerous deaths. Very indignant, told the court that great scientists have never been properly accepted by a society full of prejudices and petty soul.
Orangutan sketch (Original Dimensions: 3000x3000px x 300DPI) to try out my new iPad Air M2 13 using both iArtbook Pro and Artstudio Pro artist apps. This iPad is awesome for power and quickness.
Here are three main facts about adult male orangutans:
1. **Physical Characteristics**: Adult male orangutans are significantly larger than females, with an average height of about 1.2-1.5 meters (4-5 feet) and weighing around 50-100 kg (110-220 lbs). They develop distinctive physical features such as large cheek flanges (fleshy pads) and a throat pouch, which they use to produce long calls to communicate across the dense forests.
2. **Solitary Lifestyle**: Unlike many primates, male orangutans are solitary creatures. They spend most of their lives alone, except during brief periods of mating. This solitary behaviour reduces competition for food and other resources. The males will range widely and have large territories that often overlap with the ranges of several females.
3. **Long Call**: Adult male orangutans have a unique and powerful long call that can be heard over great distances. This call is used to establish territory and attract females. The call consists of a series of roars, grunts, and bellows, and it serves to warn other males of their presence, helping to maintain social hierarchy and reduce conflicts.
Probably spent too long on this one, plus lower resolution cause the file size was too large. Downtown area of an average city, though typically it's more crowded. Hope you like it. (made with krita)
