This is one of my first, and best pieces of digital art to-date. I created it using Procreate, inspired by my love of wolves, and Northern landscapes more generally.
In this drawing, I was striving to capture the spirit of contemplation and reflection, a sort of spiritual sojourn, an ancient practice of pilgrimage, focusing on subjects of transcendent nature, and exploring destinations of spiritual significance. (words taken from scholarlysojourns.com). It is a self-portrait (me as a 14-year-old boy). We had just moved from Mequon to Rhinelander. It was then that I began to romanticize the natural beauty of Mequon. But at the same time, I was falling in love with the beauty of Rhinelander. In this picture, I am walking through the countryside of Mequon. The stringed musical instruments symbolize my love for the progressive classical and folk-tinged acoustic and orchestral music that was coming out of England in the late 60s and early 70s, specifically the quieter pieces of music performed by the Moody Blues, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Yes, and Jethro Tull. A song called Reasons for Waiting by Jethro Tull is a good accompanying piece for this drawing.
It's a second attempt at drawing a landscape with a water element.
I'm not focusing on many details by drawing water. Creating a lot of blurry shapes and lines gives a great reflection effect.
Drawing water with reflections was a new challenge for me.
I decided to use a less saturated color palette. It looks like a foggy atmosphere around the forest. Something different
I began with the intention of creating a mandala, but it evolved into what looks like a cell. In my notebook next to this it says, "If the cells in my body were a reflection of my outward exterior, this would be a perfect representation." When the Universe bestowed upon me the gift of truly seeing color, my life was changed forever.
This is a painting of a first century Galilean fishing boat, most likely the very type of
boat used by Peter when he was called by Jesus to follow him.
This illustration is part of a bigger mural I am working on, about the ministry of Jesus
the Christ.
If you notice, the boat is beached facing backward, with the fishing net coming from
the back of the boat. This is to signify that Peter, like all the other apostles, except
Matthew the tax collector, dropped their fishing occupation and followed Jesus, Who
would make them the fishermen of men’s souls.
Here is a truth about me as an artist. Two parts of this painting gave me trouble in
carrying out this illustration. The fist was illustrating the ropes of the rigging. My first
attempt was horrendous it took me a second try to get it right. I had to look up pictures of ropes on the Internet to overcome this challenge.
The second was illustrating the rocks on the bottom of the Sea of Galilee and the
reflections of the boat on the water. I must have made about five attempts until it
finally clicked. Even when I kept looking at the reflections of boats on water, I could
not make the breakthrough.
In creating the kind of art that I do, it is very rare to find a model that meets all my
requirement for what I am illustrating. So, it takes photos and imagination and the
grace of God to create an illustration that looks better than a stick figure and communicates the message intended.
So, I figure God has me go through these challenges to keep me humble because, without humility, God is not able to use our talents for His glory.
(October 12, 2017)
I did not use a reference :/ so yeah that's kind of a problem but it's ok... I used HB for the sketch, 2B for shading, and 4B for the eyebrows and eyelashes. I just noticed that I forgot to put a reflection of the lashes on the eyes...
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.
It's crazy to think that we've been in a pandemic for a year or to think we could ever get used to this new way of life. March 13th, 2020 was the day everything stopped for me: it was the last day I went to school and the last day I went to gymnastics for 5 months. The promise of two weeks' time, something I somewhat desperately held onto. Going into this, no one knew what to expect, it was the first time many of us saw life as we know it stop. Quarantine has definitely taught me a lot emotionally, mentally, and how to reach out and work through (and what bad panic attacks feel like :) ). I think it also goes without saying that I got through most of this because of the people around me, and I can't say enough how grateful I am to be surrounded by such amazing people. So, here I am. Life is still pretty rocky, but it's a process. Thank you to everyone who's been along for the ride so far ❤
As we approach the end of winter, who knows where we’ll end up next? Still cautiously optimistic here...
As long as there’s stuff to inspire us all, it can’t be all that bad?
