rough

Many beginnings. Beginning 1. Kitten was very very lazy. She used to hunt slugs but now she only hunted carrots. She was such a good carrot hunter! * Starting is easy, it's the middle that is often a muddle. And I won't even mention the endings. Here are some beginnings for children stories that flitter through my head.

A few of my sketchbooks, combing through some older concepts.

Inktober 2020, day 11: "Disgusting". A license not to do the dishes thanks to art! :D Although I got too carried away trying to capture the reflections to really capture the effect I was after. Also, even though I try to do a line drawing and ink it, my painterly sensibilities keep coming through. When I get a brush pen, I use it like a brush...

Rough sketch of my dog sleeping

This is part of a broader idea for a big busy city teeming with different characters. Some of those characters will travel deeper through this city and through different lands. Eventually they get back to where they started from.

When I read the first book of the "Outlander"-Series by Diana Gabaldon, I was really inspired by the idea of travelling in time through places like Stonhenge. This is what it looks like in my head.

One of my favourite series. I'm trying to strike the right balance between the abstract and the realism, and I think I try to do that through my use of colours. It's the most rewarding feeling when you use unexpected colours and they come together somehow! Acrylics, watercolour pens and posca markers.

This is part of an ongoing series.

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 ❤

This is part of an ongoing series.

Rough waters.

Many beginnings. Beginning 5. Frederick was contemplating geese flying south for winter and dreaming about moving to Florida. * Starting is easy, it's the middle that is often a muddle. And I won't even mention the endings. Here are some beginnings for children stories that flitter through my head. https://www.instagram.com/p/COu0fRFhvBo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

A quick painting and birthday gift for someone I'm very close with. The week is almost done, just in time for it to start again. Here's to the fact that I'll finally get to do double backs on Saturday, and that's getting me through the week. I don't know, today has been great and horrible all at once. I feel like I need to catch my breath, but I can't.

I stated with a rough pencil sketch then inked it with a brush pen and colored it with watercolor and gouache on a watercolor postcard. Reference I used was this excellent photo - https://www.pexels.com/photo/tree-wild-squirrel-monkey-97827/ photo by Mike from Pexels.com

This was one if my first sketches I did after receiving a package of brushpens

Burning through gum as quickly as I do provides you with many blank wrappers. Another in-class doodle.

I have many odd objects in my house, but I think the oddest is the 3D printed model of my teeth (with my braces on them). Long story short, these had to be made when I got my retainers, but I was lucky enough to be able to take them and my braces home. (Don't worry, I thoroughly disinfected and cleaned the braces before gluing them on.) I genuinely forgot I had this, so finding them kind of startled me at first.

I was (am) going through a bit of a victorian portraiture phase.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o kakeru shôjo) is one of my favorite anime movies. I really like all Mamoru Hosoda's anime. Can't wait for his new stuff!

Pigeon, acrylic on paper, roughly 5" by 7"

I was travelling two weeks ago, the train moved fast, so the only thing outside the train stable enough to be sketched was the sky.

Found this while going through some old drawings, ca. 2008

Inktober Day 4 sketch. No prompts. No, you didn't miss Day 3. There was a lot of bleed-through that messed up the sketch. It happens.

I’ve been going through a bit of an art slump lately, but I finally got myself to pick up the pencil and finish this. My reference photo was a bit grainy so had some trouble with that, but overall I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Done in graphite, drawing itself is about 5x6 in

No, I can't get it out of my head, now my whole world is gone for dead. This song has been stuck in my head for a while now, kind of interesting. I apologize for the long ramble of reflection this will be, but here I go. It's been an interesting few weeks, ups and downs, odd mindsets, but here I am. I don't know, quarantine has shifted a lot of things for everyone, and I've noticed a lot of changes in myself. I jokingly say I'm becoming soft, but it's a bit true, in a good way. I'm thankful for so many people in my life, and I'm finally letting those people how much they mean to me. I know I've said this before, but gymnastics has really been getting me through, and I'm proud of all the progress I've been making recently. My coaches make my life better, they're just incredible people and I love them so much. Thank you to the person I had a whole long text conversation with tonight (you know who you are) and for always dealing with my chaotic self. And finally, I've started to accept who I am, and that's a nice feeling. There's still the dark parts, the static still consumes me from time to time, but tonight was a good night. Thank you for all the support from everyone (in and outside of this community!). I genuinely appreciate all of it

Artwork on "the other side" - playing with the bleed-through from the watercolor and intuitiviely allowing the shapes to arise. Created using watercolor, coffee, ink, graphic pens and unipen

I had a wonderful time creating this commision for a Kansas City Personalities wall mural installed in a downtown KC apartment building. The wall measures roughly 12’ x 20’. These were all hand drawn graphite and charcoal drawings that I scanned into my mac and delivered digitally. The file was then enlarged and applied to the wall surface.

This is part of an ongoing series. This time we pass through The Great Exhibition and meet the different characters there to view art or just to socialise and hang out.

Where do I begin with this one? This is a drawing of my dad and I; the picture was taken back in 2006, a happier time, I suppose. I don't commonly think about my dad, I don't necessarily think about how much I miss him or how I wish I could see him again, so it was odd for me to sit and look through old photos. I don't really know my dad; I do, but I don't. My dad was physically part of my life for 10 years, the second half of those were not the best. Mental illness, self medicating for years, debt, heroin, arguments, threats, uncertainty. I feel like I remember the negative more because I was older, my parents couldn't hide it from me like they used to. At the same time, when he was sober and stable, life was good. Life was great, things felt complete. So here I am, 6 years since he died. I don't want to say his image is fading, but I know less of who he was than I did before. I see the good from some (the ones who praise him, who act like he was a saint), and I see the bad from others (the one who felt the pain). I suppose I no longer see my view, my memories aren't there anymore. I don't necessarily feel sad, the anger has faded, and I can't say I'm happy. Maybe I'll figure it out one day, but, for now, it is what it is.

London - from the bar on level 6 of tate modern and from inside borough market