Behind the Russian Church there is an abyss.
The moss and the rubbish are slippery and jagged old tins glitter at the bottom. For hundreds of years they have piled up higher and higher against a long dark-red house without windows. The red house crawls round the rock and it is very significant that it has no windows. Behind the house is the harbour, a silent harbour with no boats in it. The little wooden door in the rock below the church is always locked.
Hold your breath when you run past it, I told Poyu. Otherwise Putrefaction will come out and catch you. Poyu always has a cold. He can play the piano and holds his hands in front of him as if he were afraid of being attacked or was apologizing to someone. I always scare him and he follows me because he wants to be scared.
- Sculptor's Daughter by Tove Jansson
#dailydrawing #tovejansson
René Descartes (1596–1650)
Descartes was a late riser. The French philosopher liked to sleep until mid-morning, then linger in bed, thinking and writing, until 11:00 or so.
His comfortable bachelor’s life ended abruptly in late 1649, Descartes accepted a position in the court of Queen Christina of Sweden.
Descartes accepted a position in the court of Queen Christina of Sweden,Arriving in Sweden, in time for one of the coldest winters in memory, Descartes was notified that his lessons to Queen Christina would take place in the mornings—beginning at 5:00 A.M. He had no choice but to obey. But the early hours and bitter cold were too much for him. After only a month on the new schedule, Descartes fell ill, apparently of pneumonia; ten days later he was dead.
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
“Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum.
(English: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am")”
― Rene Descartes
#dailyrituals #inktober #reneDescartes @masoncurrey #wouldratherdiethangetupearly
Dragging through the snow
On a one-girl open sled
Over the hills we go…
“Why aren’t we there yet?”
PenguinGirl can never say NO to chocolate, and Fatty McPingoo (the fat penguin with the Harry Potter scarf) knows it all too well!
I drew this in the afternoon on Christmas Eve, imagining PenguinGirl and her friends traveling in the snow to a Christmas party
I first bought some cheap soft pastels back in 2018 and did a couple of sketches. I bought a nice set of Rembrandt pastels a few months later — didn't use them. I bought some pastel pads, none if which seemed right. September 2020, I bought a couple more sets of bargain pastels and tried a couple of pieces — no good, still couldn't bring myself to use them. Jess bought me pastel pencils for Christmas — I was too scared to use them. I even bought a pad of Pastelmat which is supposed to be THE paper to use for pastel paintings in January. I was too scared to use that as well!
FINALLY, after a few unsuccessful attempts at working with watercolour (brush issues), I cast aside my fear and thought I'd mess around with pastels. Some time later, and this was the result. I've finally broken through my pastel fear-barrier.
I've got to say, I love soft pastels and I'm excited about doing more pieces in this medium.
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.
This is another way of working that I really like. Fine liners and chalk (colour) pencils were predominantly used, with a quick smothering of acrylics for her scarf and coarse posca pen marks for the jumper :). About the subject, Handmaid's Tale was one of those rare books that I read more than once growing up and it stayed with me, hence why I decided to draw Margaret Atwood (not seen the series yet though but I hear good things!). I accidentally had her hand cut out while penning the figure - still working on my scale and composition!
Most fears are just illusions created by our brain. Our previous experiences is used to create a fake reality of what would happen if we venture into areas we are scared of
Just another test - working file to try and establish the feel of the book - problem i am having is book for adults, tweens, or kids - is it too scary? In the end there are a million things that harbour self doubt so better to just "do" instead of think too hard about it. - again just a test.
Cute peaceful fox drinking coffee, wearing a scarf. Trying gouache for the first time. It's a really nice medium. I am definitely going to keep at it and make some more gouache paintings.
Winter strikes Stoke Newington and the scarves come out along Church Street. Pops of colour and man's best friend help get us through the most trying of seasons
Another "Sick Day Scarecrow" I did recently getting over a cold. There's too much comic stuff to get into to explain this, but in summary its a parallel universe Scarecrow I decided to design who is more of a superhero. Kinda.
I collaged "Krampus is Coming For You" together with my own monoprints as well as one of my drawings of Japanese Noh masks that I cut out of an old sketchbook. For the second piece, I had a drawing of Marie Antoinette as an ice cream cone, so I gave her a dress, put a background of my monoprints on her, etc. Then I added more cherries, and the circle reminded me of a clock, so I inked in the arms accordingly.
Meet the Woolies
Fearful creatures who live in the ocean and wear colorful woolen sweaters kitted by their grandmothers.
When they see something scary they duck under water and retreat further into their woolen garments.
Mind you, they do inhab
