sin

I printed my black and white zentangle drawing on marker paper and colored it with alcohol markers. At first it was a bit to garish with too much contrast, so I painted a warm grey over the whole piece. That gave me what I was looking for. Of course, THEN I completely undermined that with making a bunch of wild colored ones (two shown here) by playing with them in Photoshop. I shall be using this (along with my Zentangle koi posted la while back) for printing blank cards that we sell for charitable (mostly foodbanks) organizations.

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."

"Untitled," 8×10, Scratchboard: I think it's become evident that I enjoy making portraits no matter what the medium is. I still find it fascinating how much eyes can say, and they can usually fill in the gaps where words fail. I took a chance using Scratchboard, but I think it worked out, I'm pleased with it. I suppose this is a new member of the Black and White Portrait Club :)

Getting into drawing more complicated things like glass, lots of fun stylising

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.

The leaf painted by using Watercolors & Splash Technique. It creates nice combo of colors to a Leaf. Dew Drops on top make em realistic. Dew drops show purest form of nature.

Please let me know what you think! I’m not sure abt the eye, the reference pic I’m using is low quality so I’m kinda improvising. Any tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Today, Feb. 20, 2020, is Love Your Pet day. This drawing is part of a series of Sandwich Bag Art I've been doing since 2008.

"Desire so strong that self-control felt like putting out a forest fire." 8" x 4" Graphite on Toned Paper Story and Timelapse: https://www.instagram.com/_apricotjams https://www.youtube.com Audio Journals: https://www.apricotjamspodcast.com League of Legends (LiveStream): https://www.twitch.tv/apricotjams Business Inquiries: apricotjamspodcast@gmail.com Official Links: https://www.pinterest.com/apricotjamspodcast https://www.twitter.com/_aprictotjams https://www.artstation.com/apricotjams https://www.doodleaddicts.com/apricotjams https://www.behance.com/apricotjams https://www.deviantart.com/apricotjamsofficial https://apricotjamsart.tumblr.com/ https://ello.co/apricotjams - © 2019 Apricot Jams

It's not about waiting around for inspiration to strike, it's about showing up every single day -- and maybe something amazing happens that day, or maybe it doesnt...Regardless, Rise and Grind ♡

Street Style Helsinki. Living in the Nordic levels, like Finland, requires special attitude against cold winter weather. From a distance the sight felt like a giant rectangle on two thin sticks approaching scurry towards me.

Little illustration drawn using 0.03 and 0.05 fineliners.

Little illustration drawn using fineliners.

When I was planning this pattern I really wanted it to have a dark background. I built it in photoshop using hand drawn marker flowers but when I try to place them on a dark background it looks ridiculous!

This doodle is a mixed media work using orange and blue swirlies with layered abstracted and stylized details like spots, dots, and swirls.

gouache painting of spring bulbs using spring colors and a limited palette. Gouache is so fun!

Just some disparate doodles created during February 2021, using multiple black ink biros and some HB graphite pencil for toning.

Double sketchbook page using Posca pens and a Moleskine sketchbook.

It's been an interesting week, one of which had events I didn't expect to affect me as much as they did. I'd like to say something that occurred was surprising, but quite frankly, it wasn't. It's concerning how far things have gone and how some seem to feel indifferent to or even support them. We'll see what will happen, 11 days can't pass soon enough... besides that, time ticks on. A bit too fast in my opinion, but it is what it is. I know this drawing isn't my usual style, but something about drawing like this feels mindless for me, it lets me zone out and disconnect.

This is another drawing i'm really proud of creating on my tablet and thankfully I recorded the progress (I will be uploading the speedpaint next week) I drew an Octopus because I really love Octopuses since they are one of my favorite animals in the entire world.coloring was quite fun as well as experimenting which led me to create this.

My new method of finding something interesting to draw - now that I'm mostly at home, like everyone else - is using StreetView. I use the app to search interesting places around the globe. This one is a sketch of somewhere near Lagos in Nigeria.

Oh boy, markers (NOT a go-to), least favorite color, and a subject that isn’t on my radar. This was a hard one what with 3 negatives going for it. But, hey, it’s a challenge, right? Choosing a subject came first….we have a house full of Indonesian masks and sculptures. (My husband studied gamelon music in Indonesia.) Garuda, the “mount” of Vishnu and popular with Balinese artists seemed a good choice, esp. since he can be green, red, yellow or orange. I rarely choose yellow/orange for anything---artwork, décor, clothing...though I do have a soft spot for sunflowers. First I drew a bunch of images based on one of our wooden Garuda sculptures and then made a simplified marking pen outline and colored it with markers.

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.

Watercolor and India Ink on Yupo paper. If there is any single way to let go of detail and think simply, it is by using watercolor on Yupo paper. You basically have to surrender control and just see what happens.

I made a collage of my favourite tree, a baobab, using postage stamps. The wild dog puppy seemed to creep in from somewhere!

Tea Bag art using watercolors

Mixed media doodle collage over Carhartt ad - using oil pastels, pen, highlighter, fineliner and glue

This project consist of 3 different gouache/ watercolor paintings with pencil details on top. I actually made these for a specific purpose, but I made make more, since I really enjoyed making it!