I love creating work that starts from a point in nature and develops into something more abstract, something that can be interpreted in many different ways. It’s interesting to hear what people see, what connection to their own life they bring when viewing a work.
It's October and I am really getting into the Halloween spirit. And to start off the month is one of my witches.
I have drawn quite a few witches over the years, and she is one of my favorite ones to draw.
I love the song Blackbird by Paul McCartney. But, blackbirds are very territorial when they have young ones in the nest. There is a sunny tree-lined path I like to walk in the summer. I have seen a fox running out of those woods, a doe lying in the sun-drenched grass, and an irate couple of blackbirds diving at my head while I was peacefully walking by their nest of young ones. I had to start carrying a stick to ward them off. Blackbird Fly! Just stay away from me!
24x30 canvas A weathered steer skull fixed against a wagon wheel, drawn in graphite, charcoal, and ink, evokes the grit and resolve of westward migration. The skull stands as a quiet emblem of endurance, sacrifice, and survival, while the wheel anchors the piece in motion and passage. Westbound ’49 references the year many headed west in search of promise, capturing the stark beauty and cost of that journey in restrained black and white.
Got started on the classic show again and got the urge to draw out the greatest evil that ever crossed our screens. Though with the twist of showing the Great Evil in a more desolate, ruined presentation.
What do you guys think?
Had a thought to revisit one of my old worlds created during the creative streak over years ago. It was a world built from the primordial creative juices in my head, put from uncountable inspirations and knowledge bases learned from who knows forever.
Here is a perspective of how a world is built from the rise of some fundamental ideas. What happens if you consider a world suspended in nigh microgravity conditions, a supercharged atmospheric envelope orbiting a twin neutron star system, gravitational suspension, intense magnetic fields and radiation? A extreme and chaotic environment bordering an impossible miracle, in a constant state of freefall.
Not gonna lie, worldbuilding in detail is not easy. I don't have the mental and time resources these days, to expand a world in such intricate detail. Each of the scribbles above are mostly ideas of local flora and fauna that push the limits of my science knowledge base combined with accumulated general knowledge. Some of the concepts here are bordering magical fantasy, without even getting into the residing intelligent lifeforms.
This super unflattering self portrait comes with a good reason. I bought a magazine about watercolor painting today, thinking looking at beautiful pictures in bed would calm me down before sleep. Didnt happen! An invitation to a spring-themed contest was announced, putting my brain to work in high speed. After 3 hours i gave up sleeping and started some preparation work. Draping my head in a scarf, filming myself in the worst possible angle and making a rough sketch was first step. Hopefully i can get some sleep now.
Emotionally speaking, this is definitely the hardest pieces I've made so far. On July 18th, 2019, an arson attack on Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 left 36 dead and 34 injured, one of the deadliest mass casualty incidents in Japan since the end of WWII. KyoAni has some of the best working conditions in the industry and have made some of the most iconic anime to date, including Clannad, A Silent Voice, and the show that got me started on anime, Violet Evergarden (as seen in this drawing). I sent this drawing to them through their website, and there's a good chance it was displayed along with thousands of other fan submissions in Kyoto this past November as part of a public memorial service. While this was a tragic blow to the company and community, they're healing and getting back to their feet, and I can't wait to see what they create next.
Lois's last book: "The style of Loish. Finding an artistic voice." is just AMAZING! It's:
- inspiring,
- full of tips on how to start searching own style,
- full of Lois's thoughts and experiences on her way to finding the artistic voice.
So I wanted to try something new in my digital art journey. I experimented with new techniques. I tried to use a brush type that gives a transparency effect.
I chose one picture from Loish's book as a reference.
And here it is - a colorful landscape.
Thank you, Lois, for creating and sharing your phenomenal and inspiring art!
A Cloud, a Tree, a Star. Illustration of St. Brendan (Naomh Breandain in Irish) for Tolkien's poem, Imram (https://englewoodreview.org/poem-the-death-of-st-brendan-j-r-r-tolkien/).
Lightness 4: when a levity hurls us away.
This serie started with the purpose of paining people literary threw away from small ordinary objects like flowers of balloons. I wanted to depict the strength and the power that trifles have on us. Eventually ithey paintings became more and more “stable”, with just a touch of surrealism in them.
I kindly thank Ale for posing for me with patient. Thanks to her hair style, I am pretty sure you can recognize her in my last paintings ;)
My next posts will be the pages of my sketchbooks one by one. I’m starting with sketchbook A which is my most recent one. Each sketchbook drawing will have the “SB” on the title, and they will be posted in order for your enjoyment.
A very random doodle I did for warm-up while working on commissions. I don't think it helped much other than working with little line work and stark lighting.
Flamestar from elijah_the_cartoonist on instagram
Finally done. Omg I forgot how difficult flames are! Well making them look like flames is difficult. It's not the comic style that I desire but it's a start because I compared it to professionals
