Unexpected Visitor
This color sketch was done for a pumpkin carving design I did for the Chadds Ford Historical Society Great Pumpkin Carving contest. The sketch is a a lot more impressive then what you can see here ,unfortunately when the picture was scanned ,The Kinkos sale person chopped half of the image that shows the hands, one point at you, and the other holding the sickle,and the flowing rope hanging off the Grim Reaper's arms. I spent a couple of week just studying skeleton to do this sketch. I was Inspire to do this design by the thought that came across my mine about death. We are like helpless babies playing Peek A Boo when it come to our knowledge of the time death will drop by to pick us off. Some people who are terminally ill and are told by the doctor they have only a couple of days to live,must feel like the Grim Reaper is sitting right in front of them with his face hidden behind his hands, and when you lest expected he opens his hand like to great door turning on their hinges to open up to reveal him sticks his face in their's and shrieking ,"Peek A Boo," and followed by a hideous laugh .
Stephen J.Vattimo July 19, 2012
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)
Plantain, Plantago major, was considered to be one of the nine sacred herbs by the ancient Saxon people, and has been celebrated in Anglo-Saxon poetry as the "mother of herbs." In Russian this plant is called Подорожник - meaning near the roads. Native Americans called it "white man's foot" as it is often found growing along well-trodden foot paths and it was brought to the Americas from Europe. The Latin generic name means "sole of the foot."
When I was a kid, we would use the leaves of this plant for small hurts and scratches. We would spit on the leaves and stick it onto our scratches.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE9jT9LqUY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Every now and then, I do an homage to "Spy vs Spy" with a little something called "Dog vs Dog". It's a small short comic strip like series, that involves 2 dogs. One red, the other blue going at each others throats using various,violent' slapstick gags.
A LOGO design of the word "Mostafa" written in Arabic Calligraphy using Al Kufi writing style. The design is made via Adobe illustrator initialy to be printed as a laptop sticker.
I joined an app called sketchaday. They give you one prompt a day. Our prompt for today was new and decided to create my own twist to new lipstick. I had so much fun drawing and coloring this!
I'm working on getting a service dog and set up a website, an Instagram, and a fundraiser. This comic was my quick explanation of WHY I need a dog. There's a full color version, the pencil sketch, the inked comic, and a cute sticker of Theo, my service dog.
A little doodle I made in class. Zentangles aren't really my thing, but I've been doodling a lot with a pen, and I love the way it looks. It's supposed to be some sort of stick-monster.
Sketching expression is important to me. I think this one succeeded. More often I miss the mark. Guess that is the price paid for sticking with art through thick and thin.
