Phew! What a fortnight it's been here. Been engaging more in my photography as of late, but the day-job's had me on 'go' mode all Easter quite frankly. Thank the maker for those moments to yourself when you can just.. well, indulge really.
These are birthday creatures created in a lab to help celebrate. They come with a confetti aura and built in party horns. They are optimized for maximum fun, but frighten very easily.
The clutter on my drawing table.. I tend to use pencils the most, with pens a close second and sometimes brushes. This is the neat look---when everything is put away in its box. More often than not, they are a bit more scattered on the surface. Micron pen drawing.
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.
A wonderful reflective poem from Wendell Berry entitled "How to be a poet" is a fantastic foundation for an art curriculum. The last of three stanzas reads as follows:
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
Reminds me of a Buddhist proverb: Patiently I will bear harsh words as the elephant bears arrows on the battlefield. Words are powerful. They stir emotions. We are the managers of our emotions. It is not what happens to us that is the issue, it is our opinion of what happens to us that is the issue. Peace.
Was initially going to try coffee painting with this one, but that clearly wasn’t happening...
Hence the mentioning of divorce here, it being my expectations being split from the reality this time around. Still, things worked out in the end!
Kept myself occupied during a quiet day at work earlier by getting a head-start on things here, and my word it was quiet! Well...ish (towards the end that is).
An attempt at organizing my 'why' for making drawing the center of my curriculum, and selling the idea to my students. Suggestions for refinements welcome.
This started as a pen line drawing (with Skura Pigma micron pen) which I then painted with Dr PH Martin's Hydrus watercolors. They are fun and very bright. This is on Strathmore 300 11x17 Bristol paper.
Something warm coloured for the incoming spring. Also befitting of the feelings a lot of folks in my life (and myself included) seem to be feeling right now! Much cobweb detangling figuratively speaking this month past, that much is true...
Currently reading ‘Nina Simone’s Gum’ by Warren Ellis at long last. What a phenomenal bit of work this is, and inspiring to boot most importantly as you can see. Thanks for sharing your stories with us all Warren!
Rainy days = a perfect excuse for a shedload of coffee and drawing to indulge in. :)
Occurs to me I did one with the title “Laurel Weaver” close to four years ago. Not much else connects the two beyond the title or does it? I don’t know...
Whatever the case, I fancied recycling and revisiting this idea somehow. Enjoy!
