was

I was looking at what Pixabay might offer as inspiration, and found this fish. Perfect for a ballpoint pen drawing. The incompleted drawing in the second photo was taken before the final "glaze" of little scribbles of turquoise pen across almost the whole surface. It was a happy accident that made for a shimmery, iridescent fishy quality.

So many dots.... this project was done for a class.

Things have been so busy of late and my output has greatly reduced. However, I have returned to oil painting. I revisited this piece I started last year and put in a few more hours to finish it. The scene was from a few summers ago when I visited Pen Arthur forest for the first time. The piece takes me right back to that day when the late summer afternoon sunlight struggled to penetrate the canopy.

It was so meditative doing the shading and blending for this one.

Meet Peter and his friend VW Rabbit. Peter was born during the pandemic and scampers about daily having fun with his friends.

Kangaroos, wallabies, and emus at the zoo with my Sharon Art Studio friend. So nice to create together again! This was from November, when the SF Zoo was still open. I'm really grateful we were able to go several times before it closed again.

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.

I'll be honest, this prompt stumped me a little bit, I wasn't sure where to go with it. Here's my take on it, reflecting the 50s and 60s vibrant music scene and the Cold War shadowing it.

The other night I chin-chin with the universe... My quick daily sketch from my sketchbook. 'Glass of universe'. Ink, coffe and red wine. Yes, I was seeping on this wine while sketching...

This started as something I was doing for fun, but turned into a very strenuous exercise on how to work with this many light sources.

...initially was going to replace the spiders meal for a banana (referring to the piece #Comedian created by artist #Maurizio_Cattelan)...but just could not do it. Had some good conversation about the concept, so hope it leads to more. Instead, it has lead me to explore some other ideas.

Inktober 7 - Enchanted : copic multiliners and india ink wash...tiny bit of a digital redraw on one of the fairies...

doodle on comic magazine cover. year of magazine was 2002.

This weeks Jimbob Drawing Show Art challenge was #MagicalSkull .Pen and ink drawing, coloured in Photoshop https://www.instagram.com/jimbobdrawingshow/

This acrylic painting was developed from a spectacular photo that was gifted to me. As usually, I had to make some changes. The head was looking away. I created a model for what I needed and filled in details from research.

The Charminar was built in 1591, part of it is a mosque

Pens and washi tape on vintage postcard.

Old Whistletwig was certain this moot could've been an email.

This looks simple, but i spent days researching to get the buildings and clothing right. There was also a lot more layers than i planned for. This buildings are still in use, there are different shops in them now. Sadly they no longer have those colorful decorations,

This was a photo taken by my friend in Australia of their back yard.

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BALLOON by Ben Loory. "That night the mother had a terrible dream. In the dream, Annie was a balloon. She floated up out of her bed and through the open window and away across the sky toward the moon." https://www.instagram.com/p/CgzLv_COUat/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

We have finished the second season of The Witcher and I was inspired to make a composition with Cirilla. I have decided to take the visuals from the game where Ciri is already a grown up and became very strong. Behind her is Geralt who looks after her. I hope you like the story as much as I do! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6cfNkwJY6k

Luisa was my favorite character in this beautiful, fun Disney animation. I drew this in Adobe Fresco in about 6 hours. Still learning the program and testing brushes. Be sure to check out the time-lapse of the drawing on my Instagram. Cheers!

I’m often asked about my Bic pen drawings and how I do them. It starts with a good foundational drawing, the ballpoint pen part is just trying to colour within the lines. I try to do my best to explain the process, but the best way to show my progress is by posting my efforts to master pen drawings over the span of 3 or so years. I have been doodling/drawing with ballpoint pens as far back as I can remember - they were cheap, readily available and always lying around the house. It wasn’t until I was bored during a particularly long team meeting-conference call (around 2016-17) that I started to think about the possibilities of ballpoint pens as serious portrait illustration tools. My first experiments with full colour ink portrait drawings were rather crude, but that’s the point of learning new techniques—as long as the curiosity and the love of drawing is there, you can transfer that skill and passion into any medium. Remember, the most exquisite drawings and paintings you see didn’t materialise fully formed, they started out as failed experiments. Failure after failure after failure. It’s important to remember this when you get discouraged (I've failed spectacularly over the years). The only difference between the accomplished artist and the beginner is hundreds of hours of practice. Talent can only get you so far. It’s the hard work that you do behind the scenes that makes your work look effortless. Keep doodling. Keep learning. Stay curious.

A wonderful model I had two years ago brought the most amazing dresses. This was rather a plain one, but very elegant.

Mantid on a rose bud was done on Strathmore Bristol with Derwent Graphitint (tinted graphite) pencils. I love these insects and they are all over the rose bushes this time of year. I tried to capture her natural grace and beauty as she stepped down from her rose bud perch while eyeing her prey.

A quick drawing to symbolize spring time that was drawn with pencil and edited digitally with color.I present to you....bird with cute hairdo.

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.

A colored pencil drawing of a turban squash. We made a curried squash, pear, and onion soup with it today! It was pretty while it lasted....now it's tasty!

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.