Some crazy Moleskine doodles for the day. I haven’t been doing enough of these and really need to kick my butt harder. Not sure why because it’s so dang enjoyable.
They gather around, grateful, sending prayers up just to thank.
(Directed at the man selected to be in the tank.)
Who knows why that man is bare in there, and to be frank-
They're thankful that it's him, not them. You can take that to the bank!
"Contemplation of the Jump" - drawn & colored in Escape Motions Rebelle.
My drawings are pretty random, but after I make them I think about them a bit... like... what is that girl in that cave room thinking and why is he going to jump?
I should probably know the answers... but I don't.
Rabbits thorns and moons. I usual don’t know where I’m going when my pen touches down. The illustration took me for a ride and I’m not gonna lie. I kinda enjoyed it. As it progressed, it felt like an album cover so why not?
I don't know why, but I had to make yellow buildings. I wish I had more time on this, but I took it as far as I could and hit submit with 1 to 2 minutes to spare. Why do I do that to myself? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
4 year old Henry engaged fully with thick applications of watercolor and oil pastels. He said it was a stormy sea with a small boat. This was at the onset of the pandemic, when we were all a bit uncertain and confined to our homes. I was reminded of an insight by Kierkegaard written in the early 1800s: “When the sailor is out on the sea and everything is changing around him, as the waves are continually being born and dying, he does not stare into the depths of these, since they vary. He looks up at the stars. And why? Because they are faithful – as they stand now, they stood for the patriarchs, and will stand for coming generations. By what means then does he conquer changing conditions? Through the eternal: By means of the eternal, one can conquer the future, because the eternal is the foundation of the future.”
The story behind this is that when my little sister and I were kids, we invented a game called Blammer. You duct tape small trashcans to your back and try to slam a sock ball into your opponents basket. We used tennis rackets for defense. We used to terrorize our parents with all the running and yelling in the house. We're in our 30's now and try and play when we see each other. I call her Chicken and she calls me Ducky. Which is why we're are riding birds. One of my favorite pieces I've ever done. A birthday present for her.
A big fan of the Star Trek universe and was especially impressed with the final run of Picard. This is the new Enterprise in action, heavily damaged but winning a battle against a Klingon Bird of Prey. I wanted a unique angle and decided to flip the starship upside down. It's space; why not. Digitally painted in Rebelle 6 with watercolors, pen, and oil brushes, and meant to have a classic/watercolor feel. This is not AI nor is any part of this AI.
Imperfect Lines, Honest Presence
This sketch is not perfect—and that’s exactly why it’s alive. The bold figure, the dissolving hat, the tilted chair: all of it feels unfinished, fleeting, caught in motion. It’s what the Japanese call wabi-sabi—finding beauty in the imperfect, the impermanent, the incomplete.
But there’s something deeper here too. A quick sketch is not just what the eye records. It’s what the soul permits. To draw without fixing, without polishing, is to admit the world will not hold still for us. Life slips past. The lines break off. And yet, somehow, the essence remains.
When you sketch this way, you are not the master of the moment—you are its guest. The pencil does not carve permanence; it pays attention. The act of drawing becomes an act of being present, of honoring what is already vanishing.
So here’s a challenge: grab a pencil and sketch someone near you in sixty seconds. Do not erase. Do not perfect. Let the lines falter. When you finish, ask yourself: What truth did the imperfection reveal?
Perhaps presence itself is the real art.
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.
1979’s The Tin Drum is one of those films I’ve been itching to see for a long time, but haven’t got round to yet for some reason. The main character in that film’s played by a guy called David Bennent. Not a household name for most, but you’ve seen Ridley Scott’s Legend, you’ll recognise him when he played Honeythorn Gump, Tom Cruise/Jack’s elfin pal.
Not sure why the idea to name this piece after D.B. occurred to me, but it did!