Rad experience joining a local drawing group for the first time yesterday although I didn't realise how inconvenient my backpack was going to be, it made me slow to set up / pack up and a few of us had to organise a locker at the gallery as we didn't know backpacks weren't allowed so I spent most of today sewing a bag/sketchbook cover which fits an A4 sketchbook, pencils, id and phone and also has some backing in it so I can easily sketch on my lap without dropping my stuff all over the place. I'm going to do a bit more work on my weird comic book page tonight but in the mean time this is my sea serpent digitally coloured, he lives at Apollo Bay and likes to sleep camouflaged amongst the lifesaver rings.
I've been sketching animals and nature on location since 1989, usually in pen and ink. I saw this takhi/Przewalski's horse at Hustai National Park in Mongolia. Takhi are the only surviving species of genetically wild horse and Mongolia is the only place in the world when they can be seen running free in their native habitat.
I did this drawing from a photo for the 2018 Inktober event using a Pilot EF fountain pen and a Prismacolor white pencil in a Strathmore Toned Tan sketchbook.
One of my favorite things about being a parent is listening to the stories my daughter makes up and really trying to encourage her imagination. She has named a bunch of the cacti which line our windowsills, while our cacti are very accustomed to their suburban lives they also like a bit of adventure, this is a group of them taking a family vacation to the desert.
I have neglected posting for too long! "Abstract Forest" will be uploaded to all my sites over the next day or so, so keep checking back for clothing, pillows, and more with the new print!!! The original drawing is going to be for sale at a local art show (if my application passes). Find all my art product sites here: https://linktr.ee/okhismakingart
I photographed this baby elephant at the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park some years ago. He had to walk close to twice as fast to stay with his mother. Created for Inktober 2018. Drawn with a *takes a deep breath* P. Soennecken Bremerburseneeder EF nib, Perle Noire ink on Strathmore 300 vellum bristol (my current go to pen and ink paper).
An article/rant/annotation to an illustration. A #Hackney bar and its flies.
This picture is not as sad and blue as it might at first seem, I promise.
It is early in the week and the pub becomes the territory of the most outspoken drinkers. Raised somewhere between Churchill and Harold MacMillan, a night such as this is time for them to spin out a yarn of nostalgic fantasy. Encouraged by the lack of a crowd and with space to fill, statements start to fly.
In the opening rounds the barman athletically hits back with factual blocks and reality-check haymakers; statistics and personal experiences are given. Two histories cross examined, one where 1982 means Thatcher and the Falklands, the other renders Reagan and the AIDS crisis. Stoicism and national pride vs mental health and realism.
In the latter rounds the barman is fatigued, swaying on the backbar, glasses begin to stack up as form begins to drop. The older men seem stronger than ever.
The barflies come in close now, they scrutinise his generations work ethic and make wild political comments on poverty, immigrants and the minimum wage.
The barman is close to sheer bloody despair, he maintains his defence and focuses on breathing while maintaining his professional stance.
But at the end of the night the barman knows HE will ring that bell, they will politely leave and they will return again in a week and maybe, just maybe there will be a change, common ground or maybe at least polite silence.
But what these interactions have given despite the salt in the eye is community and an exchange between generations, culture and class of those participating. No home is ever straight forward, no relative without their good and bad traits and in a world where we often slide into echo chambers online or in our physical environments, the pub is still a place where society is family, face to face, pint to pint. Or maybe it's just a room with alcohol on tap?
Yet another plant abstract. This one was built around the red outlined flower in the semi-center, and that’s where it gets its name. Colored pencil and pen on paper.
During a trip to England in 2015 I got to spend over an hour working my way around Stonehenge doing sketches of it from various angles. A crow landed on one of the big sarsen stones long enough to add it to my sketch. It can seem smaller than one imagines at first, but its presence grows on you as you make the circuit. Sadly, a rope barrier had to be put around it years ago due to soil compaction, so it's not possible to walk out among them. But it's an amazing sight in any case. I used a Sakura Micron 0.1 pen in a Pentalic Nature Sketch sketchbook.
