It’s not my best work, but a try to add depth to my art. I’ve been watching the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross, so I challenged myself to draw without sketching before hand.
This scene is purely from my imagination.
First, I drew the ocean scene, then the doorway and walls. I accidentally marked the page, so I added a sleeping dog to cover the mistake. Next the floor, a rug, and a fan, inspired by the fan in front of me (in real life). Finally a hammock edge, like you are lying in it, staring out to the ocean beyond.
A purple carrot. At first it reminded me of Purple Heinz Ketchup from childhood. (Anyone else remember that?) But really, this purple carrot is more natural, and normal, than our uniform orange varieties. Before we domesticated carrots into monotony there were vivid, rainbows of carrot. I’m glad we never lost these to time.
The first in a new series called, Drawing the Seed Catalogs. We obviously have a lot of seed catalogs kicking around, what better way to put them to use? And the best part? Being able to find muses to draw without using my phone. 😁
There is this dead tree in our backyard. It’s stood since we bought the house in it’s deceased way, waiting for us to chop it down. We tried, and never came back to finish the job.
It’s grown mushrooms. Helped squirrels reach the nearby tree tops. I hope a few bats have used it as a place to relax.
Here I depict an other worldly version of this tree, full of life, draped in spring blooms.
Remember last year when I said I was going to create art consistently, starting with a study of Van Gogh? Oh good, me either. 😅 But in all seriousness, I am committed to making art this year. I miss it. These are three pet portraits I did of Midnight, Sully, and Mia, a few weeks ago in oil pastel.
I was inspired by Rachel Maksy to do this and spark a bit more joy in my life – and it did more than that! It helped me process grief too. I lost Midnight, over 15 years ago and Sully, just last August. Picturing them, hanging with my villager character, on this imaginary ACNH island, is a comforting little story.
For Midnight, I was inspired by Mira, for her spunky personality and fearlessness. I decided to change Midnight’s outfit to a clover dress from game, since loved clover the most of any treats!
Although Sully was Yorkie-Bichon mix, the dog and wolf characters are draw quite differently than what he looked like. Gonzo the koala in a perfectly Sully-looking sweater was just the ticket to capture Sully’s teddy bear essence.
Finally Mia was easy to pinpoint, Dottie looks like a Dutch rabbit which is similar to Mia’s harlequin color pattern. Since Mia loves baseball, dressing her in a baseball jersey seemed right.
I hope this brings you a little joy today. Wherever you are I hope you know you are special and deserving of love.
The other day, I ran across Van Gogh’s work again and I went down a rabbit hole of researching his work and soaking it in. I saw his and other artists I admire at the Musee d’Orsay in 2010, and although no pictures were allowed those memories have carried with me. So it got me thinking, would modern life be more beautiful to us again if we saw the world through the eyes of these artists of this movement?
That’s what I plan to explore this year. This drawing above, captures the view from my sewing room. With modern infrastructure and other touches erased by the magic eraser tool to keep the analog and the natural.
The other day, I was at the back of our property with Kyle with our tiller. Above us was this pine tree we believed to be mostly dead, yet behold these little pinecones were growing, cracking open actually. The sound was this bizarre melody of crackling, like rice krispies in milk.
A year ago, I started drawing geese. The Canada goose specifically. They’re a special bird to me.
I see them everywhere – on our walks on Bailey Trail, at the pond in town, flying over our house, on the side of the road, flying over the parking lot in Erie, and hanging out in the Lemur pond at Keystone Safari. They are my comfort animal, a reminder for me that I’m not alone.
God’s used them as a reminder of His promises in my life.
This is a sketch I did to practice the posture of the goose on land. Their necks, their postures, and the way their wings look have a completely different view from land to sky to water.
I usually rush through my drawings, but today I studied the example photo before I jumped in. I also used a technique I learned as a kid to use circles to mark the lines of the body.
One Rabbit Riot 