Valentine Specials

I've been working on this piece on and off for a couple of months. It was done digitally in the Procreate app on my iPad. I've done a lot of experimenting, changed background elements, and created a mood. 

Below is the soda fountain illustration I did nearly five years ago. As you can see I kept some of the same elements, but I would say I have learned a thing or two. 

To read the original post click here.

March, you crazy month

Ta-da! "March" is done and it's still . . . MARCH!!! Look at me go! 

This was done in the Procreate App on my iPad, where I can sit in a comfortable chair, not get my hands dirty, and not think about the fact that I'm pretty much giving up on my basement studio. I did an under-layer of color with the airbrush tool and then worked all over the top of that with the technical pencil tool at the highest size setting to make it look non-digital. (I hope you think it looks non-digital).

March weather, here in Ohio, has been ridiculous - snow, thunderstorms, freezing temperatures, warm pleasant temperatures, rain, and wind - all within a span of two or three days! I pulled out my old "March" piece which you can find here. I added the child, who may not look it in the drawing but is extremely hyperactive (who else would hug a lion?) to express that this March has gone beyond the lion and lamb into new hyperactive territory. Also, he's really cute.

Practice, Practice, Practice

      Thank goodness, spring is around the corner! I mentioned in my last post how long and depressing this winter has been. Enough of that! I am pulling myself out of the winter blahs and "march"ing ahead! These are small exercises I pulled from my sketchbook. I've been doing these as creative warm-ups. They are not all on the same sketchbook page (I've just thrown them together here to make myself look like I actually can create a sketchbook page like this) and I am amazed by artists like Jeremy Hoffman who I follow on Instagram @theheartofjeremyhoffman where he shares the most amazing pages of his own, perfectly crafted and composed.
     These little darlings above are referenced from a book "Facial Expressions Babies to Teens" with the exception of three. The grumpy baby on the top (who was very upset with his parents on shot day) and the handsome baby in the bottom middle are both my grandson and future academy award winner, and the pretty girl in the middle right is my granddaughter.
   
Meanwhile, I have a few projects going on right now.

I posted this on Instagram last week, a detail from a piece I'm painting in acrylics. I'm cropping into the digital composition I did a couple of years ago (below), and giving it a little more energy.

Then there's these two enjoying a Valentine's Day milkshake. It's a work in progress and it will have a background when done.

Last is an image I did a few years ago - March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. Sticking with my idea for a calendar this year, I'm doing some more revamping.

Here's how I'm starting. I found a couple of lion images on the internet- one for the body, one for the head, did a quick sketch of a kid (who was originally hugging a big dog) and threw it all over the top of my original. It is currently a hot mess but today the sketching begins.

Soda Jerk

     February has been about 120 days long this year and I'm glad to see it come to an end! I think I now know why so many Ohioans winter in Florida. It may not be so much to avoid snow as it is to avoid depression! We have had an extra wet winter and my studio, located in my basement, has been inhabitable for more than a month. I needed to do something to cheer myself up and this is it.

     I pulled off a sketch I had hanging on my idea board:

He's a happy guy, right?  Someone who would cheer anyone right the heck up!

(FYI the ice cream in the soda/float is vegan. Trust me, you won't tell the difference)

I did that sketch a few years ago when I was planning this piece:

     Kinda cute, but I was never excited about it and always wanted a redo. (Don't I always?) I have one more piece in the works, with a soda fountain theme, that I'm hoping to share sometime soon.

     Before I go, I want to share an addition I made to my last post. What good is a fantasy carousel out in a snowy landscape without a couple of kids stumbling upon it? It was a very unmerry-go-round with no one to appreciate it. This one's better.

January

One of my goals for 2019 is to make a calendar to have ready for 2020. I thought it would not be too much to ask myself to come up with 12 nice designs. There are a few months that I have plans to pull out past pieces, dust them off and give them a face lift. This one will most likely be my January choice.

"January" is from a photo I took at Winterfest in December:

I did a rough layout with color in one of my sketchbooks:

I then scanned it into the computer and finished it digitally.

     Last year I set a goal of posting every Wednesday and did quite well up until November (National Novel Writing Month - where I came within a few chapters of finishing a middle grade chapter book!) I think this year I'm going to relieve myself of the pressure of posting once a week. In 2018 I would walk away from a project I was excited about, just to find something quick I could do to share. I am still aiming for at least a once-a-month post. If you follow me you may find more than that. I just want it to happen more on my own time than on a self-imposed deadline. 

Update: This is the version that ended up in the calendar.

Happy New Year 2019! and Portrait of Sadhguru

The first sketch in my 2019 sketchbook - Sadhguru.

and a quote from him - 

"You're just an imitation of what is around you, it's just that you don't imitate one person; 

you take bits and pieces of a hundred people and make yourself."

    New Year's Eve/Day is one of my favorite times of year. I read the goals I set for myself the previous December 31st. What I planned and what I actually accomplished are often miles apart but that's not important. Each year begins with potential and each year I realize a significant amount of that. My path may have zig-zagged but I'm still in a place with new memories, lessons learned, and hope for all the glorious potential of the coming year. 

    I haven't posted for quite a while because I spent November writing instead of drawing. Then, the holidays were upon me, along with some extra hours at work and the simple desire to bake cookies and shop. 

     What follows is a small smorgasbord of a few of the creative things I've been up to.

Here's how the mask turned out. 

I couldn't post it before because it became a Christmas gift for my son.

To see how the mask started check out my previous blog "Sometimes I Just Get Lost"

Then there was this portrait - also a Christmas gift I couldn't share before.

I did it digitally then dropped a filter over it to make it look more like comic book art.

Next is a little gift I made for my girlfriends - tiny books, quilled snowflakes and handmade boxes.

I also tried my hand at a gingerbread house. 

The gingerbread part was not quite hard enough but it was delicious anyway.

My daughter helped me with the decorations.

On a more personal note, I took my family to Winterfest at King's Island on, 

unfortunately, the coldest night in human history on planet earth 

(I may be exaggerating a little). We still had a wonderful time.

And here are my kids with their cousins on Christmas Eve in one of those cool re-visit photos:

I wish you all a Happy New Year and wish you the best in realizing its potential!