Honing My Strengths

“The Mouse Of Amanita” (wip)

I didn’t think I would be able to do it but I got my idea of a mouse with mushrooms to fit onto an artist card. I started off working at a larger size but it didn’t seem to look right to me. I’m beginning to wonder, by me being so accustomed to working on such a small scale, I now have difficulty working at a larger size? It’s like my brain can’t fathom such a thing. Then again maybe working on a small scale is really just my natural disposition and I should just hone my strengths rather than worry about my perceived weaknesses. Unfortunately I often get the impression from the art world that there’s much more interest and focus on large works of art that can fit the span of a living room wall. Due to that, at times I feel this pressure within, to match what I see and strive to stretch myself and to do something on a much more grand scale. But in all honesty, I find something cozy and quaint about small works of art that suits me more than I like to admit. As an American, born and bred in a culture that likes to do everything BIG, it seems almost unAmerican to churn out these little works of art, especially when I have some people who ask, “Why don’t you do anything larger?”
Anyhoo, so far this little scene fits nicely in the space provided and I’m excited to see how it’s going to turn, which is a good sign because if I’m not excited about my work it becomes so much harder to do.

Bunny Sketches

Some quick bunny sketches. I’m still grappling with my apprehension but I’m feeling much better about rabbits now. Thank you Val for suggesting that I take a look at baby rabbits. They’re so much more adorable and less creepy looking to me. With that said bunnies seem to be a good subject for the first day of Spring. 😊

Scribbles & Scratch

I was up until 1am scratching out some sketches for my next ACEO series. Most of the time if I have something in mind I go straight into the linework on the cards and then go from there. But sometimes I have to do preliminary sketches to work out my ideas, especially if it’s complex or if its a figurative piece that is a bit more involved than a portrait. Sometimes I use elements and poses from previous drawings and sometimes I do something all completely new. I’m not the greatest at drawing things straight from my imagination, especially when it’s something I’ve never drawn before, so often I need to gather reference material. You should have seen me running back and forth from my camera to strike a pose with only 10 seconds to get ready for the shot to capture some photo references. If I had the money, I would hire a model but for now I have to use myself which is not fun for me. I prefer being behind the camera not in front of it. 

This next series involves beings with wings but I want to make it clear that they are not angels. They’re simply avian beings. For the moment I’m calling the series “Dark Wing” but that may change as well as some elements to the drawings. The main focus is to have female figures with wings with a little hint of fantasy and magic weaved in somewhere but I’m not exactly sure as to how just yet. My underlying artistic goal is to meld together a beautiful blend of nature and the female form with touches of magic and fantasy into a personal style that is all my own. Unfortunately my work tends to be more so some off shoot of representational art than anything else. I have a ways to go to reach my goal but I’ll get there. Anywho, these are my first sketches that I wanted to share.