Category Archives: Pencil

Flight of Fancy

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I had one of those days when I work like mad and hardly get anything accomplished.

Holy crap.

I am really amazed at the level of dependency I have on this magic whirring box of wonder. I had an assignment today that involved 3D. Well, I don’t have that software loaded on this computer and it’s not compatible because of a versioning conflict, so I had to load it on my laptop. Well, it decided to crap out on me – totally, so no more laptop, says my buddy, Matt, who graciously helped me out tonight.

But, alas, no 3D software and no closer to finishing the project.

If I had a two pound rock hammer and a chisel, I could do it faster at this point…Hehe..Actually, I wouldn’t mind at all.

Snowhitman

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I remembered something my son said to me the other day when we were drawing. He said, “Dad, you draw so many lines for the outline, but when you’re done, there’s only one there.

This sketch is intended to be loose, almost gestural. By doing this you can imagine the background being completely snow (especially, if I casually mention it).

 

Conqueror

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So, if you owned the entire world, and everything in it, where would you put everything? And you can’t buy anything with all your money, because you already own it.

I mean, really?

How do you explain the conquests of men like Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Dr. Evil? What would be the thrill of showing someone your property on a map of the world. So what, it’s a painting of the world…You can’t see it all, unless your in a giant rocket-ship-shaped rocket ship (like this guy is), and even then, you can’t touch it. So, what good is owning everything?

I just don’t get it.

Really pushed the atmospheric perspective here…or at least tried to…hopefully, you realize the planet is out the window and he’s just pinching air. Wow, I just explained my sketch like you would explain a bad joke…

Also, I erased a good portion of the color on his face and darkened his nose and lips to give the illusion of a graveyard tan. He doesn’t get out much in his stuff.

Playing With Your Food

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I drew this wild apple because I really wanted to play with the different textures that surrounds it.

I want to watch the Giants vs. Cowboys game, so this will be a short entry.

Busted!

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When not making crop circles nor picking up cows from pastures, this is what I think aliens do with tractor beams. Think teenage alien who just told his parents he’s spending the night at his best friend’s house, whose mother just called the other mother to check on them.

If this were in color, it would be electric blue, black and white, which would make it monochrome. This is another product of staring at my shower curtain in the morning. I think I need to show a pic of what I see that is so inspiring, then maybe you’ll understand…or not.

Tigman

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My son asked me to draw a jaguar and then a panther and…

I got to thinking, how come there isn’t a major monster that’s a giant cat? You have the dog-monster, better known as the werewolf, but no giant menacing cats….until now. So, I drew a cat with human characteristics. I think turning into Tigman would be extremely painful. I would hate to grow that tail.

This sketch took slightly longer to do than the attention span of a ten year old. I say slightly longer because after the excitement of “dad-drawing-for-me” wore off, the badgering started.

That is also I the reason for the short entry. Off to do the next fun thing!

Woodward

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I draw what I see. How else could I draw it?

The older I get, the more in touch with my feelings I get. Don’t get me wrong, I am not going soft, in fact, quite the opposite. I have made an amendment to my Declaration of Independence.

I give myself the right to disengage with any person, place, or thing, past or present, that creates an environment I don’t want to be in, or is a burden to maintain. It’s amazing what you can do when you declare your independence.

Furthermore, I will continue to pursue relationships with individuals and activities that I deem worthy of my time. These relationships must grow fruit….or mushrooms…I am thinking Sunday afternoon at Larry’s, three awesome movies, back to back to back, and Jill bringing out snacks every two hours.

I digress…

I have quit a whole slew of bad habits lately and this frees up a lot of my thought time. The way I fill this time is with thoughts of what feelings I want to get in touch with. Like how about happiness?

Happiness. Holy shit (sorry mom, dad…kids), really? It seems like there would be a bunch of factors influencing one’s happiness – and there is. The key for me is to rid myself of a majority of those factors. I find that whatever I am doing at the moment is what I am supposed to be doing and I will do it to the best of my ability, or else why do it in the first place? Remember how I said I won’t put myself in situations that cause guilt nor anxiety? I’m talking cleaning a dish, a spoon…folding a shirt. It makes me happy that I can do it and do it well, by the grace of God.

I learned a long time ago that money does not make you happy, it just pays the bills. Oh, and money is not the root of all evil, it’s the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10). Okay, I’m done jawbonin’.

Getting back to the surreal. I never know what will influence my next drawing, or when. I had one ready for today, then this came out.

 

Store Entrance

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This is the side entrance to the general store my father’s family owned. Although rather old and falling in on itself, the building still stands. I drew this about fifteen years ago. It’s one of the few pieces I created for myself. I love the color and the texture of rust. If it covers something completely, it resembles a beautiful burnt sienna velvet finish. Although, this door is wood, it was washed with the iron oxide from the steel signs that adorn the top. Even the wood above the signs is covered in it, apparently from a wicking effect from the fibers of the wood. Anyway, it’s beautiful to me.

The sketch is a strange combination for me. I used a conte’ pencil and then a pen in an illustrative style. I am happy with the outcome, however I don’t believe I will be leveraging this technique very much.

Cruising

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It’s one of those days that I don’t have much to write about.

Blending the background creates motion blur.

If we had hover cars, would we be able to park on a hill? Just curious.

 

Deal

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So, this drawing is an experiment. I had to stick with a specific thought when drawing a piece of this drawing. For example, the animal sniffing the man’s foot. It started off as a small dog through the body, but then I decided it may be a cat (notice the head). The man to the left started out as a jazz trumpeter (notice the stance). The other guy in the middle is a bunch of ideas mashed together. I have no idea what the machine is. Could be anything from a computer to a butt-o-cizer. After the initial sketch, I decided to go over the established lines and not alter them at all. This part was particularly difficult and took will power.

There is no erasing at all in this sketch, just aggressive blending. I used the stock paper that I hardly use anymore. It is quite unforgiving and allows one or two passes with an eraser before it starts to show wear and tear. I like it for the rougher texture and the pulp fiction novel look I get from it.